AMA - Pushed My Button Today!

[bigmo]

I got my rant on today - just got bent after receiving my EIGHTH email on the stupid E15 topic - seriously AMA get over it! It consumed my thoughts this morning as I tried to quietly enjoy my morning cup of coffee.

So I put my rant to text and fired it off to the AMA general mailbox (I requested a response) and copied the AMA president.

It takes quite a bit to push my button and this one just rubbed me the wrong way...

Dear AMA Board Members:

I have received no less than eight (yes 8!) emails from the AMA on E15 this past year. Do you know how many I have received on trails or trail access? None - not one!

You know what? No one cares about E15 - and if anything most everyone I know encourages adoption of E15. There is ZERO proof from unbiased sources that E15 causes any degradation in performance or damage to fuel systems or drive-train whatsoever. E15 backs US farmers and reduces our dependence on foreign oil – is it a great solution? No – but it certainly doesn’t harm motorcyclists!

Each source touted by the anti-E15 advocates are so blatantly supported by US "big oil" it is laughable and simply pulls the rug from any attempt at presenting unbiased facts.
With nearly 1/3 of your membership identifying themselves as an off-road enthusiast or racer - how about dedicating just ¼ (heck 1/10th) of the money you waste on anti-helmet and anti E15 legislation...yet another losing cause.

Does the AMA ever consider asking the members what THEY feel are top priorities for the AMA? Why not? There are MANY issues that are worthy of pursuing, but yet again we are entering 2014 wrapped around the helmet and E15 axle...and we will get nowhere.

I am ONLY an AMA member because an annual off-road event I love mandates AMA membership. The way I justify the expense for AMA membership is the roadside assistance is a very measurable benefit. Without that perk, I would simply drop the event forever as my dollars with the AMA go to nothing but lining the pockets of lobbyists and are not aligned whatsoever with the interests of off-road enthusiasts.

I am typically polar opposed to issue stances taken by the AMA - you simply do not represent the off-road enthusiast and have done nothing to enhance the sport over the past two+ decades. If any competing organization could offer competition hosts alternative insurance, you would lose members in droves.

Where is the legislative protection for motor sports hosts that equine hosts enjoy?

Where is REAL sound legislation? Our SX and MX events are TOO DAMN LOUD! Here is a simple idea, mandate IMMEDIATE 94dB competition at ALL AMA sponsored events and then drop one dB annually for professional events until we are 89dB.

The Blue Ribbon Coalition has a budget that is probably 1/1000 (maybe less???) than that of the AMA and they are making REAL progress on off-road access. What has the AMA done with access? What trails are open because of your efforts? They have a long and growing list...

I am sure each of my comments can be answered with somewhat meaningless examples - so please consider a topical breakdown of finances that can be easily digested for all 200K+ members. Keep the topics to maybe 10 maximum - anti-helmet legislation, trail access, off-road sound, insurance access, etc. - then put a percentage allocated to each. Don’t forget AMA overhead! Don’t forget how much goes to lobbyists and who those lobbyists are!

The few recommendations presented here would make the AMA an IDEAL advocate for off-roaders nationwide! For now, however, you bring NOTHING to the fight.

I welcome your feedback and comment.

 

[oregonsage]

Well, I just hit delete when those come in....on the other hand, President Dingman's constant anti-helmet rants in the monthly magazine push my buttons. (Which it would appear you and I disagree about)

If I didn't need the card for competition purposes I would probably stop sending the AMA my money.

All that said, any large umbrella organization is going to find many issues that are of little interest to some members and life-or-death to others....so I shrug.

Also, some of your suggestions of topics for them to focus on are great.

 

[Kyle Tarry]

I disagree (I think) with you on some of their issues, and I don't fully agree with your basis for your pro-E15 stance, but I completely agree that they are spending way too much time working on this when they could be working on other stuff.

I think that the main reason is that this is black-and-white and it helps them justify their existence. If the bill fails, they can point to it directly. On the other hand, access is always changing and not always directly from their efforts, so it's way more nebulous.

I'd prefer they focus primarily on allowing us to ride, and less on exactly what and how we ride. It'd be one thing with an unlimited budget, but given that they don't have that let's prioritize. I'd rather ride trails with E15 in the tank than ride on the interstate with E10.

I bet 90% of their members are street riders anyway (ie land access doesn't matter)...

 

[reveille]

The AMA is definitely fighting the E15 hard and it is annoying. I personally don't run ethanol in my bike at all. I am lucky to have Sunoco 110 at a nearby gas station and hopefully that will remain in effect regardless of all the political nonsense.

 

[K5PL5]

You can drink the E15. I'll use AvGas in my bike.
As for the emails...
I win the Euro lottery like 5 times a week.

