All started with a successful MX racing- and lateron an enduro career. After a hard crash and the following shoulder injury in the late 90's Busty Wolter focused on FMX. Busty is one of the first riders in the German FMX history. Busty also was the 1st German rider successfully executing a backflip on dirt. We talked with Busty during his Scandinavian trip ...


First of all, tell the guys out there some basics about you - where do you come from, how old are you and what is your mission? I am an old German guy, trying to jump his bike well and I live in Berlin / Germany. My mission is to enjoy FMX as much as I can and become an overall very good dirtbike rider, what for me also includes MX and SX. You really want my age?!? Ok, I am already 29 years old … bodywise. But my mind feels about 7 years old!


The famous "Wolverine" pic *insider

You have started your MX career with MX racing. What was your biggest success and what was the craziest thing ever happend? My biggest success were some top 3 places in the german championships, a 7th place in the International german championship race and qualifying for must of the 500 cc class Gps that I entered. The craziest thing ever happened was probably riding at the worldfamous track in Namur and for sure my shoulderinjury.

When did you start riding FMX and what was your conviction to quit with racing? I started doing the first tricks right away when McGrath and Swink did the first Nacnacs and Cancans. I saw it on videos and in US magazines and I wanted to know if I could pull it, too. I could and ever since I tried to do the new tricks which were coming up. That must have been in 1995! In 2001 I finally decided to focus only on FMX since this fit me much more than racing and finally we got some demos and events in Germany. FMX is more creative and not only about results. But don’t get me wrong I still enjoy racing around a track very much. But FMX is even better than that.

Onehand Seatgrab Indian

You started to race at some events one or two years ago. Was it fun to make a racing comeback and how did you feel being in the middle of racers? ;-) It is so much fun, but also very exhausting, especially if you are an old FMXer … But I also know that is can only be that much fun, because I don’t do the full series. I know that FMX is the love of my life and it will stay like that. But  as a funny sidenote: right know I am thinking if I should start my own raceteam, just for fun, with a good friend of mine who is racing himself! We’ll see what happens…

Is it important to have a racing background for doing FMX? It helps a lot and most of the very succesfull FMX riders have raced at a very good level. You have much more bikecontroll. If conditions become difficult tha rampkids never ride well! But having no racing background doesn’t mean that you can’t pull insane tricks! But I think it is important that you also work on your overall bikecontroll, especially if you have no racing background.


Sweet Cat Nac Indian

You are one of the first FMX riders in the German history. Tell me something about the difference between now and the former times. The beginning was so much fun. Everything was new, we were only few riders and fun was the mainaspect (it still is for most). It is cool how we jumped 25 meters dirt takeoffs without any problems, but in 3rd gear… Today everyone is scared if he sees a dirttakeoff since we are not used to it anymore. Haha! Nowadays everything is more professional and the contests are on a very high level. Differnet people earn their money with it today and have to see it more as a business. In the beginning we were just the “crazy stupid idiots with those baggy pants OVER their boots who waste their racing talent”. It was a very cool atmosphere back then. But still today it is a very cool atmosphere, just more stuff is more serious and professional. But most of the riders are pretty much the same as long as they are not just in the middle of their 90 second run.

Do you think, that the people hype the Backflip to much and the judges are score them to overpriced? Yes and no. Although a backflip is not the most technical or difficult trick out there, it is one of the scariest and it is dangerous. And the combos that we see nowadays are pretty rad. But I really don’t like seeing 6 flips in a 10 jump run. This is boring. We have bar tricks, Grabtricks, Let-go tricks, tricks besides and above the bike, whiptricks, combos, landingtricks … I would like everyone to do at least one trick out of these trickgroups. If he does so then he can also do 2 or 3 flips if he wants. Watch a run of Dustin Miller! He rides so various that you don’t even miss a flip in his run. That’s what I like. But again, don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate flips and I also like doing them, I just don’t like to see too many in a single run!


Busty is Germanys 1st Backflipper (2004)

This year you didn’t show up too often at IFMXF contests. You rode instead the Hardcore FMX events. Tell us something about your adventures riding this new series and is it comparable with the IFMXF events? The Hardcore FMX tour and the IFMXF series are hard to compare. The hardcore tour is more kind of a show for us riders and it is pretty much the same 10 riders at all events and we are the stars. At IFMXF events it is a tough competition, but as a spectator you can be lucky and see the best riders as Rebeaud, Villa, Bizouard, Mason and the rest. Or you are not lucky and just see “the rest”. Here the tourname is the big star. In my opinion every series has it’s own positive aspects and I am riding both. I rode all three Hardcore stopps this year and also rode and will ride selected IFMXF events.

