Shane Watts DirtWise

There are always going to be those days where you can seem to do no wrong, but truly upping your game with solid skills is much more rewarding as it pays off every single time you’re in the saddle. One of the best ways to get better on your dirt bike is to find someone who's been there and done it all before to give some helpful instruction. Finding the time and money to join a riding school is often difficult. One of the best ways I’ve come across for doing it on your own is with instructional DVDs like the Shane Watts DirtWise series.


Shane Watts is a decorated off-road racer who has seen success at the highest levels within the United States and abroad. If it weren’t for injuries and bad luck, Wattsy would have likely won plenty more titles to pad his already impressive career stats. Now he shares a wealth of knowledge with students during his DirtWise Academy programs, and also in the DVD format. We sampled the original video and reported on it in the DirtWise with Shane Watts Vol 1 DVD Review. That video offered tons of useful information and was sprinkled with cheesy humor. I’m glad to report that Volume 2, Cornering, Braking and Tight Trees, is equally helpful and benefits from smoother narration, slightly better editing and less cheesy presentation ($25).

Run time is short enough to be watched comfortably in one sitting and the video is split into seven chapters: Introduction, Accelerating, Braking, Senses and Analysis, Flat Corners, Rutted Corners and Tight Trees.
Each section see’s Watts lay out the importance of technique for each situation along with a demonstration of how to practice the skill in a controlled environment. He then shows the technique in practical use on a trail scenario. Often there are demonstrations of the improper techniques as well which is useful to illustrate the benefits. There are small plugs for his sponsor companies sprinkled throughout, but I never found them annoying. Included with the DVD is a series of coupons for discounts with all of those companies.

Of course, watching the video alone won’t make you any faster, it truly comes down to getting out and practicing. I definitely need to get better about setting up a designated practice course rather than just trying to apply them automatically on the trail, but I found that it was very easy to relay his instructions while on the trail. I would watch the video and pick up a few things I wanted to work on and make a mental note of it while riding. Then do it again on the nest time out. It’s amazing how often the techniques come into play on a regular trail ride. The DirtWise videos look to be improving slightly in their editing and the clear instruction and demonstration make them some of my favorites. Plus, just watching Wattsy do everything at speed is enough from a pure entertainment standpoint.


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