Proficient Motorcycling, Revised and Expanded 3rd Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well (CompanionHouse Books) Must-Have Manual to Confronting Fear, Sharpening Handling Skills, and Riding Safely - Softcover

David L. Hough

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1620084252 ISBN 13: 9781620084250

Publisher: CompanionHouse Books, 2025

Synopsis

The updated essential guide for every motorcyclist!

• The basics you need to know to get on a bike ASAP
• Riding city streets and country roads
• Navigating common and uncommon hazards
• Avoiding manmade dangers and canine pursuers
• Surviving nature's challenges: rain, wind, heat, cold
• Safely riding in groups and carrying passengers
• Wearing the most protective clothing

This is the ultimate guide for all motorcyclists—regardless of experience!

Author David L. Hough, a columnist and riding-safety consultant who has ridden since the '60s, lays out a clear course to sharpen your handling skills for a safer, more enjoyable ride. This third edition has been updated and expanded to include information on getting started riding, exercises to gain skill and confidence on the road, updated charts, graphs, and statistics, a description of motorcycle gears, types of motorcycles, equipment that can be added to your bike, general safety, and more throughout each chapter. New riders and experienced bikers alike will receive the sage advice needed to be prepared for anything on the road, avoid accidents, handle the unexpected, and arrive safe!

This book tackles bike mechanics, selecting the right-sized bike, basic riding skills, night riding, group outings, advanced survival tactics, and more. Learn the equipment and skills required to control a bike, preserve your safety, and avoid injury or fatal crashes. The author is a nationally renowned motorcycling expert and is outspoken and direct when it comes to safety, emphasizing the importance of braking abilities, showing how to improve them, and providing tried-and-true techniques for quick-stop tactics critical for every rider to master.

Explore vital skills to evaluate and improve, such as turning, balance, stability, and steering. The details of steering and control are defined and analyzed: direct steering, countersteering, push steering, out-tracking, coning, U-turns, and directional control. Get a virtual master class in acceleration, deceleration, use of weight, throttle, leaning, and handling challenging terrain. The detail offered comes from decades on the road, and the author is the consummate instructor, assigning practice exercises to help you improve specific techniques.

These pages take you from long, snaking country roads right into the traffic of the big city, offering the best advice for dealing with the most challenging conditions, like road construction, snap-jawed intersections, skateboarders, suddenly slippery road surfaces, aggressive car drivers, oblivious SUV drivers, and "blind" truck drivers. Over 300 photos, illustrations, and diagrams accompany the easy-to-understand instructions and concepts.

This crucial guide offers first-hand experience that can literally save your life! It offers evasive tactics to handle slick surfaces, curbs, construction plates, ferocious dogs, hazardous wildlife, and difficult weather conditions. Experienced riders who travel together in groups or with a passenger on the bike will find helpful information covering formation, packing for trips, communication between riders, sidecars, trikes, and more. Included are a helpful glossary of terms and a complete index.

Do you want to blast around twisty mountain roads, ride through miles of desert, or go on a weekend-long group ride? Do you want to commute to work on your motorcycle, handling aggressive drivers and construction zones with ease? Whatever your motorcycling goals, whether you're a novice riding for the first time or a seasoned road warrior, this is the must-have resource to improving your skills and arriving safely!

About this title

About the Author

David L. Hough is a longtime motorcyclist and journalist. He began motorcycling as a means of commuting to work. He is the author of numerous articles, columns, and books. In 2009 he was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

From the Back Cover

A Must-Have Guide to Safely Maximizing Your Riding Experience Anywhere
The Bible of Motorcycle Safety

Whether for leisure or your main mode of transportation, experienced or a novice, knowledge is key to safely, comfortably, and confidently navigating the many unknown factors you will face when motorcycling.

In this updated and expanded 3rd Edition, revered motorcycle author, columnist, and riding-safety consultant David L. Hough presents a step-by-step guide on how you can maximize your riding experience and prepare for common conditions and situations all bikers will ultimately encounter. Each chapter focuses on a specific area for consideration, including dealing with danger, getting started with your first motorcycle, traffic survival, special situations, and more. Each recommendation and expert tip is drawn from Hough's more than 30 years of riding and the valuable lessons learned along the way.

FEATURING:

• Long-Distance Touring, Group Riding, Off-Road and Urban Settings
• Dealing with Danger
• Getting Started
• Motorcycle Dynamics
• Cornering Tactics
• Traffic Survival
• Booby Traps
• Special Situations
• Sharing the Ride
• Glossary and Index

"Whether you're new to motorcycling or have been riding your entire life, constantly honing your skills is vital for staying safe on the road. Motorcycling is as much a mental exercise as it is a physical one. David's book provides excellent tips on how to avoid specific dangers. But this book is much more than a safety guide. It's a comprehensive collection of everything a skilled rider should know." — Florian Neuhauser, Editor-in-Chief of RoadRUNNER Motorcycle Touring & Travel magazine

"David once again provides extremely useful information on highway traffic and roadway traps, touring, heat and cold management, and the requirement to 'know your limits.' Great reading for all skill levels." — Dan Muir, Past President and Rally Master, Washington State BMW Riders; Senior Motorcycle Safety Instructor, Washington Motorcycle Safety Training

Edition details

• Publisher: CompanionHouse Books
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1620084252
• ISBN 13: 9781620084250
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 272