What about the long distance flip – you did it last year on dirt during the training session at Immlers compound, but you didn’t show it at the contest, yet. Why? Because I am a pussy …HAHA! And haven’t done it on dirt since then for several reasons. I was ready to do it again on dirt after some foampitting in the end of the year but then I had a bad crrsh into the foam and realised that I need to work more on my fliptechnique. That is what I doen lately and it shows off. But it takes some time if you don’t have your own foampit. I also had some bad luck and some injuries in the beginning of the year. So before I flip long I wanted to have my normal riding at a level again where I am happy with. Thst is the case since a couple of weeks and I am also pretty close to having my own foampit finished. Just give me some more weeks and hopefully I will show the big flip at the events in Cologne and Hamburg.


Busty with a Kiss of Death

A lot of riders don’t wear protection on their body. Is it important for you to wear safety gear? Yes, it is very important to protect your body. What we do is dangerous and I for myself want to be protected. Most of the time nothing goes wrong and so you can get the idea that the protection is just ballast. But the moment will come were you eat shit and then it is not smart to not being protected. But the protection should not stop you from being flexible. But modern chestprotectors for example are so light and well-designed that it is a lame excuse to say “I can’t move in it”. I used to ride without protection, too. But looking back this was very stupid and I will never ride without anymore.

You are wearing and developing TSG safety gear. Tell the people out there more about how you can help to develop useful products for TSG? That is easy: TSG builds the protection 100% the way as their pro teamriders tell them how they like it. I don’t know who should now better than the riders itself. It is simple as that.


Busty Wolter helps to develop safe protection gear with TSG.

What especially is your part in the product development? The doublegrab glove for example was built from scratch. I told them what I find is important on a glove and they build a new sample. I got the prototype and tested it. I told them what I liked and what not, so they changed it and build a new prototype. I tested it again and so on and so on. When the product is good enough it gets produced. I am also trying all the new stuff from the others sports, for example the kneepads to check if Timo Pritzel maybe knows something about kneepads that I don’t know and take over the good ideas of his TSG signature pad.

You also ride Minibikes. Can you give the people useful links and tips, how they can start with Minibiking? Minibiking is so much fun! If you want to get some information check out www.minibikeseries.de for the german raceseries that Christian Hager from Coamber and myself are organising. If you want to have a look into germanies most visited minibike website, check www.fiddy-city.de, where I am also surfing the forum a lot. For international infos check www.50riders.com or the minibike threads on www.freestylemtx.com


Thamer Engeli and Busty Wolter during the Freestyle.ch 2005

Are there already some Minibike locations in Germany, where people can ride? There is some minibike-locations, but most of them are not 100% legal or open to everybody. But germanies motoX magazine just have brought out their latest location guide, where minibike locations are included. Also check the german minibike forums!

What are your latest plans regarding FMX and what are your goals? My plan and goal is to keep on having fun and seeing the world by riding my Suzukis. I would like to do more filming and photoshooting as well as freeriding. That is how I see the future of FMX, comparable to how it is done in snowboarding. I also liked the new tracks of the Dew Actionsportstour and hope that more contest tracks will look like that. And of course I want that long flip!!!

Do you want to say something else to your fellows? Trust your feelings and enjoy what you are doing, no matter what it is. Think positive! And thanks to everbody who is supporting me and has done it in the past! I owe you a lot!

Okay, now our classical word association. Give me the first word that pops into your head:

Ramps: fun without surprise
USA or Europe: Europe
Sponsors: I love mine!
Favorite website: maxiwolter.de
Goonies: yeeeeeeeeeeees!
Double Flip by Pastrana: props!
Natural Terrain: the true aspect of FMX
Tattoos: got some ideas
50’s: 100% fun
Movie: Frezno Smooth
Travelling: Love / Hate
Donkey Shows: damn it

Right on, thanks Busty.

More information and pix about Busty on his webiste www.bustywolter.com


*Busty said, he didn't shave his beard until executing the flip on dirt - and he did it ...