![]() ![]() “In my mind, I was never going back,” said Sheppard. With the new 2014 YZ-Fs having a very FMX unfriendly sub-frame, Sheppard was often questioned about if he would ever make the switch back to the two-stroke. The extra power of the bike was an advantage for Sheppard, especially on tight competition courses with big jumps or tight ups. Any FMXers worst fear is the bike bogging on the ramp, and FI helped put that to the back of my mind.” “My main reason behind this was fuel injection (FI). “I had the choice to ride any bike I wanted, and I chose the YZ450F over the two-strokes the other team riders were on,” Sheppard continued. Sheppard stuck with the 250Fs up until he started riding for the Yamaha-supported JC Action Sports team in 2011. It was a nice change after riding basically unchanged YZs for so long.” “The extra engine braking was a little different at first, but it didn’t take long to adjust to it. “The bike lacked the light feel and snappy power of my old YZ, but for some tricks the solid feeling in the air felt like an advantage,” said Sheppard. He switched to a KX250F in 2008 as he was working in a Kawasaki dealership and the two-strokes weren’t available in the country any more. JC Epidemic rider, Joe Sheppard, has also ridden two-strokes most of his life (mainly Yamahas). It is fairly common for an FMX rider to make the transition from a two-stroke to a four-stroke in their career. But for FMX, the infamous ‘two-banger’ will always have my heart! The only time I have ventured onto a 450cc four-stroke is while doing a little track riding. I have ridden two-strokes my whole life – from QR50s, RM80s and RM125s to my current YZ250 two-stroke. This is one of the more controversial topics in freestyle motocross and the rest of the dirt bike world… Two-strokes or four-stokes which do you prefer? In this week’s story, I’ll be talking to a couple of FMX riders who have rode aboard both sorts of bikes during their careers. Penned each week by South Australian rider, Ben Heidrich, the FMX Insider will present the story-behind-the-stories of the Aussie and international freestyle motocross scenes. Welcome to our brand new weekly web-exclusive column, Transmoto‘s FMX Insider. ![]()
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