Dirt Riding Skills for Dual Sport and Adventure Riders (DVD) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I am in my late 40's and after a 17-year hiatus have just returned to motorcycling. After riding on the street for a few months, I've become interested in dual sport or adventure riding, but I have never been riding off road, at least on purpose. While the best way to learn is to do, I thought that before I am ready to start buying a whole new set of bike and gear, I would like to see just what kinds of skills are needed and how they they are different from street riding. Hence I've been looking for instructional DVDs and looking at things on the net quite a bit. Most videos that I've found so far are really aimed at motocross (DVD - MOTO Fundamentals -), where riding fast is the major concern. The kinds of skills needed on the fast MX track - a relatively homogenous surface when compared to what might be found outside of the track - while similar, are not quite what I've been looking for, and are a little more advanced and specialized for where I'm at right now, and things like The MSF Dirtbike School are a bit too basic.
This DVD is an excellent source for the beginning off-road rider, but it is not a one-stop shop. It is clearly meant as a supplement (or marketing tool, if you wish to be more cynical) to Carl Adams' book The Essential Guide to Dual Sport Motorcycling: Everything You Need to Buy, Ride, and Enjoy the World's Most Versatile Motorcycles. [At this writing, I have not yet seen the book, although it is on order.] The DVD has no information on selecting gear, motorcycles, advice or stories about your chosen hobby - and refers you frequently to look at the relevant sections of the book for such information (as an aside, most of the MX DVDs do not discuss these either). The DVD instead focuses on basic techniques, using example, complete with slow motion analysis, and suggested practice exercises. It starts with basic control usage - clutch, throttle, brake, gearshift. After this, exercises are geared to working from a seated position to execute various maneuvers, using both controls and body position, and then similar exercises from a standing position, including the use of knees to adapt to terrain. One exercise focuses on reading lines and sections (interpreting the terrain) for finding the best traction. In all there are about 8 major exercises with several subsections. The DVD also comes with a small paper "field guide" to take out in the field to help you work through the exercises; I made disposable copies to take into the field. The DVD stops short of discussing how to deal with more difficult terrain, but does end with a number of examples to whet your appetite. I do wish that how surface changes the techniques introduced was looked at in depth (most of the exercises use a smooth, flat dirt track), but this information may be in the book. After viewing, though, I found myself wishing for a little more. Despite this, I think the DVD is a great vicarious introduction to the skills and experience of dual sport adventure riding.
To sum up:
Pros: a good introduction to technique for the novice dirt rider, with excellent examples and practice suggestions
Cons: not a complete everything you need to know, if that's what you are looking for - read the book!

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