Motorcycle Racing Books

Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques

Lee Parks

Amazon Price: $17.79 List Price: $26.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Motorbooks Amazon Marketplace: 44 new & used starting at $15.59

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> Repair & Performance
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 64 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Pretty Basic Info 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have heard such great things about Lee Park's riding clinics that I thought I'd try his book. I found it pretty basic. I was really expecting a lot more info about exactly how to improve your riding techniques. He gives a few exercises, but it's not very detailed about how to do them correctly, common mistakes, how to tell what you're doing wrong, how to fix a bad habit, etc. I'm sure he has all that info -- it's just not in his book. I guess you have to take his seminar before he unlocks the treasure chest of knowledge.

Editorial Review:

Today's super high-performance bikes are the most potent vehicles ever sold to the public and they demand advanced riding skills. This is the perfect book for riders who want to take their street riding skills to a higher level. Total Control explains the ins and outs of high-performance street riding. Lee Parks, one of the most accomplished riders, racers, authors and instructors in the world, helps riders master the awe-inspiring performance potential of modern motorcycles.This book gives riders everything they need to develop the techniques and survival skills necessary to become a proficient, accomplished, and safer street rider. High quality photos, detailed instructions, and professional diagrams highlight the intricacies and proper techniques of street riding. Readers will come away with a better understanding of everything from braking and cornering to proper throttle control, resulting in a more exciting yet safer ride.

A Twist Of The Wrist II,Vol II: The Basics of High-Performance Motorcycle Riding

Keith Code

List Price: $19.95 By: Acrobat Books Amazon Marketplace: 25 new & used starting at $7.70

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General AAS
Subjects -> Sports -> Miscellaneous -> Motor Sports

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 91 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Hmmm 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Now, this is an interesting book...

On one hand, it is packed with very useful information for both the street rider (the group of which I am a part of) and, I assume, the track rider. Code brings some interesting things to the table and makes these concepts pretty easy to understand even for the novice rider.

On the other hand, as has been mentioned in plenty of other reader reviews, this book is likely the most poorly written professionally published thing I've ever read. It is *filled* with errors, inconsistencies, howlers, and non sequiturs. Not only that, but words are seemingly randomly bolded and asterisked (sometimes both at the same time) and more random words are thrown into a glossary at the end of the chapter. In a lingo-centric sport like motorcycling, why not define more things like low-side, roll-on, contact patch...things like that? Instead, we get words like:

Sail: A Piece of canvas or cloth spread to the wind to cause a vessel to move

or

Point: A particular spot

or

Dazzling: To Impress deeply. Brilliant

or

Wisdom: A wise saying or teaching

WTH? Very strange. All in all though, a good book that I, as an intermediate rider, was able to glean much useful information from. If you can get passed the irritating manner in which that information is presented, you'll probably find it helpful as well.

Editorial Review:

Straight facts about riding! A Twist of the Wrist, the acknowledged number one book on rider improvement for ten years straight, brought riders worldwide to a new understanding of vital riding skills. Uncovers and traces, action by action, the direct links between man and machine.

More Proficient Motorcycling: Mastering the Ride

David L. Hough

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: BowTie Press Amazon Marketplace: 22 new & used starting at $10.45

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General AAS
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Racing

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 45 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Outstanding 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

If you want to ride a motorcycle safely then you must buy and read this book. I re-read it each year in the winter to refresh my riding skills in preparation for the upcoming riding season. The best book on motorcycle safety skills development.

This book could save your life 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I strongly suggest purchasing this book. It is full of information to help you become a better rider. As a Road Captain in The Christian Motorcyclist Association it helps me keep our Chapter members informed on safe riding practices. The writer has excellent knowledge of motorcycling and uses many real life situations to illustrate his point. He is very witty in his writing which makes the book fun to read. I would also reccomend the first book Proficient Motorcycling

Editorial Review:

Written as a stand-alone or follow-up to David L. Hough’s wildly successful duo, "Proficient Motorcycling" and "Street Strategies," this book contains invaluable lessons for avoiding nasty accidents. Presenting new tips and topics geared toward protecting riders from road dangers with a special focus on mental and physical preparedness. Diagrams, examples, plain talk, and Hough’s practical attitude make this one of the most accessible guides available.

Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, 5th: Worldwide Motorcycling Route & Planning Guide (Trailblazer)

Chris Scott

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 By: Trailblazer Publications Amazon Marketplace: 43 new & used starting at $11.59

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General AAS
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Racing

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Every red-blooded motorcyclist dreams of making the Big Trip--the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook is the comprehensive manual to make that idea a reality. Timbuktu to Kathmandu or Patagonia to Mongolia--it's all here. This expanded and re-designed new edition is packed with essential advice and practical know-how on the vital preparation for undertaking a long journey off the beaten track, be it in a nearby wilderness area or on the other side of the globe. So whether motorcyclists are planning their own Big Trip across Africa, Alaska, or Asia, or just enjoy reading about other people's adventures, this handbook is guaranteed to illuminate, entertain, and above all, inspire.

