David L. Hough's book "Proficient Motorcycling" showed me how little I really knew about the mechanical dynamics of a motorcycle. While I have been riding for a while, and am a safe rider, with Hough's book it has become a lot clearer about what a motorcycle is realing doing as I ride. Hough covers, in detail, many topics of safe riding, but he also helps you understand the mechanical dynamics of the motorcycle, in depth. By knowing what the machine wants to do under normal conditions, and under what conditions the machine fails us, we can better ride within the the margins of the bike's design and conditions. No matter how proficient you think you are already, Hough's book will help you understand what the machine is designed to do, and not do, and how important the rider is to it's safe operation. With the book in hand, plan on reading a chapter and wanting to go for a ride just to relate Hough's points to real riding.