Proficient Motorcycling : The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well
Everyone driving a motorcycle should own this. That's no hype. David Hough has been riding and researching riding for decades. He has compiled a vast amount of information about what goes wrong out there on the roads. Using the best information available, he has practical advice on how you can avoid the trouble spots. It's all about managing risks.
As a beginner, this book is invaluable. I started riding in early 2002 on a 1996 Honda Shadow VLX. I took the MSF, but I also read everything I could lay my hands on. A friend loaned me racing technique videos (not that I'll ever race). Another friend gave ma a huge stack of motorcycling magazines. I read web sites. Aside from race specific information, in all that reading I found very little that Hough doesn't cover in this book.
Even veterans might learn something here. Hough relates a story of a long time GoldWing rider who failed to negotiate a diminishing radius exit ramp, and high sided. The guy was fine (banged up, but fine). His beautiful bike was totaled. The guy made a couple of mistakes, and probably could have ridden through the curve, if he'd only known what to do.
That said, the book is more for newer riders or those returning to motorcycling. It also has a section on riding two up and some lessons for your pillion.