Customer Reviews

The Complete Motorcycle Book: A Consumer's Guide

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

For someone who brings nothing more than enthusiasm to the art of motorcycle riding (in other words, you don't know the first thing about motorcycle parts and you have no idea what "countersteering" means), this book is a fairly good introduction. The author takes you through all aspects of motorcycle ownership, from deciding whether riding is right for you to the mechanics behind the combustible engine to making high speed turns. The information is reasonably detailed and well written, and all topics are covered.

My only complaints are: 1) many introductory books to motorcycles, such as The Idiot's Guide, give a more detailed breakdown of all bikes currently on the market... this book only covers a handful of bikes available (although it does have a section on used bikes), 2) there could have been more illustrations to accompany the explanations of motorcycle parts and functionality, and 3) certain sections use terms that the author never takes the time to define (at one point he makes numerous references to the "gasket" without telling the uninitiated where a gasket is, what it looks like, what it's function is, etc.).

But in the long run, my complaints are minor. This book is relatively comprehensive, and covers some issues that other books don't (such as the section on female riders). The author is well informed, clearly cares a great deal about the subject matter, and stresses safety. Anyone who is considering buying their first motorcycle would do well to buy this book (and maybe one or two others as well).

This "really" is a complete guide to motorcycles. It helps you to decide if this sport is for you, describes the various types of motorcycles and advises on the purchase of new and used bikes. Maintenance and safe riding practices are discussed in enough detail to be helpful. There is a very useful section for women riders. Every rider or wannabe should have this book

Save your money and buy the Motorcycle Owner's Manual by Hugo Wilson. The Complete Motorcycle Book is full of dated and factually incorrect information, and isn't a particularly good guide to anything. There are much better (and more current) resources available to new (and old!) riders.

A really good book for beginners and a not to bad book for experienced riders. I recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about buying a bike or whose love one is about to buy a bike. This book is chock full of information, starting out with trying to answer the question ride or not ride and then going on to explain how to pick the right bike; how to buy a used or new bike; basic motorcycle maintenance; and safety tips.

i had high hopes for this one. good table of contents and the few pages i skimmed at the store were decent. in fact the first half of the book was fine but after about page 200 it seemed the author's editor must have given up.
   i found it oddly funny that the first chapter discusses how to dissuade your son from getting a bike, then later Jim Bennett attempts some kind of stance to ostensibly include women in his survey of motorcycling by attempting to note special issues women may have when deciding to ride. these few paragraphs seemed clunky, contrived and a bit condescending.
   the book had some pictures and some advice and i might even be an iota or two smarter than i was before i picked up the book, but i came away disappointed. it's a quick survey for the complete beginner, but once read you know it could've been done a lot better and that there must be better survey-type books for beginners out there. maybe the "idiot's guide to motorcycles" referenced before would've been a better purchase for me.
   if you are a woman i might recommend The Perfect Vehicle by an actual woman Melissa Holbrook Pierson. not a survey of motorcycles, but a story about her experience as a beginning motorcyclist.

A great book for anyone who is curious about becoming a rider. The author was very informative and answers almost all questions that a beginner/entry-level person would have. I highly recommend this book to any beginner, like me. : )

I recently got into motorcycling, and this book was an invaluable resource. It helped me pin down what I wanted from motorcycling and what kind of bike was right for me.

This book starts from scratch. I bought it before I got my first motorcycle. The author begins with reasons not to get involved in motorcycling. If you pass this chapter, then you know that motorcycling, and this book is for you. Speaking in terms that someone who hasn't been in the sport can understand, the author then describes all the different types of motorcycles availible, how to go about finding one, and making sure you get a good deal, new or used. He then tells you how to take care of the new addition to the family.

As I said, I got this book before I got my first motorcycle, and this book was a tremendous help to me in choosing what was right for me, and taking care of it. I'd recommended it to ANYONE who is thinking about getting into motorcycling. For those who are already in motorcycling, this book will be a good reference manual for common occurances, or when you get a new motorcycle

This book is outdated and does not really have factual information in it. I would list it as a waste of time and effort.

I'm taking a motorcycle safety test and purchasing my first bike this spring. I browsed through a few books at the bookstore and do believe that this was the best choice of the books available on the shelf that day. As a female total beginner who has only ridden on the bakc of bikes, I found the general information on the types of bikes, and general structure and components, motorcycle maintenance most useful. I'm quite sure the information on riding techniques will help me in training and during the skills test. The only information that I pretty much skipped was the beginning where the author discusses a son's choice in buying a bike and talking him out of it. Also, the detailed information on classic bikes, and used bikes, (bikes that a beginner is not likely to buy) perhaps would have been better as an Appendix. But I remember a section like that in a lot of the beginner books I browsed and would suspect that the experienced motorcycle enthusiasts just can't help themselves and want to share the joy (I'm sure I'll reach that point when I become that knowledgeable about these beautiful machines). All in all, I thought this was a great written introduction to read while waiting for spring to arrive.