American Motorcyclist Association

[ShovelheadBill]

A word about the new American Motorcyclist Association from someone who would be in a position to know, please don’t ask as most of this happened with lawyers, signed contracts and a swearing of silence—just another reason why this association isn’t the grand union nor open information fountain it once was. It, unfortunately, has fallen into the wrong hands lately.
Around two years ago, a middle management bureaucrat from New York got elected president claiming "his AMA" wasn't the organization he remembered. He made this statement without the benefit of ever actually looking at the history of the AMA (and all that the association historically did), nor consider just how the association became the 800-pound gorilla in Washington to begin with. Most of us were already taken aback with him calling it “his” since we all felt it belonged to you, the members.
This person then brought in all the management personnel and asked if they were going to be "loyal to him, or the American Motorcyclist Association."
Yes, many good people looked at him with the same expression that a dog gives their owner when he makes a weird sound they’ve never heard before. Most responded, smartly, “Why of course you— because you’re going to be loyal to the association.” (As in the people that pay your salary, right boss?)
They were fired first.
Others that took a bit more time to ponder this ridiculous question weren’t even allowed to respond. He shut them down quick with, “You just gave me your answer.”
They were fired later.
He then tossed AMA Pro Racing saying we shouldn’t even be in this endeavor. Yes Virginia, after 75-plus years, the organization that created the rules, sanctioning, licensing, venues and just about everything and anything to do with motorcycle competition, tossed it aside like an unwanted red stepchild.
AMA Pro Racing is now in the hands of Daytona Motorsports Group—retaining the name rights only, so people won’t mistake this debacle for anything that it really is—a debacle and sorry excuse for a racing program. That, though, is for another argument at another time.
This mental genius then tore up the entire communications department. Never giving any direction nor asking anything—he fired people. In this economic climate, where people are being tossed because of serious downturns, he fired while the AMA was growing and thriving. People were fired and he was rehiring just because he wanted his faces, never asking nor evaluating performance. Everybody was guilty for simply being hired by the wrong management—and the new sheriff had an axe to grind.
If you’re still receiving the magazine, surely you’ve noticed it’s more people-centric. Rather than giving you great places to ride, what’s new in the market place, etc, this guy figured motorcyclists wanted to know more about people than the machines and mechanisms. (Sorry, but I certainly don’t give a hoot about “celebrity” people that ride. Give me the where, when and how about these two-wheeled fun machines any day.)
He then fired half the people on the magazine staff, the entire web team, and most of the information and technology staff—gee why would you need a communication department, or a website, or people to run it.
By the way, if members got wind of these shenanigans and called in complaining, the phone staff was instructed by this customer-friendly president to simply “hang up on them.”
One of the shinning jewels of the AMA used to be Vintage Motorcycle Days in Lexington, Ohio. Well, this new staff managed to alienate AHRMA somehow, the historic racing association that put on all those great vintage races. The AMA is now going to try to run those races themselves—wait for it now. YES, that same association that said they wanted out of the dreadful modern racing business is going to get into the incredibly lucrative historic racing business.
By the way, while they were firing all those other people they didn’t need anymore; they fired the events people that put on VMD, no wonder there was a contract problem.
Remember, all this is happening during one of the worst economic crisis in modern history. True compassion this guy.
If you’ve read this far you may be thinking, what do I care how he does things as long as he “fights for my right to ride.”
Well, this downsizing and outsourcing is what American Express did, (and I cancelled their card years ago because there wasn’t any “American” in my express anymore and I didn’t want someone in India having my personal information) along with quite a few other failed or failing institutions.
The AMA was an association (just look at the name, American Motorcyclist Association) made up of people that truly, deeply cared for the members and employees. The people that worked there rode and were motorcyclists; therefore they knew and cared for what motorcyclists wanted.
Today, not so much.

[histy]

Originally Posted by shovelmike

You can thank the kids doing on the road stunts on sportbikes for the negative attention that brought the wheelie ban. You can't defend a person's "right to wheelie", that's immature, irresponsible riding. Other than that, I refuse to let our opponents divide and conquer, whatever you ride we are in this together.
Charter life AMA member here, certainly commend the work of ABATE and other groups as well.

