Rating: 
Summary: Long Live the Ride
Review: If you are looking here, you want to prolong your riding days as much as possible. After all, the sights, sounds, smells and feeling of riding on a motorcycle are like no other transportation or recreation on Earth. Whether you are a newbie or grizzled cross-country traveler, read this book! You will discover David Hough, a well-seasoned rider and writer, wants nothing more than for your days to be long so you can enjoy the ride to the max.This book was a cover-to-cover continuous read for me, and very few books have been that for me except good fiction. The subject matter is of utmost importance and not fiction at all. David writes in an entertaining manner that does not talk down to the rider. Cyclists of all ages and persuasions will gain something from this book...it's that good. Paradoxically, you will discover that you will be much freer to ride your own ride after reading it. And very likely, you'll want to periodically pick it back up and do a little re-reading, too. The cost of the book is inexpensive when you consider the potential for picking up some truly priceless wisdom. The saying "Learn from the mistakes of others...you can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself" is no truer than in motorcycling. All the best to you.
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Summary: The voice you need - when you needed it last week!?
Review: Simply brilliant! This man has ridden them and wrote about them. Great insite into how to ride a motorcycle and more. Great personal notes and stories with real exercises to help you master the 'twisties' and all the other road nasties you 'might' face as a motorcyclist. Although written for the American audience, with some clear thinking and practical skills everthing in this book applies to anyone riding on the roads around the world. ( I'd like David to come over and add an extra chapter in regard to Kangaroo's on the road. <grin> ) Worth the wait, worth the money. A handbook I won't be forgeting or putting down in a hurry.
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Summary: Learn alot and be entertained int he process
Review: David Hough, pronounced like rough or tough, has an uncanny way of making very basic concepts of motorcycling that we take for granted fun and entertaining. Anyone new to the sport or even 40 year veterans can learn from this book. I highly recommend this book if you wish to understand and overcome bad habits we all tend to pick up when riding. Now I just need to order More Proficient Motorcycling, which is suppose to go into even more detail that was originally introduced in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: take the MSF course
Review: this book is a good review of the material I learned at the MSF safety course. I will end up reselling this one because now I have reviewed it I don't need to go back through it. He makes you think and that is important to increase your chances of never laying it down.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent advise by a streetwise biker
Review:
David Hough has, he says, 750,000 miles under his saddle as of ten years ago. That's a lot of miles. I'm 73, and have driven trucks professionally. I figure that between trucks, cars, and motorcycles I've driven something over a million miles. At 20,000 miles a year average, which is about what I put on the odometer these days, that's 50 years of driving. In my case, I have about 60 years of driving experience. I'm older than David Hough.
That's a lot of motorcycling, and in his case, judging by the two books of his that I've read, I believe him. He is obviously a very experienced rider, and his advice is very good. He is passing along his experience and wisdom on avoiding road rash, and it would be well to heed it. His other book which I have read and recommend, is Street Strategies. It is sort of a condensed version of Proficient Motorcycling. There will be another one out shortly, they say, which will be titled More Proficient Motorcycling. I will buy that one, as well. To learn from others is wiser than to have to learn everything yourself from your own experience, especially when the most important lessons are usually the result of bruises, or worse. When I bought my first motorcycle--a Honda CB250 "Hawk" back in the mid-'sixties, I had a totally inexperienced instructor--me. My next was a (very) used 1946 74 cu.in. Harley-Davidson knucklehead, with a suicide clutch and a tank shift. I have also owned a little trail 55cc Honda. Today, I ride a 2000 90 cu.in. Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad. How times have changed! I'm signed up for a motorcycle riding class, because I figure there are still a lot of things to learn. Motorcycling is not the safest mode of transportation, but it is fun, and if you stay on top, it's a good way to stay young and vital. So, buy this book and learn about how to avoid the pitfalls and keep on enjoying the freedom of motorcycling. Proficient Motorcycling is full of photos, drawings, facts and figures and safety tips, entertainingly written and illustrated. You won't regret buying it. Joe Pierre
author of Handguns and Freedom ..their care and maintenance
Rating:
Summary: A One Inch Thick MSF Course
Review: Mr. Hough provided the inspiration for the MSF and ERC courses, as well as inspiring technical inmprovement for thousands of riders.
