Customer Reviews

Performance Riding Techniques: The MotoGP manual of track riding skills

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I own Keith Code's Twist of the Wrist II, Lee Park's Total Control, and Nick Ienatsch's Sport Riding Techniques and all of those are great books.
Andy Ibbott's book is a worthy addition to them. It summarizes all techniques discussed in the aforesaid books in a very precise and accurate manner and it also contains a lot of new information as well. The book explains the physics behind each technique and is very easy to read. Many high quality pictures(almost on every page) make this book even more fun to read. So if I were to own only one motorcycle riding skills book it definitely be Andy Ibbott's one.

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.

Excellent riding tips from the Moto-GP gods. Recommend for the experienced track day rider. Read this after you've done the Code books. Valuable little morsels of insights.

In my opinion, the best book on the market for sportbike riders and racetrack techniques. Beautifully done, brilliantly written. Andy has more good information here for the advanced rider than any other book on the shelves. This and Nick Ienatsch's "Sportbike Riding Techniques" should be mandatory reading for anyone wishing to expand their riding skills, especially sportbike riders considering going to trackdays, track schools (such as CLASS, STAR, etc.) or actively roadracing.

this book is an excellent source of knowledge for anyone that had any questions about motorcycle racing on the top level with a lot of how to's and pointers to get most skills required for riding hard and fast...i would buy this book again and again.. a great book to have in ones library...

for those who are thinking about racing or just becoming a more competent rider, this book is for you.

Excellent indepth of what and how MotoGP "Superstars" deal with day to day and how they ride their machines.

Basically, it's Keith Code's "Twist of the Wrist" for MotoGP.

You don't have to be a regular track day rider, Club, AMA, or Moto GP racer for this book to provide you with practical insights into being a better rider. Even for the street / sport rider, or twisty road commuter, this book is another great tool to add to your riding skills library.

The author is a bit to general in describing the techniques and skills used in MotoGP and the quotes from the riders themselves offer little in site into the actual techniques used for racing. Trailbraking for example is only basically defined and not detailed in any manner at all. For example they say you should brake in a progressive manor, which his good advice. But they don't really go into why you should brake in a progressive manor or provide any in site into the technical advantages other than "it helps stability". I would have liked a more technical approach and less general advice.

I did think that the chapter on lines was very good however and explained the difference in lines and types of passing in the sport.
Still this a good read for any club racer and even a better read for someone whom wants to start club racing or just wanting to improve at track days. Hell, it might even be a good read for just the MotoGp fan to better help them understand the moves and racing action on TV.

Performance Riding Techniques: The MotoGP manual of track riding skills 2nd edition

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Looking at the page count, I assumed it was going to be a picture book with minimal information. Instead, there were lots of excellent photographs with a plethora of information. The text is small, so the page count is misleading. A lot of MotoGP heroes are frequently mentioned, mainly Valentino Rossi. Their techniques and commentary are incorporated in a constructive manner rather than show you what is the "correct" way. For example, Ibbott discusses counter-steering and a lot of MotoGP riders gave different versions of what they thought was counter-steering.

I normally write and highlight in all of my books, but Performance Riding Techniques was bound in a hardcover format with lots of good photographs. I just couldn't write and scribble all over the pages because they looked too good. Instead I used post-its and page flags to indicate important stuff. This book would be an excellent coffee table book, but does have useful information. However, I disagree with many reviewers and feel Performance Riding Techniques is NOT a replacement for other books by Keith Code, David Hough, Lee Parks, or Nick Ienatsch. Performance Riding Techniques does cover some of the fundamentals, but lacks a lot of the detailed strategies covered by Code or Parks, and is certainly not as useful to the beginner as Hough's books.

Ibbott, as a trainer, recognizes how the racers approach the mechanics of riding differently. Some of the riders use more of the rear brake while others don't use them at all. Ibbott also points out that upper body strength isn't nearly as important as working the lower body and legs and supplements this with commentary on how Rossi and other racers grip the tank and use the footpegs versus applying all their weight on the handle bars. Ibbott's description of the "vanishing point" was also very useful. Usually authors and trainers will tell you to "look through the turn" or "look where you want to go", but the "vanishing point" or point where the outside and inside lines merge together, is both descriptive and intuitive.

Ibbott's coverage of body armor and protective gear is excellent. He said that back protectors should be required, and I agree with this because of how much protection a rider needs to account for multiple hazards and variables on the street and track. A lot of back protectors are neither CE approved nor hard. A piece of foam is usually all that is included in a riding jacket (with CE approved elbow and shoulder pads). Yet, vendors like Knox offer CE approved back protector inserts for a mere pittance and jacket manufacturers don't bother with using these inserts from the get-go.

The book was very informative and a joy to read. I would say that it complements other riding books very well, but is hardly a comprehensive or definitive guide. In fact, Ibbott references Keith Code numerous times. I found Ibbott's writing to be easier to understand than Twist of the Wrist 1 and 2. The color photographs with modern MotoGP information was very useful as well. The only "negative" aspect of this book is that it looks too pretty so I do not want to write any notes on the pages!

Quite a large quantity of the riding techniques are found in other riding books, but the extra tips and advice from MotoGP riders can help on the track.

Overall: 5/5 stars