Customer Reviews: Read 86 more reviews...
 The Bible... The End....! July 31, 2008
I first read this book whilst learning to take my motorcycle test many years ago, as I wanted to learn how to ride a motorbike properly from the onset. I've since gone on to read, re-read and use this book and the subsequent DVD as a continual reference on how things work, and what a rider should do, as opposed to what his instincts might tell him to do.
It's fair to say that without this book I'd not have been able to progress to the level of rider that I've been able to become, I'd not have been switched on to my ability to make the bike stable and carve such beautiful lines as I've been fortunate enough to become.
The book though can be very hard work at times, the descriptions are sometimes very complex and tricky to understand, but with reviewing and re-reviewing, and working at it, it really does help make the complex understandable.
I think the book could probably do with a re-vamp, with the hand sketch drawings updating to pictures and real examples of the techincal aspects that are discussed, but it's still an neccesary purchase for any serious road/trackday rider and club racer to my mind.
This book, backed up by the drills and learning you can glean from the schools (i've been lucky enough to attend) can enable even a half decent rider to become a very, very competent one. Much respect to Keith and his studying to be able to make the art of riding a motorbike such an acheievable skill for mere mortals!
When is 3 out....? :-)
I Get More Out Each Time I Re-read it July 28, 2008
The more experience I get on the track and the street, the more I get out of this book. I have taken all of the Keith Code classes in conjunction with this reading and re-reading this book, and I have found the comprehensive education with hands-on coaching at the classes along with intellectual learning through reading has helped my riding improve exponentially.
I have gained more control of my motorcycle, physical comfort on the bike, dropped lap times, and drastically improved my reactions to the unexpected through the book's section on re-training survival reactions.
Twist of the Wrist 2 is a book whose value increases the more you ride.
Owner's Manual for the Motorcyclist's Mind July 28, 2008
As the title states, I think that this book could more aptly be described as an owners manual for your mind while you're on a motorcycle. Though it does cover technical points of the motorcycle and how it works, what it really does is teach a person how to think about motorcycling and how to train yourself to be better at it. It does have some things to offer those riders that are brand new to our sport/obsession, but I think it is of more value to those that have the basic proficiency with the MECHANICS of riding (how to work the brakes, shift, accelerate, change direction.) The information is presented in a simply and is easy to understand. It will not make you Valentino Rossi overnight, but it will help you set up a frame of reference with which to judge your current skills. You'll instantly begin to recognize some of the good and bad in your riding and, with discipline and practice, be able to make it better. I'm a coach for Keith's school and I still refer back to this book whenever I find myself in a rut out on the track.
This is THE book for understanding and developing riding skills July 28, 2008
There is no other publication that has been as well researched or well proven when it comes to the technology of getting the best out of a motorcycle whether it be for street or track riding.
The techniques and examples included in this book have been developed by Keith Code over 28 years of in depth and personalized observation, coaching, demonstration and execution. In addition, all of the techniques laid out by Keith are utlized by Keith and his coaching staff at the California Superbike school - www.superbikeschool.com - AT EVERY SCHOOL all over the world. There is no better text, methodology or school - period!
If you want to be a better and safer rider, whether on the street or track, whether you are 10 years old or 65 years old, buy this book, and then go to a school - you won't regret it!
 Hmmm June 26, 2008
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.
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