Big Sid's Vincati: The Story of a Father, a Son, and the Motorcycle of a Lifetime

I've known Big Sid since he befriended me during my Navy days in Norfolk, VA back in the 1960s. I've been a lifelong motorcyclist, like Big Sid, although I've never owned a Vincent, much less a Vincati. Sid has instilled a respect in me for the marque and the machines that he so dearly loves. We've remained in contact via phone and internet for these last 40 years, concentrating mostly on motorcycle technical subjects. Until reading 'Big Sid's Vincati' I've never known or understood much about the life experiences that created his interest and skills. Matthew's writing illuminates the past and explains the present Big Sid and their wonderful creation -- The Vincati! I've been able to see the progression of the bike during several visits to Louisville and to read about Peter Egan's ride and subsequent article in Cycle World, along with a centerfold picture! The English magazine, Classic Bike, later carried a story about the bike albeit told by a different author and photographer. But the Vincati is only an object of two men's determination. The real beauty of the story is the cross pollination of their personalities throughout the crises of health and despair they conquered together. There's plenty for any technical guru, and much more for those of us with sons. My two sons and I completed our ONLY and first motorcycle trip last summer to Nova Scotia and it was an awakening all three of us. I gained respect for their views and expectations all along the way. I suspect they picked up up on some of my idiosyncrasies too, maybe even understanding some of them a bit better. I couldn't help but find comparisons througout the book. I wish I had been able to read 'Big Sid's Vincati' years ago. Ray Nielsen

Art Carey, a superb writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer once wrote: "Part of the attraction (of men to cars and motorcycles) is beauty. It's a form of art appreciation. For many men, a car (or a motorcycle) is sculpture on wheels. On a deeper level, the thing is not the thing. The object - in this case, a car (or a motorcycle) - is really a pretext, a symbol, a medium. It's a token of romance, an instrument of nostalgia, reminding men of an earlier era, of youth, first loves, fathers and friends. It's a bulwark against the passage of time, the inevitability of loss" Big Sid's Vincati is a story of how a father and a son created an object, a motorcycle, that helped them overcome an estranged relationship. In the process of creating a special motorcycle (a Vincati), Matthew and Sid Biberman transformed their relationship with each other. The Biberman's Vincati is their bulwark against the passage of time and the inevitability of loss. This story is about how two men created a motorcycle that will stand as a symbol of love and healing between father and son. This is a story of how a thing (a motorcycle) is much more than a thing. Sid and Matthew Biberman's life stories started as being very different and ended up in many ways, being very similar. First it is important to know about Sid Biberman. Sid Biberman is known as Big Sid because he was a 6 feet 5 inch hulk for most of his life. Big Sid had a very difficult childhood, and an abusive father. Big Sid was unable to attend college and had to work very hard a good portion of his early adulthood as butcher under his father's iron will. Sid had to work hard overcome the emotional abuse he received from his father. Sid knew he was very talented at tuning motorcycles and eventually he was able to open his own motorcycle shop. In time, and through hard work, Big Sid fulfilled his dream of becoming a world class mechanic. Famous people (Jay Leno, Steve McQueen) came to Big Sid to learn from him. Sid Biberman is considered by many Vincent motorcycle owners to be the finest tuner of Vincent motorcycles in the world. And Big Sid is loved by many members of the Vincent Motorcycle Owners Club because he is always ready to help when asked, and always kind with his knowledge and wisdom. Sid was able to overcome his difficult childhood (and early adulthood) by becoming a generous person with his time and his superb mechanical talent. Sid Biberman also grew to become a loving father and grandfather. Matthew Biberman, who wrote Big Sid's Vincati, is an exceptionally intelligent and insightful man. Matthew is a professor of English at the University of Louisville. Matthew was educated at some of the finest schools in the United States. Matthew, as a young man, wanted to be unlike his father and became an intellectual. One of Matthew's challenges was to learn how to love his father warts and all. Matthew describes in his book how he eventually came to understand and become more comfortable with