Well said sir, its stupid behaviour and noise from loud pipes in the wrong at the wrong time of day which ticks people off and all motorcyclists suffer to varying degrees as a result.
Most of these dorks are not true motorcyclists anyway, they just graduated up from skate boards etc and now theyr'e older they got
Gixxer 600/1000s to pull stunts on the highways which endangers other road users exercising [b][i]their right[i][b] to use the public roads in safety.

[tomv]

Originally Posted by histy

Well said sir, its stupid behaviour and noise from loud pipes in the wrong at the wrong time of day which ticks people off and all motorcyclists suffer to varying degrees as a result.
Most of these dorks are not true motorcyclists anyway, they just graduated up from skate boards etc and now theyr'e older they got
Gixxer 600/1000s to pull stunts on the highways which endangers other road users exercising [b][i]their right[i][b] to use the public roads in safety.

i agree...

loud pipes are illegal in every state....enforcement is lax so many think it is a god given right to have loud pipes...seems the people who can keep their hand in check when in a situation that could offend people and bring down the wrath of the law upon them dont have a problem with citations and the like....those who abuse the privelege get their own a$$es in trouble and bring down the rest of us...

that said...i run a rather loud header that when kept in check isnt so bad and has never brought any unwanted attention my way...

the vtwin doesnt require loud pipes to run well....we just stroke our egos with that falacy...jetting/intake/exhaust changes are a definate help but there are many choices that ont make peoples ears bleed....if its raw performeance you are after you may have headed the wrong direction in the first place....

the ama has been fighting the oem replacement exhaust bill since its inception...the strongest case being that automobiles do not have the same requirement...keep blipping your throttle for no reason and someone is going to eventually shove a cork up your butt...

regarding the wheelie fines in florida...yeah...theyre up there...but if you havent been paying attention they have been illegal forever also...and the squids who are popping them in bumper to bumper traffic at 75 mph are asking for this kind of legislation....it seems every generation has to outdo the previous and its been taken to a rather dangerous extreme...

the ama has and is still very vocal and effective when it comes to motorcyclists rights...if you cant appreciate it you dont need to belong...but the least you can do is some homework before you start tearing them down...

[spinning wheels]

ShovelheadBill, Motorcycle Consumer Magazine, just published an article about the changes that have been going on at the AMA.
Personally, I don't want to be a member of this new AMA, so I did not renew my membership. It is hard to say where this new AMA administration is going to take the association. Especially with motorcycle sales down and very little or no growth in the motorcycle industry. If the economy was in better shape, this would have been a great time to start a real motorcycle association, one that really cares about it's member and let this little dictator play with what is left of the AMA.

For the time being, looks like ABATE will get my hard earned bucks.

[ShovelheadBill]

Originally Posted by spinning wheels

ShovelheadBill, Motorcycle Consumer Magazine, just published an article about the changes that have been going on at the AMA.
Personally, I don't want to be a member of this new AMA, so I did not renew my membership. It is hard to say where this new AMA administration is going to take the association. Especially with motorcycle sales down and very little or no growth in the motorcycle industry. If the economy was in better shape, this would have been a great time to start a real motorcycle association, one that really cares about it's member and let this little dictator play with what is left of the AMA.

For the time being, looks like ABATE will get my hard earned bucks.

You know it, spinning wheels!
Let me just say, I knew the person that wrote that piece in Motorcycle Consumer News, and he's the most fair and objective reporter I've ever met. And believe me, he wrote as honest a piece as possible (maybe even giving the Dinger President a break considering all the harm he's done.) Where I live ABATE always was a bit stronger regarding goverment issues, and, like you, I plan to put my money there.

[StreetBobGal]

I'm just wondering, which organization best represents riders who experience discrimination in the workplace? Is this a subject just for the lawyers?

My case is essentially this: I am a service technician for company x, and I have been issued a company car. However, when the weather is nice, I like to ride to work.

