Thursday, April 12, 2007


Proficient motorcyling

It's been a long day and tomorrow will be even longer. I just arrived home from manning a trade show booth all day. 4 AM tomorrow will see me leaving for a ride to our headquarters in Kirkland, WA. I'll have a five hour ride, four hours or so in a meeting, and five more hours to come home. At least that's ten hours of riding. Maybe longer. Pray for me as I'll be dealing with Seattle area traffic on Friday the 13th.

For those who might be interested, I'm posting a recommendation for independent reading. David Hough has several books out that are great for everyday street riders. Being in the motorcycle safety business, I come across a lot of printed materials. Most of it is good reading. I just find that quite a number of publications tend to stray towards the rider who wants to put in track days here and there. David's books aren't the only quality writings out there, to be sure. They do, however, stand out as being totally dedicated to street riders. Commuters figure predominantly in the book's contents.

There are three books available that I would suggest investing in. If you are a commuter and can only purchase one, then "Street Strategies" would be my choice. Two books are kind of a set. The first is "Proficient Motorcycling". The book after is called, fittingly enough, "More Proficient Motorcycling". The picture of the book was stolen from MCN's website. Sorry, Dave Searle, but I'm promoting one of your writers!! I personally own all three of these books. Two of my boys ride and I made these available for them. Actually, it was required reading, but what the heck?

Here's the link to purchase them.

Don't be thrown off by the fact the link is connected to books and magazines about animals. Bowtie Press is connected to Fancy Publications. My experience with their customer service has been entirely positive.

I have absolutely no connection with the selling of these books. No royalties, commissions, or good will comes my way. David Hough has dedicated a lot of time into writings that benefit motorcyclists. If I'm not mistaken, David's also served as an MSF instructor. He has my deepest respect. I sincerely feel that the books are of great value to riders, especially for two wheeled commuters. In that vein, I'm sharing them with you.

Miles and smiles,

Dan

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Got two of them, but not the one in the picture. I bought proficient motorcycling and during my firt reading, pages began to drop out, so I did not buy the second. Eventually the publisher replaced the defecive book, but I just never got around to buying the second. I thought Street Strategies was a superior book, solely in my opinion.

Aaron said...

I believe 10hrs in the saddle needs it's own Ironbutt award. I took two wheels to the office this morning and it was a brisk 44deg. That's about the stretch of my dedication to two-wheelin' it to work.

Anonymous said...

I also highly recommend these publications. A friend lent me use of Proficient Motorcycling last spring when I first began street riding, and I was very impressed by the wealth of information and knowledge presented by Hough. So, I purchased the companion book, More Proficient Motorcycling. Again, it is a great source for the street rider. However, like the first poster noted, I am upset with the quality of the binding. The first 80 pages have fallen out. I still have Street Strategies on my list to buy.

- D.W.

Balisada said...

I have heard Street Strategies being recommended by Bikers (keep meaning to buy it), and I have Proficient Motorcycling, and find it to be a very good read.

David Hough explains topics in an easy to understand way.

Balisada

Anonymous said...

So, how was the 10-hour commute for a 4-hour meeting? I think it's a ridiculous ratio, but at least you got to ride.

Today I was thinking of you and the bad traffic, at least while I wasn't wishing for a bath. (I've been helping rehab a house, and today I got to sand drywall. I'm changing my name to Dusty.)

At least the 7" of snow from Wed. night has melted, and I should be able to be on 2 wheels again this weekend.

Anonymous said...

Tinker and D.W.
That's interesting about the bindings. I've had my books for a number of years with no problems. Perhaps I should send Dave an e-mail to see what was going on. I hope nobody else has problems. I'd feel bad recommending books with binding issues.

Aaron,
My S-10 pickup is parked outside. There was ice on the windshield this morning when I was pulling Sophie out at 4 AM. Admit it; wasn't it cool ( no pun intended ) to show up all awake and alive for work while the others stumble in looking for coffee?

Balisada,
You could borrow my copy for a while. I have a feeling that a newspaper feature and you are connected. I could drop the book off in either office. Here or Corvallis. Only an offer!

Krysta,( or should I say "Dusty"?)
I just walked in the door 15 minutes ago. The riding ended up being only 9 1/2 hours and 258 miles. Thanks for thinking of me. I had a lot of time to think as I sat in Seattle traffic. The meeting ended up being a little shorter but the lunch was great! There were some interesting things going on during the ride. I'll probably post it on Monday.

Right now, I'm looking for food. AS of now it's been 16 hours since I left home this morning!


Dan

Anonymous said...

CORRECTION!!

I'm tired and seeing sideways, I guess. In my comment to Krysta I wrote the mileage wrong. Total mileage is 528 miles, not 258 as I wrote. I was thinking that number was low for a round trip into the Seattle area!!

Dan

Steve Williams said...

Ten hours of riding is a in a car. Can't imagine it on two wheels. The longest I have been out at one time is about 8 hours with lots of stops. And that took a toll on my backside....

I own More Proficient Riding and it is a solid instructional book. I will check out the new one.

Thanks!

Steve Williams
Scooter in the Sticks

American Scooterist Blog said...

I saw the proficient motorcycling books but passed on them because I really didn't know anything about them or who the author is. Now that you're saying they're some of the best out there, I'm getting them.
Thanks for the tips Irondad.

Roadbum

Balisada said...

I think you may be thinking of the other Rebel in town.

As far as I know, I have not been featured in the paper. (But I do get a lot of folks tell me that they see me around town all the time. It's quite funny, they often stop talking in mid sentence because they have only just spied my helmet.)

If you are thinking about that article in the Democrat Herald about Women in Motorcycling, it was the other "Rebel" around town. (I think there is a third as well.)

I was looking to purchase "More Proficient Motorcycling" from Amazon.com, and I think if I purchase "Street Strategies" at the same time, I might get free shipping. Thanks for the offer.

irondad said...

Roadbum,
The neat thing is that we all learn from each other!

Balisada,
One of these days I'll see the Rebel and the helmet ears. Then I'll give an extra cheery wave!

Dan