We talk to young Australian Off-Road Championship rider Jonte Reynders and his manager Derek Grundy about his transition to the Sherco team and how he feels riding the 300 SEF Factory.
THE RIDER JONTE REYNDERS
How did the deal come about?
After rounds three and four of the AORC at Dungog, the team approached me, we talked and they sent me a contract. Within a couple of weeks I had a bike, so it was a pretty exciting time.
What’s your riding style?
I like to stand up a lot and I have always been quite aggressive but I have been working on being smoother.
Are you hard on gear?
Like most people, I’m pretty hard on the graphics, ’grips and seatcovers. But I definitely make a new bike look old pretty fast!
What’s something you do with your bike that’s unique, personalised or something people wouldn’t know?
I don’t do anything too crazy with my bike setup but I like to have Zeta levers, XTrig ’bar mounts, a gripper seatcover from Topline and the lowest ’bar I can get. The engine is very close to stock but I have run race fuel at some events which makes a real difference.
THE MANAGER & MECHANIC DEREK GRUNDY
You spotted Jonte racing as a privateer?
He showed great speed on a stock Yamaha YZ250F, which he prepared himself, at rounds three and four of the AORC. I always thought he was a talent at motocross in his Junior days and also as a Senior.
He showed up to ride in one of our eight-hour cross-country events when I was still racing in Tasmania and on that day he was by far the fastest rider there apart from Matt Phillips but not far off the world champ. I was talking with Matt after the event and he said Jonte could be a top level off-road rider if he stuck to it.
I feel his desire and passion, along with great mechanical knowledge, shows that he wants to be one of the top guys of off-road.
Does Jonte Reynders do anything unusual with his bike set-up?
Jonte has been very clear with what he wants from his set-up, with no real strange requests. Chad’s Offroad Setups has got a fairly plush setting in both the fork and shock (both standard Sherco KYB ones). Jonte is running the Merge Racing light-to-medium progressive inner-chamber spring in his fork with SKF fork seals and all internals have been polished to reduce stiction, along with a slight re-valving. The fork tubes have been coated with DLC.
The shock has been fitted with a low-stiction MX-Tech piston band and also has polished internals and again, a slight re-valving and DLC on the shock shaft with an XTrig ride-height adjuster.
Depending on what type of event/terrain we are on, we then change this to suit, along with chassis settings.
His rider sag setting is the same as what most riders would ask for.
All three of our riders (Jonte Reynders, Andy Wilksch and Nathan Trigg) run the same race parts, with Jonte the only one running a lower handlebar (ODI McGrath) and the Xtrig ’bar mounts. All three bikes have been running Talon hubs with Excel rims, RK sprockets, Nitro mousses, Pirelli Scorpion Mid Soft XC rear and Mid Soft 32 front, Braking drilled rear discs, Braking 270mm floating front discs, RK EXW Gold drive chains, Sherco Hard Parts rear disc protector, Topline seatcovers, ODI Emig handgrips, return springs on the brake pedals, Motul 300V engine oil, Zeta folding clutch and brake levers and B&B case savers.
How’s he settled in on the bike?
The first thing he noticed was the plush feel of a European enduro bike compared with the alloy-framed Japs he’s been riding for so long. He liked how well the Sherco turned and how the bike sat well in ruts, also he feels the bike doesn’t beat him up when racing the three-hour cross-country events with its power delivery.
5 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT JONTE REYNDERS
1 In 2017 I broke the C1 & C2 in my neck and now have a 48mm screw sitting in there.
2 I am a third-year apprentice mechanical fitter.
3 I have only been racing off-road for three years.
4 I am a nine-time Tasmanian motocross champion.
5 I have been racing since I was nine.