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Dirt Bike Pro Riding Secrets With Shane Watts

Tackling Off-Cambers with Shane Watts
By Mark Kariya
Photography by Mark Kariya
Pro Training Secrets Shane Watts
This is what you'd normally... 
   
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Pro Training Secrets Shane Watts
This is what you'd normally expect to happen on an off-camber: one or both of the tires slides down the hill. With the right techniques, though, this need not happen.
Pro Training Secrets Shane Watts
Watts offers up this advice:... 
   
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Pro Training Secrets Shane Watts
Watts offers up this advice: "Weight the outside peg as much as possible and look straight ahead; avoid looking down [at the front tire]. You'll have better balance if you focus ahead. You always go where you look. So pick a point on the other side where you want to get to and you'll usually make it."
Pro Training Secrets Shane Watts
Watts puts so much weight... 
   
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Pro Training Secrets Shane Watts
Watts puts so much weight on the outside/downhill footpeg that he appears to be off balance. "My inside foot was actually up off the footpeg because I was leaning as far out as possible to put all that weight through the outside footpeg, which then transfers into the tires to give it maximum grip."
Pro Training Secrets Shane Watts
A view from the downhill side... 
   
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Pro Training Secrets Shane Watts
A view from the downhill side also shows how much emphasis Watts puts on weighting the outside/downhill peg. Even in a high-traction situation such as this, you want to maintain constant throttle; off-and-on throttle applications make tire slip more likely.
Pro Training Secrets Shane Watts
And, finally, here's how it... 
   
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Pro Training Secrets Shane Watts
And, finally, here's how it looks from the uphill side. Watts is crouched slightly; this helps lower the overall bike/body center of gravity. He's also fairly centered over the bike (front to back) and has a finger over both the clutch and brake levers in case either requires instant activation.

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