Motorcycling Excellence: Skills, Knowledge, and Strategies for Riding Right

If you are one of the thousands of new (and older) bike riders out there, do yourself a BIG favor and read this book! It is hands-down the best on motorcycle safety. It describes, in detail, situations in which you'll find yourself in city traffic or open roads where you will need to make split-second decisions to save your butt! I have ridden bikes for 40 years and I have learned things in this book that I hope will allow me to ride another 40! Buy it, read it, and follow the great tips on riding safely.

The first few chapters of the book are mostly common sense stuff. However it is setting you up for some intense reading about street strategies, traction and cornering a little later on. This book is very well written and reads more like a discussion about riding rather than a text book which I appreciated. The chapter tests were a little weak, but I liked the way each topic was broken down by chapter and discussed completely. I would recommend this book to novices and self-taught riders alike. It would teach them both a thing or two.

I've always advocated that there are two types of people on motorcycles: riders and accidents waiting to happen. If you are taking the time to look into proper rider education, I congratulate you on your decision to become one of the former. This book contains priceless information for riders. There really is no good substitute for knowledge and practice; and this book is an excellent source of knowledge. And take my word for it, this is the best book on the market. But, if you have not already done so, I'd STRONGLY recommend taking at least one of the MSF's courses as well. The second critical part of the equation I mentioned before is practice. And the supervised drills offered in the MSF courses are second to none for low speed practice. I've taken two myself in addition to owning this book. Having both the classes and the book for reference has been extremely helpful, to say the least.To summarize, this is a book that belongs on every motorcyclist's bookshelf. I'd also recommend taking the classes. With those resources, you will find motorcycling more enjoyable as well as safer. It's saved my skin more then once, and I'd say that I've gotten at least a ten fold return for my time and money. And it's better then needing "First Aid for Bad Riders", "101 Ways to Fall Off Your Bike Gracefully" or "An Idiot's Guide to Compound Fractures" on your shelf. You will be an exponentially better rider if you buy this book, study its contents, and practice its techniques.

If you ride a motorcycle, you need this book. Period. Buy it now, get it, read it, and commit what it says to reflex-memory - it can literally save your life. It is not, however, a substitute for taking one of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's 3-day beginner motorcycling courses.If you are concerned with becoming a better (safer) rider, I recommend you do the following: get this book and read it. Enroll and take the MSF course (they provide helmets and motorcycles and it's cheap). Re-read this book. Practice what you have learned in class and read in this book on an ongoing basis. If you do the above (and always wear a helmet), you will reduce the chances of accident and injury. Yes, motorcycling is more dangerous than riding in a "cage" (that's a car, for you non-motorcyclists). But, with proper training and safety equipment, you can improve your odds significantly.Just do it.

First, take the MSF course, than read this book. Otherwise, you will never know about the critical safety information you need to safely ride a motorcycle unless you learn what you missed the hard way. It's worth every penny.