My father was one of those guys who always blamed the nearest person if he couldn’t find something, especially when it came to things in the garage. Not that the garage was particularly well organized, mind you. Still, Vern always knew when something was not where he’d put it, right down to the smallest screwdriver. Inevitably, I’d respond to these tirades with some smart-aleck comment like “Well, Dad, if you’d arrange stuff better, then maybe we could put it back where it belonged!” Needless to say, it was usually me who ended up cleaning the garage. Then, of course, I’d get in trouble yet again because I’d put something away where Vern didn’t want it, and the whole situation would repeat itself.

Unless you’re a complete neat freak, chances are your garage is hard to navigate, too: tools everywhere, spare parts stacked on shelves, drawers jammed shut, etc. Even after a heavy-duty spring cleaning, it usually doesn’t take long for the place to get trashed all over again.

Now, if Vern had had a book like C.G. Masi’s How to Set Up Your Motorcycle Workshop, I’d have gotten my butt spanked much less often. This book is a comprehensive, no-detail-spared guide that’s handy for just about everyone with a toolbox and a garage. Masi covers all the bases, from adequate electrical power and lighting to how to select the right tools and equipment for minor repairs, paint jobs, or even metal fabrication. Masi also takes every budget into account, helpfully detailing different approaches to designing your shop and various methods for organizing your stuff.

Chapters on workspace and equipment are interspersed with profiles of specific types of workshops for professional mechanics, restorers, and collectors. The book is even great for someone who just has some basic tools and equipment and wants to organize it better. If Vern were still with us, he could get a lot of use out of this book. Afterwards, though, I’m sure he’d have found some other reason to make me go clean the garage. RB

SOURCES

How to Set Up Your Motorcycle Workshop,
2nd Edition $19.95
By C.G. Masi
176 pages
Whitehorse Press
800/531-1133