Customer Reviews

Sportbiking: The Real World 2: Rider & Bike Tuning Handbook

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Sorry to be the bad guy here, but I felt this was one of the most 'low budget' motorcycling books I have read (literally and figuratively). The editing was EXTREMELY poor - grammar erros serious enough to confuse concepts, wrong words, missing words, etc. The author tries to write in a 'down to earth', conversational-type style, but is only marginally successful.

From a technical standpoint (getting beyond the errors to what he's trying to get across), I did find a few helpful tips. If you don't mind spending the money and the reading time to sort out 3 or 4 items that may help improve your riding, go for it. Otherwise, I'd suggest you save your money and put it toward a better book.

I haven't read Gary's first volume, but this one is good stuff. Divided into three sections, the first is good information along the lines of Code's book on sportbike riding. The third section is very good information you won't find elsewhere on riding in the rain - not just how to, but why you should. As I say, good stuff.

It's the second section on suspension tuning that is the real gem. You won't believe how much more fun and in control you'll feel by giving your bike a perfect set up. These 53 pages will not only show you how to set up suspension, but explain how the systems work, their design, and the engineering theory and practice behind them. Learning how the systems work is a great help in getting a feel for what you're looking for as you tune your own bike's suspension. I've been riding the bikes and reading the magazines for 20 years, but it's only after learning suspensions from Mr. Jaehne that I really feel I know more about bikes than 99% of any motorcycle enthusiast I'm likely to meet.

I was disapointed and could not learn much from it. I didn't like the writing style - very distracting - and concepts - confusing. Try Twist of the Wrist II from Keith Code and/or Sport Riding Techniques from Nick Ienatsch. Those are good investment.

I'm pretty unsure of where to rank this book. Gary J is not a professional author (and it shows in the copy editing and writing of the book). What he does do, though, is provide a bunch of real world experience and riding tips in both volumes.

It covers riding theory, riding skills, and practical suspension setup - something i've found invaluable as a rider myself. While this doesn't give you an instant background of "how and why" of riding, it will help those who're in the middle range of skill get better. It's not a beginners book by any means. He assumes that you've been on the road or the track for a while, he also assumes you know the basics of riding (experience and MSF course, really).

I have, in the past recommended this book to people, on mailing lists, and in person. It is a very solid investment for your money. It's a quick read, with plain language, and yeah, it can be confusing at times, especially if you don't have the base skills he's talking about or mentioning.

if you're looking for beginner books, look elsewhere. if you're looking for a good book to help you fine tune what you already know or suspect, pick this up and give it a read.

I'd heard about this book from a friend, and when I got a copy and began reading it I found that it includes a really good mix of serious info about performance riding skills combined with some really easy to follow instructions that helped me in setting up the suspension on my Ducati 996. Even though I'm not a great wrench my buddies and I were able to get our bike's working amazingly better by following the suspension setup steps from the book.

The combination of info that the author put into this little book is something that's started to fill some of the gaps that I've found in my own knowledge since I started getting off the street last year and testing my riding at a few track days.

I'd suggest this book to riders that want to know more about how to make themselves and their bike better prepared for going fast. I found it to be good stuff that opens the door and made me think more about my own riding.

Amazon offers several great books that will help you improve your riding and street survival skills - unfortunately, this book is not one of them. The author's ego and lack of knowledge have produced a book with few meaningful insights into sport riding. You will be better served by any of the excellent instructional books from Keith Code, David L. Hough, Nick Ienatsch or Lee Parks.

I'd heard about this book from a friend, and when I got a copy and began reading it I found that it includes a really good mix of serious info about performance riding skills combined with some really easy to follow instructions that helped me in setting up the suspension on my Ducati 996. Even though I'm not a great wrench my buddies and I were able to get our bike's working amazingly better by following the suspension setup steps from the book.

The combination of info that the author put into this little book is something that's started to fill some of the gaps that I've found in my own knowledge since I started getting off the street last year and testing my riding at a few track days.

I'd suggest this book to riders that want to know more about how to make themselves and their bike better prepared for going fast. I found it to be good stuff that opens the door and made me think more about my own riding.

I wish there were more books like this one on motorcycles. It worth its weight in gold. Too many of motorcycle books trying to compensate for a lack of originality and content by a gloss paper and meaningless pictures.

I'd heard about this book from a friend, and when I got a copy and began reading it I found that it includes a really good mix of serious info about performance riding skills combined with some really easy to follow instructions that helped me in setting up the suspension on my Ducati 996. Even though I'm not a great wrench my buddies and I were able to get our bike's working amazingly better by following the suspension setup steps from the book.

The combination of info that the author put into this little book is something that's started to fill some of the gaps that I've found in my own knowledge since I started getting off the street last year and testing my riding at a few track days.

I'd suggest this book to riders that want to know more about how to make themselves and their bike better prepared for going fast. I found it to be good stuff that opens the door and made me think more about my own riding.

Doing more and more trackdays with my CBR929 these days I'm always looking for new resources to find tips on improving my riding. Many of the existing how-to books have been helpful in my riding improving but I found that the deeper look that the author provides on some more advanced techniques in this second generation Sportbiking 2 book are right on the money. Trail braking is something I've wanted to try to learn to master and I found the detailed description of the exact process in this book will really help me in putting it to use at my next trackday.

Being over 220 pounds I've always known that the suspension my my 929 could be improved but didn't have a lot of comfort in messing with it. I was always afraid I'd only make it worse. I was stoked to see an entire section of this book devoted to explaining the exact steps that I need to do to make my suspension right. The info was very clearly written and with a friends help we did all the settings and I was really amazed at the improvement. Good stuff!