Biker's Handbook: Becoming Part of the Motorcycle Culture

by Michele Smith and Jay Barbieri

Book Overview

There are millions of new motorcyclists hitting the blacktop every year. But being part of the American motorcycle culture takes more than just wanting to be cool. It takes a passion for the open road, freedom, and a lifestyle that even the best financing cant buy. This book, by someone who knows motorcycles as few do, provides a road map to biker culture for anyone new to the experience. Jay Barbieri explains everything a new rider needs to know...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 076033210X
• ISBN13: 9780760332108
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Motorbooks International
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Biker's Handbook

A must have for those who are just starting to ride and also those that have ridden for years. Everyone can pick up a few tips. A good reference book.

Great fun

This book is great fun. Solid advise and some great stories that are too close to home at times. If you ride, you'll get it, if you don't but want to, then definately put it on your list of things to do first.

GREAT BOOK!!!

Great gift! Smart and funny. Anyone who rides or wants to ride will love this book. The stories are humorous and there are great photos and illustrations. I loved it and recommended to all my friends.

More than an introduction to the 'American Harley Motorcycle Culture'

If you are brand new to bikes, you might enjoy the first couple chapters. Obvious do's and dont's (for example - leave 1%ers alone, a mistake you might make only once) But the big point is not to buy into being something you are not. Some negative reviews I've seen seem to have lost that point; Focussing instead on Jay's opinion who is or isn't a 'biker' or Jay's preference for Harley. A better description might be that it is about the 'American Harley Motorcycle Culture'. Though a good portion of the book is dedicated to real road stories, some funny, some lessons easy to forget when are having fun with friends. These stories read like he's told them a million times over beers. I would have been happy to buy the round. All very entertaining. To hear his experieces are worth the price alone. Simple message, be who you are and it's all about getting out and riding.

Laugh-out-loud funny book!

I've been riding motorcycle a lot longer than the author (almost 40 years), and I was going to Sturgis about a decade before he started attending, but I learned a few things from this book anyway. There is an awful lot of good advice in here. There's a lot of advice I don't agree with, too, but to each his own. But what I enjoyed most about this book are the author's personal examples--a subtitle might be: "Don't do what I did." His stories about learning things the hard way cracked me up, and they reminded me of my own early years of riding, when I was learning everything through trial by error, and sometimes learning those lessons in a very painful way. Some people might be upset about the political incorrectness of his experiences, but his stories are a good snapshot of what the biker life is like, warts and all. Readers who approach this book as adults and not pampered school children will realize that learning from the author's politically incorrect mistakes can save them a lot of money and pain. It may even save their lives.