FROM four-wheel motorbike riding on his family farm to freestyle motocross (FMX) riding in China – Josh Burdon has revved up his career over the years and watched as it has soared to new heights.
The Millicent freestyle motocross rider said his passion for the sport grew from watching “way too many” motorbike movies as a young boy.
Nowdays, he owns his own company “Factory FMX” and showcases his skills to audiences both nationally and internationally.
“I chose freestyle motocross because of how creative it allows the athlete to be on a motorbike,” Burdon said.
“Also the feeling of flying a motorbike and doing big jumps, it is very hard to explain, but it is an amazing feeling.”
Burdon’s journey with FMX began in 2004 when he was invited to ride at the Murray Bridge Supercross in a FMX demo.
He said he had “completed his homework” on his bike and felt like the time was right to perform in a public venue.
“A promoter watched me ride that night and was impressed.
“He asked me to ride the following weekend at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and that is where it all begun.
“I rode really well that night in Adelaide and was seen by another promoter who I then spent four years on the road with performing all over Australia doing FMX demos.”
Using the knowledge he had gained from performing on the road with promoters, Burdon founded his own company- Factory FMX- which has proven to be a huge success.
He approached local engineer Chris Cook at South East Engineering to build, what he describes as a crazy idea and concept, of a new mobile factory team.
Since then Burdon has performed hundreds of shows and last year Factory FMX took him to China where he performed over 180 shows in three-months.
When he returned home from the international trip, which could be seen as a massive feat, Burdon focused on recovering and restoring his energy levels.
“It was a massive effort living in another country and performing twice a day everyday for seven days a week,” he said.
“But, we had work out there to do and when we returned home we had to continue performing shows with the Factory FMX business, it is kind of never ending and you just have to try and keep up.”
In the last 12 months Burdon has performed a record number of over 200 live shows with Factory FMX, which he describes as the main highlight for the year, as well as the local sponsorship support from Gordon Refrigeration, Brad Tilley Accounting and Cocky’s Signs and Autos.
Another highlight for the motocross rider has been changing motorbikes to a Yamaha YZ 250 two stroke and watching the change in his performance riding a bike with impressive power.
Despite performing many shows Burdon said he does not get bored because no two are ever the same.
“The last year has been super busy and now two shows are the same, they may have similar formats, but because it is a live show anything can happen unexpectedly,” he said.
“Our performances are regular and depend on the different needs of client contracts or events.
“I do not think I could ever get bored with this industry, I love the sport and everything that comes with it.
“The travelling is always fun and my friends always come away with me.”
Burdon added that as well as loving the sport, he has to make sure he is prepared to step up and work the hard and long days.
“Preparation is the key to success,” he said.
“I spend a lot of hours working on bikes and being mentally prepared. “Stretching is really important to keep my body healthy.
“I did not really know how I was going to take on such a large scale of shows with the China gig last year, but I did everything I could before I left.
“When I arrived in China I took one day at a time.
“I look back now and think wow, that was full on – 180 plus live shows in three months – what was I thinking?
“But, I loved every minute of it.”
While a busy 2018 draws to an end for Burdon he still has a number of shows booked in on the calendar to perform.
As well as the shows, he said he will be kept busy with maintenance work on his equipment and learning new tricks to perform on his bike.
Burdon added that he was grateful of the support he had received from his sponsors and that he was looking forward to performing locally in upcoming months including at Naracoorte’s show this weekend.
