Where are the backup riders?

[ck1racerx]

So we are halfway through the season and lots of injuries and no sign of any backup riders.
I guess I just don't understand the mindset of dragging a semi around the country for one rider in some cases. Why not offer a one, two, rest of the season ride to someone? The bike is already there, there has to be a long list of guys that would love a shot. You know you could get them for nothing. So again, why not?

 

[Mcaupp22]

So we are halfway through the season and lots of injuries and no sign of any backup riders.
I guess I just don't understand the mindset of dragging a semi around the country for one rider in some cases. Why not offer a one, two, rest of the season ride to someone? The bike is already there, there has to be a long list of guys that would love a shot. You know you could get them for nothing. So again, why not?

I agree I think there’s a ton of privateers that would ride for free and they just get whatever they make from the race.

 

[Toddco327]

All those privateers have sponsors and contracts. If they bail on their sponsor they may be obligated to pay back or lose pay based off any contacts they signed.

 

[ck1racerx]

All those privateers have sponsors and contracts. If they bail on their sponsor they may be obligated to pay back or lose pay based off any contacts they signed.

Bring it close to home. Do you think Logan Karnow's "sponsors" are going to be upset if he gets the AC9 ride for a few weeks and he still wears all his normal gear with their name on it? Yeah, I don't think so. They get tons more advert. And Kawasaki looks like a hero for helping a "up and coming" rider.
Now if the dude has a deal with another brand, sure that makes it sticky, but he is already on a Kaw so..... Win win

 

[jj584]

Bring it close to home. Do you think Logan Karnow's "sponsors" are going to be upset if he gets the AC9 ride for a few weeks and he still wears all his normal gear with their name on it? Yeah, I don't think so. They get tons more advert. And Kawasaki looks like a hero for helping a "up and coming" rider.
Now if the dude has a deal with another brand, sure that makes it sticky, but he is already on a Kaw so..... Win win

Don't most teams have their own gear deal as a rider requirement? What's the difference between Karnow getting the same finish on a factory bike VS the one he already has? Maybe gains 3 or 4 spots, all the same in the eyes of the manufacturer I'm sure. If your not going to get a rider to place it in the top ten or better than why spend more money.

 

[Scoob]

Great point and I agree seems like waste with massive potential for some wins in giving a privateer the option to ride the factory bike while signed rider is idle, but my guess there is more to it than just letting them ride. Actually could be a ton of things we do not know about the logistics of just a deal. Seems like a no brainer thinking simple I suppose...

 

[Vet261]

Isn't Tickle supposed to be the backup for Kaw?

 

[ck1racerx]

Isn't Tickle supposed to be the backup for Kaw?

He is part of the team for testing, waste to not have him race. Clearly i am missing something.
If Forknerd is hurt and out for some time, that leaves just two of the five signed. Team rig is going to be a lonely place.

 

[Vet261]

I think it's even worse than what you are saying.

With AC, Forkner, Reynolds out, I believe that is TWO Kawasaki semis driving to the events with just one racer in each of them for East 250.
So one semi for Anderson, one for McAdoo.

 

[Scoob]

I think it's even worse than what you are saying.

With AC, Forkner, Reynolds out, I believe that is TWO Kawasaki semis driving to the events with just one racer in each of them for East 250.
So one semi for Anderson, one for McAdoo.

Yeah, that is crazy, but is the possibility I guess. They still carry all the bikes I am thinking...and their mechanics are there at the races as well shining their tools I guess....

Is Forkner out then? Haven't seen that yet, just the post race report saying they didn't detect a fracture, but he was going to be evaluated this week.

 

[bruceb]

Is Forkner out then?

Broken collar bone (again).

 

[Toddco327]

Bring it close to home. Do you think Logan Karnow's "sponsors" are going to be upset if he gets the AC9 ride for a few weeks and he still wears all his normal gear with their name on it? Yeah, I don't think so. They get tons more advert. And Kawasaki looks like a hero for helping a "up and coming" rider.
Now if the dude has a deal with another brand, sure that makes it sticky, but he is already on a Kaw so..... Win win

You must have never ran a business or maybe are just the worst business man I’ve ever met in my life.

Coming from the guy who is ok with losing 8% in revenue. Now saying sponsons won’t care because the rider might be on the same brand but different team.

If I were a sponsor and say Logan was my rider, I’d be happy for him personally but I would be upset if he were to just leave our agreement and jump on a new one. Maybe I’m a graphics sponsor and Logan gets into the top 10 in points but does it on PC Kawi. I’d be upset of all the publicity and future publicity he would be with PC when we know that the majority of the season he was on a different set up. He could be costing me maybe 20 sets of graphics over the course of a year. Which could be thousands of dollars.

But hey it’s only an 8% loss in revenue so it doesn’t really matter.

 

[hershey]

You must have never ran a business or maybe are just the worst business man I’ve ever met in my life.

Coming from the guy who is ok with losing 8% in revenue. Now saying sponsons won’t care because the rider might be on the same brand but different team.

If I were a sponsor and say Logan was my rider, I’d be happy for him personally but I would be upset if he were to just leave our agreement and jump on a new one. Maybe I’m a graphics sponsor and Logan gets into the top 10 in points but does it on PC Kawi. I’d be upset of all the publicity and future publicity he would be with PC when we know that the majority of the season he was on a different set up. He could be costing me maybe 20 sets of graphics over the course of a year. Which could be thousands of dollars.

