Shane Watts - Dirt Rider Magazine

We asked former GNCC and World Enduro champion Shane Watts to demonstrate how a novice should handle one of the trickiest situations any dirt rider can come across on the trail: an off-camber.We asked former GNCC and World Enduro champion Shane Watts to demonstrate how a novice should handle one of the trickiest situations any dirt rider can come across on the trail: an off-camber.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.Watts offers up this advice: "Weight the outside peg as much as possible and look straight ahead; avoid looking down . 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."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."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.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.