PORT ANGELES — David Hough of Agnew has some sage advice for motorcyclists: “Take it seriously.”

“It’s only cheap if you stay out of the hospital.”

Hough, 72, would know.

He is headed to the American Motorcyclist Association Hall of Fame for writing what is considered the authority on motorcycling safety, Proficient Motorcycling.

The second edition of his book, which has sold about 150,000 copies, is available at Amazon and major bookstores everywhere.

“Motorcycling is potentially very risky, and it’s potentially reasonably safe,” Hough said.

“The difference is whether you take it seriously or not.”

Hough will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Dec. 5 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas with five others in the hall’s class of 2009.

“For many new motorcyclists, before they take a training course or even buy a motorcycle, they are introduced to proper riding through the books and columns of David Hough,” said Rob Dingman, president and CEO of the American Motorcyclist Association.

“His comprehensive approach to proper riding techniques has pointed many motorcyclists — novice and veteran alike — down the right path, and has helped riders learn the skills they need to be safer on the road.”

The Hall of Fame induction is a unique honor from an association that primarily honors racers and big-name stunt riders.

“I look at this not as so much an award for me personally, but as final recognition that we have people out there pounding the pavement, teaching courses, developing courses, writing books, and it’s about time that they got recognized,” Hough said.

“I may have the spotlight on me at the moment, but I’m sharing this with everybody out there who has been involved with motorcycle safety.”

Began as commuter

Hough began riding a motorcycle when he lived on Bainbridge Island and commuted to Boeing, the company for which he wrote a motorcycling safety column for a newsletter.

Cheap transportation — and the convenience of getting on and off the ferry — got Hough interested in motorcycling in the first place.

“There’s more to it than meets the eye, and that message is true for today’s motorcyclists,” Hough said.

“If you’re thinking about saving money by buying a scooter or a motorcycle next time the gas prices go up, consider that there’s some risks you need to deal with.”

Because of those risks, motorcycling should be taken as seriously as flying a helicopter or an airplane, Hough said.

“The message for pilots is, don’t expect to survive a crash,” said Hough, who moved to Dungeness with his wife, Diana, in 1989.

“You can’t crash-pad yourself to crash in an airplane and survive, nor can you expect to survive a motorcycle crash.

“The whole deal is, avoid the crash.”

Hough — who has ridden some 1.5 million miles and traveled throughout Western Europe, Brazil, South Africa and New Zealand and the United States on a motorcycle — has survived two serious wrecks.

He was hit by a piece of a mobile home on a freeway in 1980. Last fall, he crashed his motorcycle in the California desert.

He now rides a high-performance, eye-catching three-wheeler called the Spyder.

Traveling the countryside in a car, which Hough compares to watching a big-screen television, isn’t the same as experiencing the sights, sounds and smells of the open road, he said.

Limited information

When it comes to safety, a lack of instructors and schools has limited the training available to new motorcyclists, Hough said.

“Interestingly enough, novice training like the basic RiderCourse doesn’t teach you how to be a skilled motorcyclist,” Hough said.

“It just teaches you how to operate a motorcycle so you can go get your license. Then the real learning begins.”

Although Hough never intended to become rich from his books, he soon discovered an untapped niche in motorcycling safety.

“If there wasn’t anything for me, there wasn’t anything for those millions of other motorcyclists out there,” Hough said

“I just started filling that void.”

Don Rosene, chairman of the Hall of Fame induction committee, said of Hough: “His books should be a mandatory read for every motorcyclist, from novice to expert.”

A motorcycle dealer from Anchorage who sits on the selection committee called Hough in May with the news that he had been inducted to the Hall of Fame.

“My first impression was this has got to be a practical joke — one of my friends trying to put one over on me,” Hough said.

“It wasn’t April Fools Day.”

The selection signaled a change of direction for the American Motorcycle Association, which had never given an award to a motorcycling safety author.

“Let’s face it, we have a significant crash problem in motorcycling,” Hough said.

“We kill roughly 5,000 people a year in motorcycling, just in the United States.”

Required training courses are not solving the crash problem, Hough said.

He hopes his books will help.

“I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and say, ‘I just wanted to tell you that you’ve saved my life once or twice because of what I’ve read,’ which is very satisfying,” said Hough, adding that he is “humbled” by the response he gets to his common-sense books.

“It’s serious, serious business. If you’re not serious about it, you’re going to get smooshed.”

________

Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.