I've been away from motorcycling for about seven years. I have a new BMW 1150r on order, but I can't get into an MSF course until March. This book helped me remember what I learned in prior courses, and should keep me "shiny side up" until I can gain additional training. I could do without the personification of the characters ("Canyon Clyde", "Downshiftin' Debbie", etc.) but the diagrams are priceless.
Rating:
Summary: Ride A Motorcycle? You need this book.
Review: With his down-to-earth writing style, Mr. Hough (rhymes with rough) covers a wide range of driving conditions the motorcyclist may encounter and the practical steps to take to survive them. Topics include everything from lane splitting to driving on ice to the seldom thought of high wind gust. The graphic story at the beginning (a sort of wake up call) reminds the rider that he is very vulnerable when participating in this "sport." The scenarios, with accompanying photos and drawings alert the novice to the dangers of cycling. For those who have been riding for years, the book serves as a reminder of dangers long forgotten. After reading this book, the long-time rider will look at his or her next ride through different eyes. There will be a sense of empowerment to tackle whatever is encountered. David discusses bike and rider center of gravity, and how these two are interrelated and change with varying bike loads, turns, and rider positions. The section on proper braking (always use both brakes) conveys information on the amount of traction available at the wheels under varying conditions. Traction? Learn about the "contact patch" and how it changes with lean and braking. Learn how to gain maximum forward visibility maneuvering inside and outside turns by using David's windowing technique. Mr. Hough's final word of advice? Practice. Practice. Practice what is in the book. I would have given the book a five star rating, but I found some of the material in this collection of articles redundant. This may be a good thing for the novice, but I was distracted by it. I suggest the publisher eliminate this redundancy in future editions.
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Summary: If only I'd read this before!
Review: If I'd read this book in 1970, I might still have my first bike today. That Suzuki 250 only lasted a week. I dumped it on a steep, rutted dirt road, kinked the accelerator cable, and left the battered beast for repairs in a garage which burnt to the ground during the catastrophic San Diego County fires of that year.
The 'Running Out of Pavement' section in "Proficient Motorcycling" enlightened me as to what I did wrong thirty years ago. If only I'd had access to the info on how to ride off-pavement with street tires then!
That first doomed bike weighed a third as much as my current two wheeler, which I take up and down a rough gravelly patch of road nearly everyday, and successfully, thanks in part to applying the techniques Hough describes. Becoming a better rider involves constant growth. Hough's book gives plenty of opportunity for that, even for those of us who've been rolling around for years.
His easy, conversational style let me breeze through the whole book for a quick overview, and now I go back to it as a reference to refresh practical knowledge on specific situations.
This book provides tons of wisdom for beginners, or if you've learned mostly by trial and error, it brings everything together in a systematic way, providing strategies and techniques that simply increase biking pleasure. Using Hough's lore on dynamics and cornering, for example, especially 'Delayed Apexing,' makes the road seem wider. In fact, I would say that seeking the delayed apex opens a new dimension for old bikers, in much the same way that seeking the G-spot does for old lovers.
Rating: 
Summary: Not nearly concise enough
Review: The topics covered are important, but the author's explanations are needlessly long-winded. He also repeats himself frequently. The essential information could be explained in about 1/5 of the author's ramblings. I had trouble staying awake long enough to get through a chapter. I frankly don't understand why so many people rave about this book.
Rating:
Summary: Open your eyes!
Review: What a great read, not only for a re-iteration of the basics, but even moreso for all the safety factors & tips. I don;t ride now, but I might ride soon, and I can;t think of a better book to open your eyes than this one!
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