This book covers:
>Documentation--what travelers need and how to get it
>Choosing a destination
>Preparing a bike for long-range touring
>Off-road riding techniques
>Shipping or airfreighting a bike
>Transcontinental route outlines across Africa, Asia, and Latin Americas, plus backcountry riding in Southwest USA, Northwest Canada, and the Australian Outback.
>Navigation and Survival--what to do when things go wrong
>A dozen first hand accounts of biking adventures from the Sahara, Central Asia, East Africa, Colombia and Bolivia, the Yukon, and even Idaho!

What If I Had Never Tried It: The Autobiography

Valentino Rossi

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Motorbooks Amazon Marketplace: 27 new & used starting at $14.95

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General AAS
Subjects -> Sports -> Biographies -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

What If I had Never Tried It is the first autobiography of arguably the world's greatest motorcycle road racing champion, Valentino Rossi. Certainly he is the greatest in modern times and similarly the best loved. This is the official, personal story: fast paced yet insightful.

Rossi’s record in the motorcycle road racing World Championship is supreme. First in the ultra-competitive 125 class starting in 1996; then in the 250 class only to graduate shortly thereafter to the big league of the 500s. In 2002 the premier class switched direction moving from 500 cc two-strokes to 990 cc four-strokes from then on to be known as MotoGP. Rossi rides for Honda and wins. He wins on a Honda the next year and then switches to Yamaha, to every race fans’ surprise, and wins against all odds. He wins again in 2005. No one is close. No one is faster. And all at speeds which approach 200 mph.

Both on and off-track, on the ubiquitous TV screen or walking in the street, Rossi is idolized as though he were a rock star. From his native Italy to California, from Philips Island to Laguna Seca, he has raised the limits, reshaped the frontiers of the sport and set new trends. Rossi has become the 21st Century face of motorcycle road racing. Yet he remains faithful to himself—one moment the intelligent, articulate interviewee; the next a jokester; the next the single-minded, focused, strategic racer with split-second skills the rest of us can only dream of.

Twist of the Wrist: The Motorcycle Roadracers Handbook

Keith Code

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Code Break Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $4.74

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General AAS
Subjects -> Sports -> Miscellaneous -> Motor Sports

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Good Read 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Got this book along with a couple other authors riding books. Goes into great detail about racing and riding techniques. Thumbs up

Twist of the Wrist 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Great book for the weekend rider to the begining roadracer, easy reading, and easy to relate to. I enjoyed reading a chapter or subject topic, then going out and applying what I learned to my riding technique. This book covers things you should be thinking of while riding and makes you think about what you already do but, don't know why.

helpful 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book doesn't have anything groundbreaking and is a little dated as of 2007 but is a very helpful reminder of the important things that you learned and forget to apply when you are actually riding. Not at all technical. The sidebars don't really tie into the content very well, but overall, it has helped me improve my track days.

Editorial Review:

Heres everything you need to successfully improve your riding, novice or veteran, cruiser to sportbike rider. This book contains the very foundation skills for any rider looking for more confidence when cornering a motorcycle. Notes and comments by Eddie Lawson. Foreword by Wayne Rainey.

Race to Dakar

Charley Boorman

Amazon Price: $18.96 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Little, Brown Book Group Amazon Marketplace: 23 new & used starting at $15.67

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General AAS
Subjects -> Reference -> Writing -> Travel

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

I enjoyed Race To Dakar very much. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Race to Dakar

I first found Charley Boorman through his trip Long Way Round. I read that book and devoured the DVD TV series. And found out Charley was going to try the Dakar rally.

I ended up reading Race To Dakar in one day. It was so engaging I could not put it down. I liked everything about it. Its shown me places I'm sure I'll never see.

Then I bought the Race To Dakar DVD through Amazon.Ca. And it was just as amazing as the book.

Editorial Review:

In January 2006, 230 people raced in trucks, cars, and motorbikes from Lisbon to Dakar in the 28th annual Dakar rally, the most challenging race in existence. After his celebrated trip round the world with Ewan McGregor, Charley Boorman was keen for another challenge, and racing in the Dakar had always been his dream. Supported by Australian champion biker Simon Pavey and experienced British biker Matt Hall, Charley attempted what many professional bikers have failed to do: successfully compete in the Dakar rally. His account details his extraordinary adventures as well as those of his fellow bikers, and also explores the history of this most dramatic and romantic of races. From Portugal through Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, and Senegal, it also provides a unique look at the countries hosting the rally.