I should say upfront that I am not all that interested in motorcycles. I've only ever ridden once or twice in my life, as a passenger. However, I am interested in the ways in which people invest particular objects - stamps, dolls, comic books, old vinyl albums, motor vehicles - with mythical significance, as a way of making sense of their lives, and of coping with its struggles and disappointments. Biberman has a deep understanding of this psychological process, and has written a remarkable memoir that can be enjoyed by motorcycle enthusiasts and neophytes alike. The bike in this honest and moving book is a lot more than a slick mode of transportation. It is more even than the source of a rekindled relationship between a father and son. Big Sid's Vincati symbolizes the creative urge, the desire to make a mark in the world, to be something more than merely ordinary. Highly recommended.

I've ridden a few, but I've never owned a motorcycle. And I've certainly never worked on one. But I do have a father and I have spent a lifetime working on that relationship. And now I am one as well. And I think that's what this book is about: a father and son who are thrown back together out of necessity, and who learn to appreciate each other. The author is unsparingly candid about some of the most intimate moments in the most important relationships in his family. I think the honesty would resonate with anyone who has tried to understand his own father or tried to be a good one himself. For the technically inclined, there are detailed specs in the back, but I found that most of the "tech speak" in the heart of the book served more as a frame that gave the story structure. Not to take away from its authenticity, I just wouldn't want those of us who aren't gear heads to think this isn't a book for us. It truly is a book for anyone who has or is a father.

In 2005, while surfing the `net, I stumbled upon an upcoming movie called, The World's Fastest Indian. I mentioned the movie to my husband, an inveterate motorcyclist, and suggested we see it. This was intended to be one of those Grand Gestures, one of those things wives do to be nice, not because we actually want to do the thing. So much for Karmic Brownie Points...The World's Fastest Indian is one of my all time favorite movies. With the same intentions, after reading about Big Sid's Vincati, I managed to snag an early copy for myself. I really intended it to be a book for my husband, although I knew I'd need to read it as well. Once again, I thought I was doing something nice for my husband. And once again, so much for Karmic Brownie Points... Big Sid's Vincati, The Story of a Father, a Son, and the Motorcycle of a Lifetime is the story of a renowned motorcycle mechanic and his son. Big Sid suffers a heart attack, and like many heart patients, loses his interest in life. His son, Matthew, impulsively suggest they build a motorcycle together. A hybrid, made up of an old Vincent and a Ducati. Vincent motorcycles were produced in Britain from 1928 to 1955. For decades Big Sid was THE guy to see for anything Vincent in the United States. Matthew had taken an entirely different path in life and is a Shakespearean professor. Authenticity is added to the story by the author as he explores the younger years of Big Sid. He is unsparing in the descriptions of Sid's father, the conflicts of Sid's life and how these shaped his own life. While ostensibly the story of motorcycles, the book speaks more to the relationships between fathers and sons. At times it was as if I was reading about my own husband and his father. Through it all runs the thread of the rides. Motorcycles have an almost mystic pull on the people that ride them. "The rides out in the midday sun, taking graceful sweepers along Skyline Drive, from Front Royal down to Asheville. All those times, all of it merging into this one road, under this one sun, burning hard in the sublime blue sky, while on either side of this ribbon of road, the trees flashed by, my father in my mirror, behind me." From the practical standpoint, it was helpful to me that I've spent over thirty years hanging around a man who loves bikes. The vernacular wasn't completely foreign to me, and I had my handy reference guide sitting right next to me. And I'll admit to sort of skimming some of the technical passages about the construction of the bike. In spite of that, you should READ THIS BOOK!! It's a good story. And if you find yourself a bit confused about some terminology, it really doesn't matter. The heart of the book might be the Vincati, but it's the soul you'll focus on. And the soul of the book is Big Sid and Matthew.