Being a Sponsored Motorcycle racer in Canada
This week I would like to talk about being a sponsored Motorcycle racer in Canada. More specifically for off-road Enduro trailer riders, but this should also help any amateur motocross racer as well. There is much to talk about, let’s keep this as short and interesting as possible. So, let’s jump right into it. Let’s try to give YOU a better understanding on sponsorship and hopefully help you get sponsored! This will be in a list format, with a description of each;
Loyalty:
Loyalty to any company is the biggest part of being a sponsored rider. It can work both ways. If you show you sponsors great loyalty, they will show you loyalty back. If a motorcycle shop decides to sponsor you with say a bike to ride, or a better discount on parts, hooks you up with products etc. that is HUGE! But it comes with obligations. Being loyal to them should mean; always be promoting their company, never bad mouthing their store by any means and most importantly NEVER say to another fellow dirt bike enthusiast ,” ohh, you can actually go online to get that part cheaper, or I think the shop down the street sells it for cheaper, you don’t have to buy it here, the place that sponsors me”. That is the LAST thing you should be saying. You want to be pumping up the store and getting people in the door, not pushing people away and telling them to go shop somewhere else. Unfortunately this happens oh so often, mostly from younger riders that don’t quite understand how the world turns , sort of speak. If you show a motorcycle shop or company that sponsors you 100% loyalty for a whole year, they will want to sponsor you again and they will be as loyal to you as you are to them. There does come a time though when you may have to make a decision to better your racing, and move on, but then it all starts again with a different company and being 100% loyal to them.
Our team pit set up is in place to promote our sponsors proudly and professionally. Not to “ look cool” Displaying our sponsors logo’s is key to our race team, and should be to you.
Be Proud of your accomplishments, use them as a promotional tool:
It’s great to be humble in our great sport of motorcycle racing but there is a point that it’s too humble and too quiet. Be proud of your accomplishments and that you achieved your goals. Maybe you won the race, maybe you placed 5th, but that’s a very good result for you in the specific class you are racing in, maybe you won a whole championship, whatever the case is be proud that you raced and placed well. The thing is, how are you ever going to get noticed if you don’t promote yourself in this sport. In enduro trail racing the lime light is not great. We are racing in the forest mostly, the pit set ups at races are always not the best (at least out here in Western Canada, there is no T.V.(media) coverage with announcers pumping up your name , most sponsors don’t have the time to promote you ( they’re busy actually trying to make a living) so, your best way of getting more out of sponsorship for the now and for the future is to promote yourself. Now, let’s make this clear, promoting yourself doesn’t always have to be from winning races, it can be anything in regards to your racing that gives you a positive look. Posting that you had an awesome race and are very pleased with your placement is great. and obviously thanking your sponsors. Where a sponsored rider needs to be careful is to always sound confident with your words and not conceided. Examples: Confidence: That was a great race today, I pushed hard for the whole 3 hour race, I am so proud and happy I finished this race with a 2nd place finish, thank you to my sponors……… Example: Sounding conceded: I was definitely the best out there today, there was no way that anyone was going to beat me, this first place finish was way too easy this time, thanks sponsors , period…. not so good!!
Respect the sport, respect the people that help you, and respect your opponents:
Respect is huge to me, and should be huge to anyone. I love racing dirt bikes, but better yet, I fully respect the sport. The sport has been very very good to me, giving me many life lessons along the way. I truly respect the nature of our sport and so should you.
Always respect anyone that is putting time and effort into helping you. The second they see you not respecting what they are doing they will most likely turn their shoulder and walk the other way. A thank you goes a long way but like I have always felt in life, Actions speak louder than words. Show them the love, the respect they deserve for helping you do the things you love. A thank you can mean absolutely nothing if there is no care behind the words. It’s great to be very thankful for everything you get, even if its a litre of free oil, every little bit helps, and its money out of their pocket to help you. If a sponsor or your team Manager, father etc, wants you to do something, just do it, no questions asked. Don’t question their reasoning and disrespect them. At the end of the day, all they are trying to do is help you reach your dreams and goals.
Respecting your opponents is also a big part of being a good sponsored rider. You might have rivalries when racing, but that just adds to the excitement of the race. At the end of the day, if that rider beats you show him some respect and congratulate him or her. Shoot, it’s just one race, there is always the next one, and the one after for you to go and do better. There are many very competitive people out there but what sucks the fun out of it is if people start disrespecting others and not giving each other credit. I have always been someone to go shake my fellow competitors hand before the race and most definitely after the race. It shouldn’t matter if you won, got 2nd, DNF’d. Just go say “ Great race today, that was fun!” Something short and sweet. Even if someone is not giving you the same respect back, just be the bigger person and do it anyways. If that were the case and something like that happened, there the one that has the problem and has to change. Being that always respectful and thankful rider will only help you in the long run with showing everyone in the sport you are a class act. Sponsors will see that and will want to help you out because of that fact alone. Being sponsored is definitely not always about results.
Social Media. If you ain’t on it, you should be sent back to the 80’s:
If you aren’t on some form of Social Media these days you’re missing out big time. Some racers as of late have told me that they don’t want to spend the time on facebook, instagram, twitter, you tube, etc. Well, sorry to say this, but if you aren’t on there then unfortunately no one knows what you are doing other than your close friends. If you want to tackle being a sponsored rider correctly you are going to have to be ready to work for it. It’s not even work though, that’s the thing, It’s fun. You should enjoy promoting yourself and getting the good word out about successes, personal racing endeavours,. our sport, and most importantly, your sponsors. Social Media these days is a great source of advertising. If it’s from a picture you posted, a sentence you wrote, better yet a racing blog, riding video that promotes yourself, the list goes on how you can promote yourself and essentially get more noticed and more recognized. Yes, it can be work, these things take time out of your day. But let me know tell you, it makes a world of difference to your sponsors. They want to see you as an advertising billboard for them. Why the heck else would they sponsor you? If they lose money from sponsoring you it probably won’t work out in the future. You at least have to spend the time and effort to get the good word out, and social media is the fastest, easiest , most productive way of doing so. In a matter of a day 2000 people could see your post. That’s 2000 more people that now know about you and you sponsors than if you didn’t do that. Wow, I could talk about Social Media for hours on end, but I will leave it at that and let you all figure the rest out yourself.
