Is this the future of FMX?
WORDS AND PHOTOS: SIMON MAKKER
While trains clattered overhead and the rush-hour traffic stopped, started and banked up at traffic lights on a nearby main road, Jack Field and Jason Hill sized up a wall-ride. They were standing in a wide, concrete storm drain, balancing their idling bikes with both feet on the pegs and a ridiculously smooth combination of throttle, clutch and brake control.
Their 250cc two-strokes could barely be heard, and even when Jack dropped the clutch and powered towards the imposing concrete pillar, the exhaust note blended in with the traffic.
Jack launched his Scorpa SY250R off a strategically placed rock and sailed through the air before slamming his bike into the pillar’s vertical face at least two metres above its base and powering off the concrete wall in a classic wall-ride.
His buddy, Jason, whooped through his helmet.
“Nice one, Jack! I reckon we should head to the skatepark before we run out of daylight and get caught in the full rush-hour traffic.”
Jack nodded and the pair headed under the highway, slow-wheelying and endoing past a wall obviously frequented by graffiti artists and juvenile taggers to where their van is waiting. They quickly loaded up and pointed the grille at their next destination: a skatepark in Brisbane’s southern suburbs.
“I want to try a Backflip,” grinned Jason. “I haven’t done one in about a year, because of our freestyle trials demos. We can’t afford to hurt ourselves when we have a lot of shows lined up, but I reckon I’ll make an exception today.”
It’s the first time Jack and Jason have hit up the streets of Brisbane in months, and both lads are relishing being out riding “The Urbz”. Already they’d hit up a massive concrete ramp and stairs between the lanes of the M1 Motorway, launched up and down between some concrete bridge pillars (also holding up said motorway), and found several hits and wall-rides in the storm drain beneath the railway tracks.
“That’s the cool thing about freestyle trials,” explained Jack. “You really can take them anywhere. The bikes are quiet, so you hardly ever draw attention to yourselves – and when you do the public normally stops and takes photos instead of calling the cops – the bikes are extremely light and torquey so you can flick them around easily, and there’re so many possibilities of what you can hit. How many half-pipes and skateparks do people ride on their motocross bikes? We even have a course set up in our back yard that we spend hours riding.”
It’s a good point, and it begs the question: with insurance issues plaguing dirt-bike riding parks, residential development continually encroaching on tracks and compounds, and riding areas becoming increasingly short in supply, could freestyle trials really be the answer? Could FMX one day become a sport of stark contrasts? Is it possible that in one world it could become a secretive sport only performed in the shadowy backstreets, alleys and less-frequented areas of suburbia, then on the flipside pack out stadiums filled with tens of thousands of screaming fans?
It’s a fascinating thought, but the main hurdle stopping this scenario ever coming to fruition is trials’ huge lack in popularity.
“Trials riding in Australia is dying in the arse at the moment,” admitted Jason. “The scene here is really small and we just want to go out there and show people that it can be cool and you can do some pretty crazy shit on these bikes.”
If trials riding is one of the least-popular motorcycling disciplines in Australia, then freestyle trials doesn’t even register on the scale. In fact, Jack and Jason are the only Australians they know who take their machines and jump ’em, flip ’em and scout out previously untapped urban riding spots.
“There’re a couple of guys in Europe who do freestyle trials, but that’s about it,” revealed Jack as he swung his van into a carpark. “It’s a really small sport.”
As small as it is, French freestyle trials rider Julien Dupont’s video clips on YouTube are more popular than clips featuring Aussie surfing champ Mick Fanning, with one clip boasting over three million views. But for some reason, that popularity doesn’t translate to people keen to swing a leg over a trials bike and give it a go themselves.
“The bikes aren’t even expensive,” said Jason. “You can pick up a really good second-hand one for about $4000, and they cost next-to-nothing to run. Maybe people are just intimidated by what they see and can’t picture themselves ever being able to do trials. I dunno. It’s kinda weird.”
There was no denying the lads’ popularity at the skatepark: as soon as they rolled their bikes out of the van and donned their gear, the kids flocked to them like seagulls on a French fry.
“Whoa, are you going to ride here?” “Hey I saw you here last week!” “You got any stickers?”
The boys laughed and headed out to play, with the horde of young teens running behind them.
After hitting the halfpipes and wall-rides and grinding the funbox with their bashplates like oversized, chunky BMX bikes, they focused their attentions on a three-metre tabletop, and were soon ripping out Double Cans, No Handers and whips.
But after talking up the Backflip, both knew they couldn’t go home until they’d at least attempted it.
Jason was the first to give it a go over the tabletop. He swung his bike around impossibly fast to get through the rotation, but landed cleanly and rode away with his fist in the air.
“What’s it like?” Jack asked tentatively.
“It’s easy. It’s like it’s made for Backflipping,” Jason enthused. “You’ll get it no worries.”
Like Jason, Jack hit the ramp, threw his head back and rotated hard and fast, silhouetting briefly against the setting sum. While his wheels hit the ground simultaneously, he cased the landing with a groan. However, he had it dialled with another couple of attempts, before the tabletop bit back and spat him over the bars. Even though he was uninjured, it was time to call it a day.
All in all, it had been a successful day “on the town”.
“Hopefully we can make people aware of the different avenues you can take with freestyle,” said Jason as he loaded the bikes back into the van. “Freestyle doesn’t just have to be about hitting 75ft ramps every day. It’s about having fun with your riding, and developing new skills. While I can’t see it ever rivalling freestyle, there’s definitely a lot of potential for freestyle trials and we’d love to see it gain popularity in Australia.”
THE PROS AND CONS OF URBAN FREESTYLE
PROS
• Cheap, both for bikes and fuel
• Trials bikes super-quiet, lightweight and can still clock 100km/h
• The world is your playground
• You can easily set up a “compound” in your back yard
• You’ll pick up new skills and improve your riding dramatically.
CONS
• For the most part, it’s illegal
• None of your mates do it
• Trials bikes are easily affected by wind if you take them off ramps
• You need to practise a lot to get your skills up.
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