Performance Riding Techniques: The MotoGP manual of track riding skills

Andy Ibbott

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Haynes Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 25 new & used starting at $19.77

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General AAS
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Racing

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Required reading 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Every racer, would-be racer and track-day attendee should read and assimilate this book. It is among the best books on racing technique every published, and will provide excellent advice, as well, to road riders who want to improve their daily riding. It will also help the reader understand what he or she is seeing at the races.
The devil, Andy Ibbott proves beyond doubt, is in the details. Rising above being `quick' to being a winner is a long, painstaking (often painful) process, and this book proves it. Racing success comes from meticulous attention to the inner workings of riding well, along with total physical, emotional and financial commitment. It takes years. There are no `instant winners.'
Illustrated with scores of clear diagrams and magnificent photos from Gold and Goose, this is one of the best primers for aspiring racers and those already competing in a difficult and dangerous sport. The photos alone, culled from thousands taken by Gold and Goose of the great racers of the last (approximately) decade show, in detail, what the bike and rider are doing and illustrate the text powerfully--a picture really is worth a thousand words.
In 14 lavishly illustrated chapters, Ibbott covers preparation (emphasizing fitness), how to handle the bike--acceleration, braking, cornering and steering, sliding, racing lines, qualifying, starting, passing other riders, racing psychology, crashing--managing the ambient climate (hot, cold, wet), conserving personal and machine energy and getting on top of the box. Keith Code's appendix on suspension is excellent. Ibbott quotes many of today's champions with explanations of what they do, how they do it and why it works. He puts us right in front of the greats, who answer many of the critical questions we would ask if we had the chance to sit down with them.
There is one area of significant omission from the book, and it's a biggie. It will, beyond every imaginable personal effort, seriously affect a racer's success or failure. It is beyond the cognitive control of the individual rider and will have a lot to do with his or her potential as a racer.
The first is genetic: the physiology of the individual, his or her vision, morphology, reaction times, propriocetive skills and associated characteristics.
The second, closely aligned with the first, is used by military aviation authorities worldwide to screen potential pilots from those unsuited to the task: reflexes, hand-eye coordination, etc., manifest in a racer, for example, in his or her degree of `feel' for what the machine is doing, its deviation from track (e.g. sliding). Anyone interested in taking up racing should be tested for these physiological aspects. It is difficult or impossible for anyone who is not naturally (i.e. genetically) gifted to overcome basic physiological deficits.
The third is psychological: only the tough-minded and strong-willed can win. Adolf Galland, a great WWII fighter pilot, said: "Only the spirit of attack, born in a brave heart, will bring success to any fighter aircraft, no matter how highly developed it may be." It's the same with race bikes.

Editorial Review:

An official book published in association with MotoGP rights holder Dorna SL, this practical guide to motorcycle racing technique is aimed at racing and track day enthusiasts at all levels. From starting and accelerating to braking, cornering, overtaking and even crashing, this book combines expert guidance from an experienced coach with advice and anecdotes from top riders.

Presented in a large format and fully illustrated throughout in color, this is the authoritative guide to improving your racing technique and performance on the track.

Sport Riding Techniques: How To Develop Real World Skills for Speed, Safety, and Confidence on the Street and Track

Nick Ienatsch

List Price: $24.95 By: David Bull Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 13 new & used starting at $26.56

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General AAS
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Racing

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 50 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Contemporary sport bikes accelerate faster, brake harder, and cut through corners deeper than ever before. These technologically advanced motorcycles are exhilarating to ride, but to really get the most out of a motorcycle’s performance capabilities a rider must develop his or her own personal performance. Riders need to take their skills to the next level. Now, in this book written specifically for sport riders, well-known journalist, racer, and riding school instructor Nick Ienatsch provides the tools and techniques to help riders analyze and develop that personal performance. If you’re an experienced rider, Nick will help you hone and perfect your skills, operate controls with even greater finesse, and apply race-proven techniques on the track—as well as on the street. If you’re a beginning rider, Nick will show you how to develop proper skills and safety habits that will add to your motorcycling enjoyment and build your confidence. Whatever your current riding ability, Nick will teach you to safely find the absolute limit of bike and rider.

One Good Run: The Legend of Burt Munro

Tim Hanna

Amazon Price: $17.64 List Price: $18.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Penguin Global Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $10.46

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General AAS
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Automotive -> Motorcycles -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

One good run 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

An awesome insight into the life of this brilliant man, warts & all. The detail of machines, races & records as well as his personal nuances makes very easy reading. Anybody who had heard of Bert or the film based on his record run will find this book gives life to the details!

Editorial Review:

Here is the amazing story of Kiwi motorcycling legend, backyard engineering genius, and land speed record holder Burt Munro. Munro was the archetypal eccentric inventor. He took an original Indian motorbike and modified it in his shed so it became capable of extreme speeds. From small town New Zealand in the 1920s to heroic accomplishments in the USA, Munro was still inventing up until his death in 1978. This is very much a "little guy beats the odds" story-Munro still holds several records in the US-as a mark of respect, the category he raced in was "frozen" for all time. The publication of the book has been timed to coincided with the movie The World's Fastest Indian, directed by Roger Donaldson and starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, scheduled for release October 2005.