Ricky Carmichael Continues on as Suzuki Brand Ambassador

GuyB
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Suzuki Announces Ricky Carmichael Continues as Brand Ambassador

Brea, Calif, (November 7, 2017) – Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. (SMAI) announced today that Ricky Carmichael will continue his role as Brand Ambassador. Carmichael, nicknamed the “GOAT" (Greatest Of All Time) is a highly respected, multi-time AMA Supercross and Motocross champion and AMA Hall of Fame member who has filled the ambassador position with Suzuki since his retirement from active racing after the 2007 season. The agreement for Carmichael to continue his relationship with Suzuki is multi-year.

Suzuki is redefining its motocross brand in the United States through a number of initiatives including grass roots support and a more clearly defined path for riders to advance from amateur to professional levels. Carmichael will continue to be an integral part of Suzuki’s efforts including the RM Army initiative – the umbrella under which Suzuki racing support resides. The Camp Carmichael program, an exclusive Suzuki offering, will continue with Carmichael providing personal coaching for riders who qualify on Suzuki RM and RM-Z race bikes. As a champion who rose to prominence through amateur racing, it’s fitting that Ricky will continue to provide guidance to Suzuki Amateur Elite Team riders.

In support of Suzuki’s all-new factory racing program in the U.S., Carmichael will also interact with Autotrader / Yoshimura / Suzuki Racing team management at Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) as well as the contracted racers directly. This adds to the solid start the JGR group has had since the team was announced in September.

A significant portion of Carmichael’s responsibility with Suzuki will be product development and feedback. With the recent announcement that Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) was suspending participation in the MXGP and All-Japan MX championships, a greater portion of the development and refinement of the company’s motocross models has shifted to Suzuki in the United States.

“We are fortunate to have Ricky as a resource to improve our products and represent the company in the United States,” said Kerry Graeber, Suzuki’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Ricky’s success and voice in the motocross world is unparalleled. Suzuki is the winningest bike in U.S. motocross over the past decade and RC is a huge part of that success. We are stoked to continue our fruitful relationship with Ricky into the foreseeable future.”

Carmichael echoed Graeber’s comments. “I won championships and wrapped up my racing career on a Suzuki, so obviously the brand is near to my heart,” said Carmichael. “With the increased emphasis and importance on Suzuki in the U.S., I am looking forward to doing what I can to help further develop its products and racing success.”

Carmichael’s team, RCH Racing which he founded with freestyle motocross legend Carey Hart, won the 2016 AMA Motocross Championship. Carmichael and Hart closed the team at the conclusion of the 2017 racing season.

In addition to his expanded role with Suzuki, Carmichael will continue to contribute to the motorcycle industry and sport though the Ricky Carmichael Daytona Amateur Supercross, the Ricky Carmichael University, and other charitable endeavors. For additional information about Ricky and his activities, please visit http://www.rickycarmichael.com/

The 2018 AMA Supercross season begins on January 6, 2018 at Anaheim Stadium.
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11/7/2017 11:27am
Interesting that Ricky stayed and Carey Hart switched to Husky
langhammx
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11/7/2017 12:39pm
Moparmotel wrote:
Interesting that Ricky stayed and Carey Hart switched to Husky
Makes perfect sense to me....
twotwosix
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11/7/2017 2:34pm
Good for RC.

Lets hope that this US based development starts getting Suzuki's back to the top end of shootouts and a return to the Decoster era of glory.

The Shop

-MAVERICK-
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11/7/2017 3:11pm
RC was not a founding member of the RCH team. Carey Hart started it and he became involved with it the past few years. The team was rebranded as RCH when he came on-board.
ML512
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11/7/2017 4:11pm
-MAVERICK- wrote:
RC was not a founding member of the RCH team. Carey Hart started it and he became involved with it the past few years. The team...
RC was not a founding member of the RCH team. Carey Hart started it and he became involved with it the past few years. The team was rebranded as RCH when he came on-board.
Depends how you look at it...I believe RCH Racing was the name of the LLC behind the team which was formed when Ricky Carmichael got together with Carey Hart and his existing Hart and Huntington race team.

So technically speaking, yes, he's a founding member of RCH Racing "Ricky Camichael-Carey Hart Racing"
reded
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11/7/2017 4:21pm Edited Date/Time 11/7/2017 4:23pm
So they're pulling in the reigns at the top level of racing and re-focusing on the grassroots in an attempt to rectify their image and make lifelong Suzuki riders? If so, I have to commend their new business model. Does anyone know if they're revamping their amateur level contingencies?
-MAVERICK-
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11/7/2017 4:26pm
-MAVERICK- wrote:
RC was not a founding member of the RCH team. Carey Hart started it and he became involved with it the past few years. The team...
RC was not a founding member of the RCH team. Carey Hart started it and he became involved with it the past few years. The team was rebranded as RCH when he came on-board.
ML512 wrote:
Depends how you look at it...I believe RCH Racing was the name of the LLC behind the team which was formed when Ricky Carmichael got together...
Depends how you look at it...I believe RCH Racing was the name of the LLC behind the team which was formed when Ricky Carmichael got together with Carey Hart and his existing Hart and Huntington race team.