 

[Jersey Woods]

I too would like to them step up their effort for land access. It's well documented that we are under heavy fire here in New Jersey to prevent us from riding in state forests and any other place the " Green Police" deem inappropriate. Which in our case is riding any where including MX tracks if they have their way. So far I have seen a little interest in our cause, but not enough to make me feel like I'm being represented fairly. I'm a long time member of the AMA and I hope they strike more of a balance in their fights for our rights as riders too.

 

[organ donor]

I get the same feeling of disappointment with all the organizations I seem to have to be a member of (flying, shooting and motor sports). They ALL just seem to be the best method used by an ever growing state to manipulate and restrict my interests. So whenever I criticize state influence, I´m confronted by the same organizations that are supposed to be there to help me.

 

[ray_ray]

I get the same feeling of disappointment with all the organizations I seem to have to be a member of (flying, shooting and motor sports). They ALL just seem to be the best method used by an ever growing state to manipulate and restrict my interests. So whenever I criticize state influence, I´m confronted by the same organizations that are supposed to be there to help me.

This about why I don't belong to any of these clubs or whatever you want to call them. Day 1 of their organization, maybe these identities had a grasp on what is happening and could actually focus on helping a cause in some manner... Day 600 and its all blurred and maybe now they are being pulled all directions and the mission statement from day 1 may be lost in the shuffle. Maybe different people are in charge now? Now it is a dog and pony show with a price tag ...And the beat goes on ... Nothing new here.

--/

E15? Never heard of it ... You gotta be careful on who is wanting what in many of these cases. ESP if one side is really really up in arms and crying like a baby wanting a baby bottle full of fresh milk. Even if you want the same outcome on a upcoming event, you might want it for 2 totally reasons ..

 

[duggoey]

Can of worms here. Ethanol is in no way "green". It is very energy and resource intensive to produce and still turns to CO2 when you burn it. Call me a conspiracy theorist, all ethanol does is increase the time available that oil companies can continue to profit from fossil fuel based vehicles/engines.
Whatever your fibre source is (sugar cane) you are almost certainly diverting away from what would be food surplus for other uses, therefore you have a micro food deficit, need to fill the void with more farms..
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a greeny or at the other end either. I'm trying to see why the F*** would we use this stuff if we are told its green but it isn't. Just an issue your AMA and others can use as a diversionary tactic??

 

[turboslacker]

Correct you are. It ain't green at all. It's all about big $$ for the large Agriculture companies. Sure the small corn farmers have done quite well too but they aren't the problem makers.

I'm also upset that fed and state govt restrict choices for us at the pump. Can't hardly find ethanol free any more. Ridiculous

 

[JonXX]

Dingman's salary is more than $1000 per member. Something like $325,000 and 240,000 (I can't remember the actual numbers but it's something like that). Since they're clearly not "member funded" like the BRC, do you think they really care what we want?

 

[Kyle Tarry]

Dingman's salary is more than $1000 per member. Something like $325,000 and 240,000 (I can't remember the actual numbers but it's something like that). Since they're clearly not "member funded" like the BRC, do you think they really care what we want?

Your numbers don't make any sense. In 2009 (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2011/Feb/110210goodtobethekin.htm), he made about $300,000. I can't find a hard number for AMA members, but it's around 300,000 according to Wikipedia. By my math, that's $1 per member. For it to be $1000 per member, they'd need to have like 300 members (ie, the guys I see at one enduro would be the entire membership of the AMA), or he'd need to be making 300 mil a year. Pretty sure these are both way outside the realm of feasibility.

For some high-level details of their finances, you can look at their annual report: http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Libraries/About_Documents/2012_AMA_AnnualReport.sflb.ashx

It's not all broken down as much as I might like, but it clearly states 14 million in revenue in 2012. If they have 300,000 members and the average member pays $40 a year, that's 12 out of the 14 million coming from members. So, in conclusion, most of their funding appears to come from members.


I am not defending everything that the AMA does or supports; like I said above, I disagree with quite a bit of it. However, if we're going to criticize them, let's keep the facts straight.

 

[JonXX]

Your numbers don't make any sense. In 2009 (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2011/Feb/110210goodtobethekin.htm), he made about $300,000. I can't find a hard number for AMA members, but it's around 300,000 according to Wikipedia. By my math, that's $1 per member. For it to be $1000 per member, they'd need to have like 300 members

I said I couldn't remember the exact actual numbers. Aside: I wonder how much fluctuation in membership there is from year to year.

So I can't do math without letters and funny looking squiggly characters and carried a few extra zeroes. You got me. LOL