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Chilton's Motorcycle Handbook


Keith Maher and Ben Greisler

This book is designed to be a handy reference guide to choosing, buying, and maintaining your motorcycle, riding gear, and accessories. We strongly believe that regardless of how many or how few years of riding or wrenching experience you may have, there is something new waiting for you here. And, probably more importantly, we feel that information contained in this book should be available to all motorcyclists before they throw a leg over a bike or spend money on it.

I like this book. It's got some great advice, both basic and advanced, and all told in a conversational and humorous style. I haven't read the book cover-to-cover yet (though I'm about halfway through), but it's meant to be used as a reference guide, and it serves that purpose pretty well. It's got lots of easy-to-understand pictures, and it explains things in a way that's clear and concise without being condescending. It covers buying various types of riding gear, overviews of basic maintenance (nothing specific enough to be able to replace the Clymers, but some good overall pointers), ride preparations, accessorizing, troubleshooting, and more. Personally, I'd give it two thumbs up just because it specifically mentions women's clothing in the "riding gear" section, and talks about how women can sometimes (??) have difficulty finding gear that fits. :) I like the laid-back, joking around tone of the book; it feels more like sitting around talking shop with a friend than an instruction manual.

Buy it from Whitehorse Press