AMA Dues

Ron505 said:
This is where our dues are going?

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2011/Nov/111118ama-consultant.htm

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2011/Nov/11111-ama-tax-filing.htm
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Just saw in another thread the dues went up to $49....how convenient. I let my membership expire years ago based on several factors. Personally one of the factors was not getting behind Lo-Conn and Beachwood Trails so they could remain open. I did buy a membership this year to race Mid-Ohio and will likely renew only because of other tracks I want to race at.
 
The AMA is a multi million dollar company. Are you saying that they should contract with a company for IT work that they need done? Come on, they have many IT needs just like any other company. As for the media consulting, probably legit too. In my opinion, everyone that rides a motorcycle should pay AMA dues for one reason alone......their government affairs department. The AMA have lobbyist in Washington fighting MANY motorcyclist battles n everything from kids and dirt bikes, land use battles, noise, highway funds, anti motorcycle laws, etc etc etc. Can anyone name another organization battling for motorcyclist rights in Washington like the AMA does. Like them for their sancitioning of racing or not.....they do ALOT for anyone that rides a motorcycle.
 
How about where our tax dollars are spent? At least with the AMA people have a choice of paying them for a membership or not.
 
ONLY reason I will get one next year is to ride at RedBud. Other then that, no reason for me. Maybe I'll just borrow a card to use next year and save the $49 for gas!!!
 
john250 said:
The ama have lobbyist in washington fighting many motorcyclist battles n everything from kids and dirt bikes, land use battles, noise, highway funds, anti motorcycle laws, etc etc etc. Can anyone name another organization battling for motorcyclist rights in washington like the ama does. Like them for their sancitioning of racing or not.....they do alot for anyone that rides a motorcycle.
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Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Daily double!!!
 
TCracing said:
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Daily double!!!
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I just wrote a similar support post on another thread. Then I read this and YES YES YES YES can't agree more with you guys. Get a membership even if you don't race an AMA event. I havent hit one in 3 years and maintain mine! Plus after 20 years you no longer pay dues! (I'm at year 19)
 
I am well over 20 years.......I still pay dues. I believe if you have a card for competition, you must pay the dues. If you dont, then you should donate to the legislative fund of the AMA.
 
John250 said:
The AMA is a multi million dollar company. Are you saying that they should contract with a company for IT work that they need done? Come on, they have many IT needs just like any other company. As for the media consulting, probably legit too. In my opinion, everyone that rides a motorcycle should pay AMA dues for one reason alone......their government affairs department. The AMA have lobbyist in Washington fighting MANY motorcyclist battles n everything from kids and dirt bikes, land use battles, noise, highway funds, anti motorcycle laws, etc etc etc. Can anyone name another organization battling for motorcyclist rights in Washington like the AMA does. Like them for their sancitioning of racing or not.....they do ALOT for anyone that rides a motorcycle.
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I think the point trying to be made is the companies that are getting these big dollar contracts are owned by AMA board members...Which is a major conflict of interest.

While the AMA might fight for your rights they have done very little for mine.

The AMA moto is "protecting your right to ride"

However, contrary to popular belief the AMA is the ONLY group to ban 3 wheelers...not the government...While this may not be a big deal to most of you, I prefer 3 wheels and as an American I should have that right. The government did not take that right away...the AMA decided to sell out the trikes to save the quad industry. To this day you can still not set 3 wheels on a AMA track. How is that protecting my right to ride?

In NY you have had to register your ATV since 1987. Part of that plan was that a portion of the money collected would go to establish a trail system for ATV's...27 years later, millions of dollars collected, and yet no ATV trails in NY...were is the AMA protecting NY's rights to ride?


No, I choose not to support the AMA after they have let me down for the past 27 years.
 
I have not race ama race in the past two years. But I have paid my dues for me and my son. So this year with the increase I'm ???????? up in the air with it.
 
I just want to clear up one little bit of information here. By law, membership dues cannot be used for lobbying or political contributions, so the idea of "purchasing a membership to protect your rights" is misleading. Your membership dues are for the purpose of scoring your races, and associated purposes, and for putting your name on their mailing list for donation requests to their lobbying and political arms, and so that they can claim the clout of having "X million members". If you want to "protect your rights", then give directly to their lobbying branch, because "protecting your rights" is false justification for overpriced membership dues for AMA scoring of competitions and is the leading cause for a reduction in memberships. While their effectiveness in lobbying to protect our rights is debateable, (and Im personally less than enthusiastic), if that is what you support in the AMA, pushing memberships does not help that cause.

Hi membership dues usually do not increase revenue as they tend to drive away all the infrequent or one time racers, and discourage would be potential new racers from ever trying it out.
 
Related party is usually a division that is a separate entity of the party. This could have be for the museum, foundation, and/or some other AMA entity not reported on this 990. Honestly, from my standpoint (a non-profit director of finance), the 990 is more informational than anything else, and you really can't tell much about an organization from it. This is the new 990 where the entity needs to prove more oversight by it's committees/board to ensure that another Enron is not in the works with public money. As far as the compensation piece, the items reported on the right (21k for Dinger) is usually insurance benefits and such (per employee contract) that have to be reported/documented to the public. If I were to question the books from the 990, one might wonder why the big fluctuation in liabilities over the years and was that also tied to the loss. My presumption of these losses have to do with the past powers that were ousted...some times corrections take longer to uncover and realize on the financial statements. Just my .02.

Also, I don't view guidestar as a watchdog...to me it's a reporting service....
 
TPC said:
I think the point trying to be made is the companies that are getting these big dollar contracts are owned by AMA board members...Which is a major conflict of interest.
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That's just the sad part about politics in general. Obama's big campaign contributor buddies are College Presidents. Hence his push for everyone should take a few classes of higher education, doesn't matter if you get a degree or not, just take classes he says. That way he can funnel gov't money to his contributors.

Same for AMA, sucks their buddies are getting contracts, but what can do we about it? Sit back and gripe. It won't stop.
 
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