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Joined
8/3/2014
Location
USA
I thought it may be very helpful to people wanting to work in the motorcycle industry to give them some real information. What job do you have, how much do you make, what are your benefits, job duties, how much do you like it, travel, going to races, and how much do you ride on your days off? Also what advice would you give to someone wanting a job in the motorcycle industry?
GNCC Series Administrator - Basically means I do a little of everything from checking over event tee designs, helping with the yearly Souvenir Yearbook, taking care of staff apparel, writing, proofreading... And thats only in the office. The bulk of what I do is actually at the events where myself and Ryan Echols layout the GNCC race courses (Trail Boss Jeff Russell handles the start/finish areas as well as some of the larger grass track sections), make sure all the track changes get made from the Youth to AM to PM races, give the track description during the riders meeting, tow out broken down riders and occasionally I do get to hop on a bike and ride sweep.
Also help with the High Point, Budds Creek and Ironman Nationals as well as Loretta Lynns and some ATVMX races as well as local events at High Point doing, well, whatever is needed really.
Always some perks of the job such as getting use of a new bike each year for GNCC, and Moose always helps the GNCC Track Crew out with gear.
I enjoy it and cant really picture myself doing anything else. Its pretty fun to go out and layout a race course that you know (mostly) everyone is going to enjoy but it's also much harder than one would think as theres so many little details that have to be kept in mind. I started out working in a dealership, helped out with the Offroad Junkies website back in 2010 and that led me to a gig filming with the TV crew at the GNCCs in late 2010, which evolved into the full-time job it is now. Also worked at Powersport Grafx for about a year and a half while also working at the GNCCs back in 2013/early 2014. Went full-time with Racer Productions/MX Sports in late 2014 and have been here since.
The travel can be fun but for GNCC we literally drive EVERYWHERE. I've only flown about 3 times in my whole life. But you get used to that after a while and it can be pretty fun. A six or seven hour drive to me feels the way a two hour drive feels to a "normal" person. For GNCC, I'm typically gone a whole week. We usually arrive Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning, then leave the following Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. After a while, that also only feels like a couple of days.
It doesn't leave me opportunities to ride as much as you'd think but I'm discovering how much fun a dual sport can be and that's my new "thing" for the days off.
Best advice I would give is to just find ways to put your name out there and face-to-face interaction is key as well. It was a little easier for me since the GNCCs are a bit more accessible than other events but I basically got to where I am by putting my name out there online through some various media, as well as positive face-to-face interactions with people at the races.
The Shop
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The work y'all put into GNCC is amazing and it shows week in and week out. Someday I'm gonna have to come out and do one and a J-Day!
The growth has been phenomenal the past few years. Seems like every day I come on here there's another thread about dwindling numbers and someone usually jumps in and mentions off-road. Last year was GNCC's biggest year ever, which is absolutely awesome to see. GNCC has grown from the Blackwater 100, to the 100 Miler Series and then into GNCC as we know it now. With that, it's also gone from pickups and boxvans to full-blown semis, but at the same time there's still plenty of people who show up in a pickup truck and put on a clinic in their respective class... Heck, Chris Bach has been a top GNCC pro since 2010, put together a privateer effort in 2013 and rolled into the Snowshoe GNCC that year with his bike in the back of my old roommate's pickup.
I think it only keeps growing from here. The value is great in that you get 2-3 hours of riding, plus the people are great! Some of the best people I've ever met have been through GNCC and off-road racing in general. Top that off with the fact that you see things at an off-road race that you never see anywhere else, and it's hard not to love it.
Definitely come give on a try! They're a blast and the JDay are awesome too. I've known John Day for a number of years and he actually inspired me to put on a GP event which I've done back home in North Carolina for the past 5 years.
Pit Row
That was the up side. The downside is that it is still a business when all is said and done. You are as good as your #'s and as an independent, if you don't sell, you don't get paid. I guess it ultimately depends on what you consider what making a living is but IMHO, if you're not doing $1m is sales you're not making much. When your gas, hotels, meals, promo, etc come out of your pocket, the negative side of the ledger begins to add up. Samples are very rarely free as well but hopefully they are sellable or deductible. As a rep for a distributor you have much more to sell and you always have the consumables like oils, tires, etc that you can count. When you work for a moto apparel brand it can be a bit harder since you have to deal with sell through and fight for wall space. you have to rely on the designers to hopefully make a great line. You have to hope it ships on time and you have to make sure you had great sell through in your accounts so your dealer has room and the $ to bring in the new line. I had a territory that was not that heavily moto based and was economically on the low end of the scale. Selling in the high end items was nearly impossible. Couple that with unrealistic sales expectations and at times it could be stressful.
All in all it was a great run. I miss being involved in the moto industry. It was a lot of fun and I am thankful that I got the chance to work in an industry that is my passion. I would tell anyone that has the chance to grab it even if it's just for a short period of time in your life.
But, for GNCC, it's almost unphesable for the majority of the amateur racers to make the trip. Our core rider base comes from WV/PA/OH and a lot from NC/SC/GA plus NY too. The majority of amateur racers who do the series for points race all 13 rounds (you are given 4 drops as an amateur though) and a lot of them race, load up, get their trophy, and drive hours and hours home to get to work or their kids to school the next day. A west coast round wouldn't work for most of those folks for that reason.
Plus, it's a long haul for our trucks and equipment as well. Yeah, I realize the Pro Motocross trucks make the same trips but something to consider there is the fact that the series only has 1 truck and everything else is separate. For GNCC we have 2 semis, watertruck/trailer, plus a few other pickup truck/trailer combos. The travel time would be difficult as well since we typically travel back from a GNCC on Monday afternoon and then a few days later we're onto another event of some sort.
It would be a cool race but it would be just about impossible for the majority of our amateur class racers (and even some privateer pro racers!) to make the trip.
We have been selling internationally for 2 years and are finally launching in North America this summer, it's been a challenge with the EPA regulations but we finally have our cert and are starting production this April.
I have raced moto my whole life, I don't expect to sell to many to our segment. There has been a lot of interest from Hunting, farming, atv, and the recreational atv market. They are a ton of fun, completely different to anything else available. It's like a stand-up jet ski for land that works in snow, dirt, sand....etc..
Can we just say...I'm a vital mx contributor? Doesn't that make me an industry member.
Anyhow, I wish I worked in the industry but I'm the furthest from it.
Dan
Comedy Gold
We have most of the F1 teams, and most of the engine design and manufacture, and most of the WRC teams too, and then there all the other GP2 teams WEC, etc ect. right down to the ted in the shed stuff.
Loads of people working in and around racing, most coming through a few Universities. and the rest through knowing people in the industry,
Back in 1999 , there were few courses specifically for Motor Sport Engineering, and as budgets shrank and teams did too, the amount of jobs for 'entry level guys' went with it, but the places offering to train these guys has gone through the roof, meaning that there are so many people that have qualifications and nowhere to use them, but the colleges are raking it in with the promise of being the next F1 mechanic.
I loved my time in the sport, especially WRC which was awesome, but now, the guys who are still at it are really losing interest , instead of being out in the woods , they are sat at a central service point in a prefabricated garage watching it on live timing..
MX , at least you get to see the races,and be part of it.. i have done it for free, but only because i have a job that allows me that luxury.
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