Think about all the good things factory riders have. If you had to pick one to add to your normal life, what would it be? (Let's disqualify million-dollar salaries. Pick a small perk.)
Is it a full-time mechanic? Helicopter rides to/from the track? New tires for every ride? Just a kick-ass pit environment with a stocked RedBull refrigerator?
For me, there's something about brand-new goggles. If I could pick one thing, I'd want a full, lifetime sponsorship of brand-new, fresh goggles for every race and ride session. Not a single scratch or dull spot, no stains or dirt of any kind, and the foam still smells like the glue holding it onto the frame. Two or three colors every day.
I mean, if I wanted to waste an extra $300 every ride day, I could have that I suppose. What's your thing?
Private jets for travel. Being a top athlete in a major sport and flying southwest is a joke. Being on a factory team and having travel completely taken care of and not having to deal with general public airports would suck.
Trusting that every bolt is torqued, maintenance is dialed and everything that needs to be fresh is! Also…those transmissions and smooth shifting.
When I raced, I was incredibly particular about my bike. It had to look and feel like a new bike every time. Always clean, the graphics perfect, no black marks on the side panels, suspension set, bars/lever/grips checked and adjusted.etc... I would spend an hour or two cleaning, lubing and setting it up for a 2 hour session...then clean it again right after.
My perk would be a prefect looking/feeling bike each ride.
New tires
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Free shipping: VITALMX
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
Pit tootsies... if I was 40 years younger. 😃
Other than that, someone to do the dirty work of valving/setting up my suspension until I was satisfied.
Feels good to pay $100 for a pair of goggles. knowing that I just enabled about 15 pairs to be thrown to fans... lol
Suspension.
Everything is fresh and new. Tires, gear, engine, plastics, graphics, suspension, etc. It's a nice and new clean bike look every time.
A $1.5 million fully padded, Gucci upholstered and air condition cry room FAR away from the medias prying eyes. That way I can tuck the front when I am a little tired and not get interviewed about my stupid decisions.
Also.... Then I dont have to deal with vital peasants taking pictures of my Kashima coated CNC'd from Moon rocks extra rigid flexy engine mounts.
Free race fuel..
Testing. Its the one thing I got to enjoy being a part of and seeing a handful of times. But if I could have 1 thing a factory rider has its the ability to pull up to the track and have a techs ready to help dial it in.
Early retirement.
Time. Time to just focus on riding, getting ready to ride, and recover from riding.
Now that I have no free time, the most appealing part is to just show up to a track and my bike is there waiting to be riden,when I'm done I just get in the car and go home.
You don't need race fuel
Talent 😂
Factory uspension tech that has the knowledge and that sets up several sets of forks: MX and offroad and provides service. Not just once, rather yearly. Suspension is KING
Agreed, I love working on bikes but sometimes getting home from work and having to do a bunch of bike maintenance before riding that weekend sucks.
Obviously their bikes are ready to race on race day but all those practice days they still have a ready to rip bike every morning, pretty sweet.
Pit Row
Fresh factory tires for every condition.
Factory ECU so I could be like James!
Seriously though as others have said, a top notch suspension tech so I could get the best and safest ride I could get. Having a prepped track built and maintained would be next on the list!
Factory ECU
You reminded me of a dear friend that was killed racing. He was a top notch rider and was the Open A national champion in GNCC. He got new goggles every race from Oakley and he said he "had to have that new goggle smell"!
317’s think alike!
I'd say all the hot babes seeking your attention. How wonderful....
Token Monster Energy bride
My Dad was a local racer in the 70's and told me he dreamt of being able to have a fresh tire "every time I kickstarted the bike". I always remembered that one as the ultimate luxury. Clean bikes, new googles, all good but having a consistent feel on the ground beats all IMO.
Great minds think alike! 😁
No filters to change/clean
The skill and lack of fear they have 😂
So many great ways to look at this. Some ideas:
A factory bike
A suspension tech and all the good bits
A private, local to me, maintained track (probably this!)
A full access pass for all SMX races (all about the fan experience)
Fresh tires is a good one
A practice bike and a race bike
Post a reply to: What one Factory Rider perk would you like to have?