CODY WEBB: WHY I SWITCHED BACK TO A 2-STROKE !

Sherco Factory One’s Cody Webb has an incredible resume in Trials, Hard Enduro and EnduroCross. Through this Factory KTM days and into his Sherco program Cody has always raced a 300 2-stroke in Hard Enduro and since 2016, a 4-stroke in EnduroCross. In the tight confines of the technical, yet very jumpy EnduroCross, the 4-stroke was said to make superior torque, which the teams believed was critical in making proper traction, and out of hole speed to clear big obstacles.

Things have changed. Beta’s Jonny Walker has proved that a 2-stroke is viable and totally capable of winning (Second in World Super Enduro, winner of the 2022 AMA EnduroCross ) on the man made circuits of the EnduroCross. Cody Webb switched things up this year and showed up at round one of the AMA EnduroCross series mounted on his Factory Sherco 300 2-stroke. Cody had a good day, finishing second overall behind another 2-stroke, Walker’s Beta 300. Here’s his take on the switch.

“I ultimately made the decision to go back to the two stroke since that’s what I race year round and I might as well stay on what I’m used to. We made some changes like a high compression head and some VP race fuel to increase the throttle response of the bike. Since we know two strokes have that slight delay before the power kicks on, this was for me to have instant power delivery of the bike that matches what I’m trying to make it do out there on the track. When things are going well on a four stroke, they’re going very well. When mistakes are made however, I find it very hard to recover with all that extra rotating mass in the engine. For example in the rocks, if I get offline I find it very hard to recover and I am most likely going to end up off the track with the four stroke. When on the two stroke, the bike is a lot more playful underneath of me and I can get it back on track a lot easier without losing much time. Final reason is the fans love two strokes and so do I! Was an easy sell for me. “

Cody says the 300 2-stroke is more nimble, easier to have fun on and is forgiving.

Cody, 0n his Sherco 300 4-stroke at the 2020 Glen Helen EnduroCross. On hard packed tracks Cody says the 4-stroke has an advantage over the 2-stroke.

Cody says the 4-stroke can be a handful in EnduroCross rock sections. The rotating mass of the engine makes it harder to recover when you get off line. Cody won two EnduroCross championships (2015-on a 300 2-stroke/2017-on a 350 4-stroke) racing for the KTM factory.