Get Wise With Motorcycle Riding Instructional Books

Whether you’re a beginning rider or a seasoned coast-to-coast-in-a-sitting veteran, there’s always room for improving your riding skills. While there’s no substitute for receiving in-person instruction, reading a motorcycle-riding instructional book is probably the next best thing to being there. YouTube has a lot of flat-out incorrect advice on how to ride a motorcycle delivered by so-called experts, so it’s best to stick with reliable resources. Our picks will help you learn the dynamics of riding a motorcycle and instill best practices for safety on two wheels.

If you’re a beginning rider and you don’t have an experienced friend to take you under wing, let Proficient Motorcycling author David Hough be your surrogate guru. While it at times reads like a DMV driver’s-license manual, it’s packed with sound advice that untrained riders may otherwise never hear. Do you know how to take evasive action when a dog starts charging toward your motorcycle? To learn how to properly respond to this scenario and dozens like it, order a copy of Proficient Motorcycling.

Nick Ienatsch is a Cycle World contributor, a roadracing champion, and the founder of the Yamaha Champions Riding School. To say he knows his way around a motorcycle is an understatement. Ienatsch’s book focuses on learning to ride a motorcycle the way it was designed to be ridden. It’s all about fundamentals: how to trail-brake, how to steer the motorcycle, and how to become a master. It’s a must-read for anyone who wants to ride safer, faster, and with greater control.

Keith Code’s classic guide to roadracing is as relevant to street riders as it is to trackday enthusiasts. The best techniques to get a motorcycle around a track quickly are the same ones a commuter uses to reach his or her place of work safely. Twist of the Wrist covers fundamentals like how to read the asphalt, how to countersteer, and how to use your body position to help turn the motorcycle.