So technically speaking, yes, he's a founding member of RCH Racing "Ricky Camichael-Carey Hart Racing"
I guess technically speaking he is but it's not like he did any of the heavy lifting/built it from the ground up.

Part owner is more along the lines of what RC was. Than co-founder.

Still sucks that there's one less team out there.
-MAVERICK-
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11/7/2017 4:33pm
reded wrote:
So they're pulling in the reigns at the top level of racing and re-focusing on the grassroots in an attempt to rectify their image and make...
So they're pulling in the reigns at the top level of racing and re-focusing on the grassroots in an attempt to rectify their image and make lifelong Suzuki riders? If so, I have to commend their new business model. Does anyone know if they're revamping their amateur level contingencies?
Not sure about that but they brought back their amateur team which Larry Brooks is a part of the program. With them no longer having teams in MXGP and the All Japan National's it wouldn't be a bad idea to revamp their contingency program seeing as they're putting all their efforts in the US. It's not like they won't have any spare change to hand out.

I still think they need to update their RM 85 if they want kids to start riding them. Not many full size Suzuki bikes around and much less 85's.
-MAVERICK-
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11/7/2017 5:04pm
This has been up for a while now and still no sign of Tyler. Someone might want to go check up on him lol.

He usually posts in anything and everything that has Suzuki in the thread title.
malachi177
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11/7/2017 5:23pm
-MAVERICK- wrote:
This has been up for a while now and still no sign of Tyler. Someone might want to go check up on him lol. He usually...
This has been up for a while now and still no sign of Tyler. Someone might want to go check up on him lol.

He usually posts in anything and everything that has Suzuki in the thread title.
Laughing you do have a point...but then again I bleed yellow too. I just don't yell non stop
TymeMoto
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11/7/2017 6:01pm
-MAVERICK- wrote:
This has been up for a while now and still no sign of Tyler. Someone might want to go check up on him lol. He usually...
This has been up for a while now and still no sign of Tyler. Someone might want to go check up on him lol.

He usually posts in anything and everything that has Suzuki in the thread title.
He's too busy checking Craigslist pages for every major city in the country for a mint condition RM 100.
-MAVERICK-
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11/7/2017 6:13pm
-MAVERICK- wrote:
This has been up for a while now and still no sign of Tyler. Someone might want to go check up on him lol. He usually...
This has been up for a while now and still no sign of Tyler. Someone might want to go check up on him lol.

He usually posts in anything and everything that has Suzuki in the thread title.
TymeMoto wrote:
He's too busy checking Craigslist pages for every major city in the country for a mint condition RM 100.
Lol maybe so but he seems to always make time for SUSZUKI threads.
kkawboy14
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11/7/2017 6:15pm Edited Date/Time 11/7/2017 6:16pm
-MAVERICK- wrote:
RC was not a founding member of the RCH team. Carey Hart started it and he became involved with it the past few years. The team...
RC was not a founding member of the RCH team. Carey Hart started it and he became involved with it the past few years. The team was rebranded as RCH when he came on-board.
ML512 wrote:
Depends how you look at it...I believe RCH Racing was the name of the LLC behind the team which was formed when Ricky Carmichael got together...
Depends how you look at it...I believe RCH Racing was the name of the LLC behind the team which was formed when Ricky Carmichael got together with Carey Hart and his existing Hart and Huntington race team.

So technically speaking, yes, he's a founding member of RCH Racing "Ricky Camichael-Carey Hart Racing"
-MAVERICK- wrote:
I guess technically speaking he is but it's not like he did any of the heavy lifting/built it from the ground up. Part owner is more...
I guess technically speaking he is but it's not like he did any of the heavy lifting/built it from the ground up.

Part owner is more along the lines of what RC was. Than co-founder.

Still sucks that there's one less team out there.
“What exactly is a co-founder?
Still looking for an answer?

So, first off, many with some sort of an idea on executing their concept note usually looks for a partner (or in other words ‘Co-Founder’) in their venture when they begin. Before we get into the differences between a founder and a co-founder, I think it would only be fitting to define these two roles as what they are.

A founder is a solo-entrepreneur who is one who has started up with little or no support. This means that he has begun the operations and early-execution of the deliverables for his startups on his own before getting people on board. This is highly unpopular and you’ll find out why in a few seconds.

A co-founder or a founding team is one which is made up of anywhere between 2–10 people who come together and compliment the roles of each other in the team. The idea of having a founding team is to validate the plan and the product before the marketing and sales is done.