I rode my m/c to a business meeting at company hq in another state, about a month ago, and my boss's boss (a yuppie type exec) allegedly had a fit.

He approached my boss and told him to tell me (notice he couldn't do this directly) that I was not to ride my m/c to work anymore as it was a "distraction."

That's the word he supposedly used. "Distraction." My wearing a leather jacket was a distraction. The minor mechanical problem I addressed during a lunch break was a "distraction." At no time did my taking care of this issue interfere with the work going on (a quarterly business review) which had adjourned for lunch.

Lastly, I was informed that riding a m/c to work conveyed a "poor image."

Has ANYONE ever experienced this kind of thing in the workplace before?

By the way, the company has no prohibition against motorcycles and there was at least one other bike there in the parking lot, but I was singled out for this for some reason.

[WEINERDOGBONE]

Originally Posted by StreetBobGal

I'm just wondering, which organization best represents riders who experience discrimination in the workplace? Is this a subject just for the lawyers?

My case is essentially this: I am a service technician for company x, and I have been issued a company car. However, when the weather is nice, I like to ride to work.

I rode my m/c to a business meeting at company hq in another state, about a month ago, and my boss's boss (a yuppie type exec) allegedly had a fit.

He approached my boss and told him to tell me (notice he couldn't do this directly) that I was not to ride my m/c to work anymore as it was a "distraction."



That's the word he supposedly used. "Distraction." My wearing a leather jacket was a distraction. The minor mechanical problem I addressed during a lunch break was a "distraction." At no time did my taking care of this issue interfere with the work going on (a quarterly business review) which had adjourned for lunch.

Lastly, I was informed that riding a m/c to work conveyed a "poor image."

Has ANYONE ever experienced this kind of thing in the workplace before?

By the way, the company has no prohibition against motorcycles and there was at least one other bike there in the parking lot, but I was singled out for this for some reason.

I'm not trying to be nasty to you but, they have a right to tell you what to do at work. Discrimination happens when they pay you less for being a woman. Not when they restrict what you drive to work.

I'm in the same situation at work. I have a company car and they expect me to drive it instead of my bike. I don't have a problem with it. It's my job that allows me to own a $20,000 motorcycle.

[ShovelheadBill]

StreetBobGal, I might try to get to the heart of the matter here. For instance, if they gave you a company car that you're supposed to use while on business, that might set someone off. Or, and this is real likely, if you're riding to a business function "while on the clock" so to speak, they may have an issue with their liability if you were to get hit. It could be any number of things, including the boss's boss simply has a hard-on for Harleys and gals.

After you've exhuasted all logical possibilities (as outlined in the first two situations) and it really is a simple matter of "biker discremination" you may wish to consult a lawyer who specializes in workers rights. But be warned, even if you are in the right, you may loose your job to prove it. That's sad, but it's the honest truth in these matters.

[ShovelheadBill]

And yet even less information coming out of the "new" AMA: http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Aug/090807ama.htm
And, frankly, if anybody is a member and gets an answer, I'm sure quite a few others would be curious how much your association got for selling off Pro Racing.

[michealjackson]

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[fkeuppens]

WTF?!?

I wasn't aware of all of the controversy surrounding the AMA but in reading some of these posts, I can tell you one thing: I'm definetly going to look into giving a part of my paycheck to ABATE rather than the AMA in the future.
Is it me or does all of the stuff going on with the AMA look exactly like some of the corporate BS that most of us in the motrocycle community resent in the first place? kind of ironic, I guess.

[vinixinc]

Thanks for the feedback. That is very useful.
Cheers and we look forward to your Forum Favourites selections!

[cirsumbul]

I am incorporating what your wrote to our project!

[Tsani]

Shame what is happening at AMA. Don't know version he remembers but it ain't the one he is creating now. Maybe he is just a wolf in sheeps clothing?!

As to what the difference was or is supposed to be, AMA worked on a national, I.E, federal level, ABATE works on the state level. In some states anyway.

I was thinking of renewing my AMA membership. Nope, not now. If others do that, maybe it will get the point across.