Jason, you might enjoy a subscription to Motorcycle Consumer News, the ONLY US bike mag with ZERO advertiser dollars. good talk about bikes, products, books, etc - http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/ and you will definitely get a lot out of renting and watching On Any Sunday, repeatedly… Frezno Smooth? not so much, but still hilarious. And a beginner trackday? Not to go racing (but it IS a great way to irritate an overprotective Jewish mom) - a beginner trackday? builds more skills than anything else. My pals at ZoomZoom offer some good ones - z2trackdays.com
My one bit of advice I always give is to always wear foam ear plugs. Try it once and you’ll be amazed at the difference of increased awareness you get.
I always find that the decrease of wind noise significantly decreases my sensory overload and allows me to focus so much better. I can hear every bit of road noise just fine too and the little that gets cut out is greatly compensated by my increased awareness.
I tend to re-use them 10+ times even though they are supposedly single use. I have a 2000 GSX-R 600 and while it warms up I always sit and do my gear donning routine with ear plugs first.
Good for videogame bike control too?
Because I picked up a copy of the MotoGP game in the recent Steam sale and am comically bad. It’s one thing to be aware that bikes take corners differently than cars, it’s entirely another to actually do it. I’m an avid racing sim player and can generally post decent times on four wheels, but with just two I’m flailing around like someone set me on fire.
I tried the tip Cory posted and put sugru on a set of earbuds this break. It works really well.
Probably. Handling while cornering aggressively is a neat science on a motorcycle. Without having your body weight to shift around on the bike, in a game, I am not sure how they manage.
I wiped out while reading Proficient Motorcycling. Well, not doing both at the same time (riding and reading), that is.
I still think it’s the book’s fault. It made me TOO aware of those wet streetcar tracks!
My fave piece of Motorcycling gear is a full face helmet. Yeah, yeah, face protection, whatever. The real killer feature is that when you’re lying post-crash on the pavement face up, and you move that heavy thing off your chest, you can’t SEE that it is, in fact, your leg.
Don’t ask me how I know.
Parks offers a very good series of 1 and 2 day training programs as well. It’s a great way to practice the theories he outlines in his books.
Reminds me of a great german book by Bernt Spiegel called “Die obere Hälfte des Motorrads”, the upper half of the motorcycle, which would be the rider.
It’s a great book, but I’m afraid there is no english translation.
Jason, if you enjoyed the book I HIGHLY recommend the class
I’ve taken the TARC 1 and TARC 2 courses here in Chicago as have many of my friends. They focus highly on throttle control, body position and proper suspension setup. Well worth the money.
Yes, you want hard foam for impact protection in the chin bar.
English version:
Thanks for looking up the translation, beeman07.
I highly recommend it.
Maybe it’s best to read them both, as I don’t know the one mentioned in the post… 
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