There is no harm in looking and acting Professional:
Looking Professional these days in Motorcycle racing all stems from AMA Supercross, in my eyes. It is where the motorcycle industry has grown from. The Supercross scene is huge now and anyone and everyone in Motorcycle racing looks towards the riders and race teams of SX as being the Professionals of our sport (Let’s include Endurocross in there, they are doing well) . They Obviously get paid to go race, at an amateur level you don’t, you can win some cash prizes, but not enough to near make a living. that doesn’t mean you can’t act like them. Take a rider you really respect and that you know does a good job for his sponsors and try to replicate him or her. If people think you are acting that way just to “look cool”, set them straight and tell them that you don’t care at all about looking cool, it’s about looking and acting like a professional to make the sport more classy, give yourself a better look ( especially to the industry) and turning some heads, thus getting more interest. There may be the odd company that likes to sponsor a jack ass who doesn’t care about anything, and just goes out rides like he wants, says what he wants and does what he wants. Nowadays it is very frowned upon. You will be in a much better position if you stick with the “class act” professional looking theory.
Learning about the Motorcycle Industry in Canada:
There is much to be learned about the Motorcycle industry in Canada and in the U.S.A. I am going to help riders that want to be sponsored learn one major thing. You DON’T get to pick everything you want!!
There are a handful plus distributors of products here in Canada. Each one has a big list of suppliers they care that mostly come from the U.S.A or overseas. There are very minimal suppliers from Canada right now. Emperor Racing is one company that is produced in Canada. Each distributor usually has representatives in different regions of Canada. The Reps jobs are to go to the Motorcycle shops in their region and sell them the products that their company distributes. Some shops will strictly use one distributor and not any other. Some shops use all distributors to get more variety of product on their shelves. They probably get discounts if they buy a certain amount of product from one distributor , I am not sure. Why does this all matter to you as a sponsored rider? If you want to be sponsored by a big distributor and get more products given to you or at a better discount you cannot pick and choose what you wear and use. Let’s say Motovan sponsors you. They have a certain gear brand you can wear, tired brand (s), helmets, boots, you name it. If you start trying to pick and choose all different products to use from all of the Canadian distributors then they all might shut the door on sponsorship. Unless you somehow have a direct connection with the brand company, which most riders don’t, you will be out to lunch with no one sitting across from you. I would strongly suggest if a motorcycle shops wants to sponsor you and they work something out with a Canadian distributor like Motovan, you better just go with what they give you a choice of. Great thing about Motovan is they have some amazing suppliers on board with them, makes it very easy to want to use any product from them. Look at that! I did some promoting, wink wink!
Motovan is the Canadian Distributor we use for our CMS Tenfour Husqvarna Racing efforts all through Courtenay Motorsports Shoei premium helmets is just one of the great suppliers we are sponsored with. .
Your Racing Resume:If you have never been sponsored before it’s time for you to make a “ Racing Resume”
It’s kind of like a work resume, but much more exciting! Your race resume should be informational yes, but also interesting to look at. And I don’t mean with a cool font. Showcase what you do exactly with some awesome pictures of you riding/racing, send them links to a few videos you may have. Pictures are an eye pleaser and will keep the potential sponsor interested. Plus it shows you do actually ride a motorcycle, Laughs.
List all of your racing attributes. Like I have said, being a sponsored rider isn’t all about your results. Infact, some of the best sponsored riders are ones that don’t race much and understand what promoting is all about and what it can do for any company. Show them that you are and will be that type rider for them. If you really don’t want to put any time into getting sponsored, typing out a racing resume, and so on, you might as well just go work your butt off at work or suck up to your parents even more because being sponsored doesn’t come for free. You can make anything as fun as want it to be, with the understanding that sometimes to have fun there is work involved. Show through your racing resume you enjoy the sport 100%, have fun with, but are willing to work for it. If you truly get that they will see you have a good understanding of sponsorship. Definitely list your achievements. It’s great to be proud of your achievements and they will appreciate what you have done. Just don’t use your race results as your main source. It honestly should be just a small part of your race resume.
Spending the time and working on your personal racing resume and sponsorship opportunities is work, but should all be enjoyable. Heck, anything motorcycle related is a good time!
Give them numbers: Tell them how many races you will be attending, how many people will be there, what other events you may be going to, what you have going on on Social media, let them know you have your own personal website , how many followers you have, what your pit set up will be like, the list goes on. Give them a list of everything that could help them for advertising purposes. You’ve got to remember, they see you as advertising, so if they see a good “ bang for their buck”, then they might just sponsor you. Very few companies actually care about how good you are, they care more about good you are at promoting their company. Be that person, and show them you are worth it. Biggest thing is, if you say you are going to do something you better try your hardest to do it. Never have a sponsor left empty handed.
I am going to stop there. There is so much more to say , but this read has gotten quite lengthy. Let’s keep it at that! If this has a good spark of interest and people would like to hear more I am more than willing to write “ Becoming a sponsored rider , part 2”. I touched on some good topics and hopefully this helps some other fellow racers seek sponsorship and give anyone a better understanding of how it all works.
Thanks for reading everyone, happy trails, and happy moto’s!
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Jarrett May 104
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