Philip Robert

During my final tour of duty in the Navy I purchased a Harley Davidson Sportster motorcycle at the Navy Exchange in Yokosuka, Japan. After reporting aboard USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) my department head took delivery of a sportster and I discovered that the Navy exchange was selling them. Having always wanted a motorcycle I decided that it was time to make the purchase.

There is an art to riding a motorcycle. As small and maneuverable as they are motorcycles require a finely tuned sense of balance to ride safely. Getting around curves in the road, going through moving traffic, and stopping are maneuvers that seem straight forward when driving an automobile. Performing these same maneuvers on a motorcycle is not as straight forward a proposition as it would seem.

Someone who rides everyday is going to be much more adept than the individual who only goes out occasionally. Whatever your level of riding skill I would strongly recommend reading A Twist of the Wrist and A Twist of the Wrist II by Keith Code. These two books taught me more about riding safely than over forty thousand miles on the road. If you ride a motorcycle these books will teach you about the Science of riding motorcycles.

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  This first book is a great primer for riding on the track. I learned more about riding while scanning this book in the bookstore for twenty minutes than over forty thousand road miles taught me so I had to take it home.

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  This second book is more about all around high performance riding. It expands upon the first book's concepts with more of an emphasis on riding on the road.

Reading these two books will make you a better, safer, more confident rider!

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