Coming to the second part of your question, let me try to answer this in a few points:

Yes, a founder and co-founder are two different things with very different roles, but that comes down to the individual. If he/she believes that founding is the best way to go about things, then by all means, you have a solo-founder of a company.
However, the above practice has been kind of disavowed in recent times because lets face it the founders cannot do it all. They need a team to help them out to compliment their efforts.
In a nutshell, a co-founder is someone who is roped in by the founder to bring in the other expertise that the founder lacks”
kkawboy14
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11/7/2017 6:19pm
co-founder
A person who, in conjunction with one or two other individuals, is instrumental in starting a business, charity or some other enterprise. Each person involved in the creation of the entity is considered a co-founder.
kkawboy14
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11/7/2017 6:21pm Edited Date/Time 11/7/2017 6:25pm
“When two or more people establish a company, they are known as co-founders and, since they launch new companies, founders are also entrepreneurs. An idea is just a vision, and you are the owner of just that, which means you are a visionary, until that idea has been brought into existence.”

Based on the various definitions I would say Hart was a Visionary/entrepreneur, he teamed up with another Entrepreneur RC and the 2 of them became CoFounders of a Championship Winning Enterprise Smile
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11/7/2017 10:39pm
reded wrote:
So they're pulling in the reigns at the top level of racing and re-focusing on the grassroots in an attempt to rectify their image and make...
So they're pulling in the reigns at the top level of racing and re-focusing on the grassroots in an attempt to rectify their image and make lifelong Suzuki riders? If so, I have to commend their new business model. Does anyone know if they're revamping their amateur level contingencies?
-MAVERICK- wrote:
Not sure about that but they brought back their amateur team which Larry Brooks is a part of the program. With them no longer having teams...
Not sure about that but they brought back their amateur team which Larry Brooks is a part of the program. With them no longer having teams in MXGP and the All Japan National's it wouldn't be a bad idea to revamp their contingency program seeing as they're putting all their efforts in the US. It's not like they won't have any spare change to hand out.

I still think they need to update their RM 85 if they want kids to start riding them. Not many full size Suzuki bikes around and much less 85's.
That team was actually privately funded......and may be done now.
Rotaholic
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11/7/2017 10:48pm
What role is he doing with JGR? something was mentioned on their instgram
11/7/2017 10:52pm
Seems weird to me. Considering MC represents Kawi and Emig is brand ambassador for Husky, I kind of expected RC to be aligned with Yamaha, or GasGas.
Beeby
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11/7/2017 11:02pm
I find it an odd tie up. RC doesn’t come across well in the media. That’s one thing and maybe it’s my personal opinion. There is no questioning his achievements though. However, the Suzuki brand has not exactly thrived over the time he has been ambassador.

What does he truly offer them? Will people buy their products because of his endorsement?
-MAVERICK-
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11/8/2017 12:57am
reded wrote:
So they're pulling in the reigns at the top level of racing and re-focusing on the grassroots in an attempt to rectify their image and make...
So they're pulling in the reigns at the top level of racing and re-focusing on the grassroots in an attempt to rectify their image and make lifelong Suzuki riders? If so, I have to commend their new business model. Does anyone know if they're revamping their amateur level contingencies?
-MAVERICK- wrote:
Not sure about that but they brought back their amateur team which Larry Brooks is a part of the program. With them no longer having teams...
Not sure about that but they brought back their amateur team which Larry Brooks is a part of the program. With them no longer having teams in MXGP and the All Japan National's it wouldn't be a bad idea to revamp their contingency program seeing as they're putting all their efforts in the US. It's not like they won't have any spare change to hand out.

I still think they need to update their RM 85 if they want kids to start riding them. Not many full size Suzuki bikes around and much less 85's.
That team was actually privately funded......and may be done now.
Hmm. I thought for sure it was a factory effort from Suzuki. If that's the case it definitively sucks for the people involved and the brand.
mxdude105
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11/8/2017 2:34am
Beeby wrote:
I find it an odd tie up. RC doesn’t come across well in the media. That’s one thing and maybe it’s my personal opinion. There is...
I find it an odd tie up. RC doesn’t come across well in the media. That’s one thing and maybe it’s my personal opinion. There is no questioning his achievements though. However, the Suzuki brand has not exactly thrived over the time he has been ambassador.

What does he truly offer them? Will people buy their products because of his endorsement?
Good point. With a lot of these "Brand Ambassador" jobs, I can't help but think that the riders just have buddies at the OEMs who hook them up with a gravy retirement gig so that they have something to do and keep the paychecks rolling in. I'd be interested to see if his involvement (Or MC with Kawi, Emig with Husky, etc.) has any correlation whatsoever with bike sales and/or team results. I'm thinking not.

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