Customer comments on this selection.
A decent follow up to proficient motorcycling This book is worth picking up as supplementary reading to Proficient Motorcycling. As another reviewer mentioned, I too found the book's discussion of the HURT report a long and unnecessarily involved. I also found the calculation of risk values a little too theoretical to be helpful. Nonetheless, I did get something out of each chapter (even the one that was one page long). Although I didn't agree with the author on all points, I found that he did impart some important ideas and mental models to help me ride with a greater awareness of what can go wrong, and how to avoid needless risk. It's worth picking up, and taking with a grain of salt.
A Scary Book if you dont want to ride a motorcycle I have read the entire book and have to say that 90% of it is about death and dismemberment. If you don't want your spouse to ride this is the book to give them. It will provide you with every reason not to ride a motorcycle. Lots of stats on injurys, deaths, dismemberment. Very little detail on the joys of riding a bike. I highly discourage buying or reading this book.
Very Good, but wordy, and repetitive. The author goes into great depth on his subject, but his focus is rather narrow. He discusses accident types, and their causes, making references to the Hurt Study. There are numerous photograph's to illustrate points, and these really do help. His message is really quite simple, but he goes over it in a lengthy process, which can bore you, if you get the message in the first paragraph of each chapter. As has been said previously, his chapter on riding at night is succinct: Don't! He gives ample reasons for this, in all other chapters, but in this chapter, he is very short, directing the reader to read two previous chapters on why you should not ride at night. I was a little surprised at his frank statement that nearly all (and he does mean, very nearly, as in, abolutely all) accidents are the rider's fault. After I kept reading, I finally got over my pride (I've had two falls, with two ambulance rides as a result), and I had to admit, there were things I could have done differently, in both cases, to avoid the falls.
The quality of the book is superb, with heavy paper, and quality printing. The binding is good, but the layout and color choices are sometimes annoying, as he has color graphics in the background of many pages, in colors which sometimes clash with the text colors, but it is still readable. I would have preferred less artistic styling on the pages, to make the text easier to read.
If you are looking for technical techniques for use on the bike, such as counter-steering, or other fancy moves, this book is empty. The author's approach is more esoteric, as he describes, for the most part, how heightened awareness skills are most needed. He discusses the layers of protection for the rider, with awareness, and distance, being the primaries, and the riding suits, and other crash-useful items, like engine guard bars, riding jackets with armor, and over-the-ankle boots, as the last layer of defense. This may insult, or even anger, some readers, but his basic premise of the rider being at fault in around 98%+ of all accidents, is sobering truth, if you can drop your wall of pride, and look at his point of view, objectively, detached from your prideful emotions. I recommend it to all interested riders. Cheers!
What a waste..... Pure and simple: if you want to learn how to ride, any other book on the market is better than this one. It is a complete waste of time and money.
Little bit of wheat... loads of chaff! This book was an aggravation to (try to) read. I did find a few things that were interesting and that I sometimes need reminding of, but hardly two or three paragraphs can go by without Hahn's silly rhetorical questions, cutesy remarks and flippant attitude. (i.e. chapter 7-Riding at Night. Solution: Don't Ride at Night) A better subtitle might have been "Street Strategies for New/Intermediate Riders". Writers generally hate editors, but a good editor here might have helped.
I think it could have been a helpful read when I started riding almost 40 years and several hundred thousand miles ago, but I'd have to agree with some of these reviewers who seriously question the word "advanced" on the cover. At 60 years old, I buy these kind of books to enhance my skills and stay alive, but I think I could have accomplished those goals without wasting my money on this particular book.
|