South Australia’s SD3 Husqvarna pilot Luke Arbon has experienced a roller-coaster season thus far, but the 23-year-old proved that he can still ride a dirt cycle by winning the 125 Goldentyre Cup and placing third in the Mountain Man class at the 40th anniversary of the historic Mountain Man race at Toowoomba, QLD, over the weekend. We caught up with Luke as he jetted back home for a few days and got his thoughts on a range of topics .

Image: Jeff Crow.

The Mountain Man race…

It was a good, fun weekend but I’m sore now after about two hours of racing on Sunday! I hadn’t raced motocross for a while with my illness and then being flat-out with supercross, so it was cool to get back out there. I won the 125 Cup and got third in the Mountain Man unlimited class where I raced a 250 four-stroke. Saturday we had practice and qualifying and the track dried out a bit, so the club put a lot of water down and ripped it really deep for Sunday. As a result practice and the first couple of races on Sunday were really tough and the 125 struggled with the ruts and soft track, but by the second 125 race it was unreal and was probably one of the most fun races I’ve ever ridden – the ruts were smooth and there was plenty of traction. As the day wore on it got even more technical and the ruts were full of holes and it was tough to ride. It was great to see a heap of local dudes turn up to ride. Some of them were holding it on out there and made it tough to get by them, especially the guys on 450s.

Riding a two-stroke again…

It was pretty fun. I hadn’t ridden a 125 since probably 2006, so yeah, nine years! Obviously I rode a 250 two-stroke last year but it was cool to get back on a 125 and I really enjoyed swinging off the clutch all day. Toowoomba Motorcycles hooked me up with a Husky 125 for the weekend. As much fun as it was though, I don’t really miss riding a two-stroke. The 250 especially is a handful on Australian tracks. The Husky four-strokes are unreal bikes and at least that way the only struggle is with myself and not the bike.

Struggles this year…

I felt good at the start of the year but during pre-season I fractured my thumb and that set me back four weeks. I came into the first round a bit under-done and we hadn’t had much time to test bike set-ups. We changed the bike up for Murray Bridge and I felt comfortable there and got second, then had a good outing at Coolum 1. During the mid-season break I knocked myself out at a local round and from there everything spiraled downwards. I had some illness in my gut which was leaking toxins into my bloodstream and I felt constantly run down for months. I’d wake up after 12 hours of sleeping and would just want to go back to sleep. I struggled with it big-time at Raymond Terrace and Shepparton – the first 10 minutes of the moto I was fine but I’d just hit a wall, my arms would pump up and the body would just shut down. It took ages to find out what the go was and I pretty much drove myself into the ground, but now that they know what’s wrong I’ve been able to turn it around. I’m feeling a lot better now – I get up feeling motivated again and racing has become fun again now that I can actually ride the bike.

Image: Jeff Crow.

Supercross so far…

I’ve had two good rounds at Bathurst and Wayville but I rode terribly on the hard-pack Jimboomba track. I just tightened up and didn’t have fun. Getting on the podium at Bathurst was a great start to the series for me and I felt I rode well at Wayville, but a crash after getting the holeshot meant I had to try and come from behind and I finished fifth. We’re halfway through and I’m fourth in the championship, but I’ve got a few more podiums in me.

The best social media…

I like Instagram. You can follow who you want and see cool photos from the people you want to follow. Facebook is mainly just people ranting over shit and sharing dumb videos now. Snapchat is okay, but I try and restrict how much I use it so I don’t blow my data out every month. They’re clever though – just when you start getting sick of it they’ll add more shit to it to keep you entertained. Snapchat is definitely good if you’re a single bloke!