But hey it’s only an 8% loss in revenue so it doesn’t really matter.

Nah, it's been done in the past no issues. The sponsor gets more air time because every time they mention the fill in rider, they mention the team he came up from. And they mention him more than they normally would simply because he is a fill in. And the sponsor actually has less expenses because of it. It's a win win.

Of course, not all sponsors feel this way but it has worked in the past. Personally I would be all for it.

 

[Toddco327]

Not saying I’m not for it. Personally I like the idea. But there are obligations and commitments made.

 

[ck1racerx]

I’m not sure why some of you asshats think it is okay to take pokes at me personally or anyone else for that matter. First yeah, we have never met. And let’s keep it that way. Second, if you think he or anyone else that gets a fill in ride is not going to make a crap ton more contacts with much bigger sponsors then what they had before, you sure don’t know how this business runs. It could open a lot more doors then a graphics sponsor. But yeah, if your worried about Bobs graphics over Pro Curcuit. Then okay.
Think small, stay small

 

[Meister]

I been saying this since west

You must have never ran a business or maybe are just the worst business man I’ve ever met in my life.

Coming from the guy who is ok with losing 8% in revenue. Now saying sponsons won’t care because the rider might be on the same brand but different team.

If I were a sponsor and say Logan was my rider, I’d be happy for him personally but I would be upset if he were to just leave our agreement and jump on a new one. Maybe I’m a graphics sponsor and Logan gets into the top 10 in points but does it on PC Kawi. I’d be upset of all the publicity and future publicity he would be with PC when we know that the majority of the season he was on a different set up. He could be costing me maybe 20 sets of graphics over the course of a year. Which could be thousands of dollars.

But hey it’s only an 8% loss in revenue so it doesn’t really matter.

While I completely understand what you're saying, from a business stand point, I've always felt like it'd be worth the loss. 9 times outa 10, id take the business owner hat off and put myself in that person's shoes. The whole point of sponsoring someone, more so a privateer, is to help them better themselves. Sometimes selflessness is required to be a good human. I'm tainted in this scenario because I have a bean counter bro in law that would literally choose the bottom line over life. This would be a rare occurrence so it's not like it's a continuous "8% loss". May gain any losses back by the exposure said rider would gain. Be there for them if needed if the opportunity doesn't permanently open a new door, and that's support. Any sponsor getting mad at someone taking for advantage of a possible once in a life time opportunity is not a sponsor I'd care to represent anyway.

If I had planned to give Logan a set of graphics for every round, then he got pitched a back up ride at PC, I'd consider the rounds he's on the PC bike material that stayed on my machine (money staying in the bank). I'd only be out the graphics he used at the rounds he was in the privateer bike and Logan would get a opportunity that most could only dream of.

I've been saying to put Logan on a PC bike since the first PC guy fell out. After Jo fell out too, it seemed like a no brainer but heading east put a speed bump in that if Jo comes back. It would be ultra crazy if Mitch let him on a bike out west and factory kaw let him on ac's 450 for east.

 

[ck1racerx]

Good to read some common sense.
And remember, the backup rider only gets the bike and not the rest of the sponsors. So if he has Bob's graphics on his jersey, he keeps that.
It has worked several times in the past so I'm not sure why its not common practice.

 

[Toddco327]

Not saying I don’t support the idea of a privateer getting that opportunity. But unfortunately we are in an industry that is very small and every dollar matters. There are obligations and peoples livelihoods that are involved. It’s just taking that into consideration. I don’t deny that 99% of the industry wouldn’t be happy for their rider to take that jump. But there is that 1% that could be upset and if contracts are signed and broken it could be the end of that riders career if lawsuits are made. There are a lot of moving parts involved in moto. Who’s to say that the race team doesn’t want that rider. Buy their sponsor, say Red Bull, doesn’t want that riders image associated with their brand. There’s more at play than just starting the bike and twisting the throttle. I’m sure there are insurance policies that are in effect for riders and to put a new rider in the mix could put them in a different position.

Sometimes you have to look beyond the feel good idea and look at the financials. It’s cold but it’s the truth.

 

[Meister]

I feel like you're digging. This isn't nascar money and we're not talking about the Jett Lawrences out there. If 1 single privateers sponsorship would put a financial strain on them as a company by not being fully represented, they're not making it anyway and shouldn't be sponsoring people. While our industry isn't as large as nascar, these companies are still some big money companies. Like i said before, if a company would seriously have an issue with a privateer taking advantage of a temporary factory ride, that's not a company I'd wanna associate myself with regardless of product. Morals over money every time for me.

 

[Toddco327]

I feel like you're digging. This isn't nascar money and we're not talking about the Jett Lawrences out there. If 1 single privateers sponsorship would put a financial strain on them as a company by not being fully represented, they're not making it anyway and shouldn't be sponsoring people. While our industry isn't as large as nascar, these companies are still some big money companies. Like i said before, if a company would seriously have an issue with a privateer taking advantage of a temporary factory ride, that's not a company I'd wanna associate myself with regardless of product. Morals over money every time for me.

So morally you should honor your original contract.

As I’ve said I like the idea. I hope it works out for a rider. And yes it has in the past. But in todays day and age there are a lot of other variables. We can thank lawyers, insurance and lawsuits for that. Just gotta think outside the box a little.