Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

How To: Be a Motocross Star! By David Bailey with Thomas Scott Part Five: Getting sponsors and investing your money , In the first part of my series I di scussed how to start plann ing yo u r career, and now I'd like to te ll you how to ap proach life on th e road on ce yo u start fo llowing a race ci rcuit fu ll- time, lik e I do . Some ti mes it a mazes me ho w q ui ckly I' ve become educat ed about a na in ing sponsors a nd the tak in g care o f th e m oney th at co m es a lo ng with it. Just a few years ago I was OUI 100ki nR for a race r to sp li t a m ot el room wi th , but those da ys are over. Now, representing co m pa nies a nd handling money ' a re a ll pa rt o f being a n " MX Sta r." . 20 People as k m e a ll th e tim e how to get a factory r ide . You ca n ' t just write a lett er to Honda a nd tell th em yo u got third a t R oll ing Hills MX (a local track near m y house) a nd ex pect them to sh ip yo u so me bikes. You hav e to be impressiv e in your riding a n d appeal to ever yone in yo u r a rea, . a nd be rec o g n ized a s th e top guy. L o ok a t it this wa y: When yo u go to a , ra ce, everyone who 's th ere w ho kn ows a ny th in g a bo u t raci ng shou ld .be p icking yo u to win . U n til yo u 're recognized in th a t m anner by th e local cro wds and shop s in yo u r a rea , yo u' ll n e ve r ge t s po nsorsh i p, not e ve n o n th e local level. Yo u have to be a ble to win races a ll th e time, and yo u h ave to be pretty eas y on yo ur bod y a nd equipment. If yo u 're the type o f guy who wins o ne weekend but you cr ash and break your arm the next, yo u won 't be regarded very well by spon so rs. A lot of sponsorship, however , is luck, For some people like me , things seem to fa ll into pl ace. i got m y first ride o n Bultacos, beca use m y dad was a deal er. At first I had to work in m y dad 's shop (Gary Bail ey's Cycl e Barn ) to ea rn m oney to bu y th ose Bultacos, but luck il y I go t g ood enough th at a fter a whil e I was g ive n so me bik es to rid e. ' . Be real isti c a bout where your sponsorship shou ld sta rt . A good idea is to a p proach a local shop . G o in a nd tell th em yo u ' ll d o whatever th ey want, a n d th at yo u' re ca pa ble of wi nn ing races (if yo u a re) fo r their sh op. Let th em kn ow that yo u' ll p romot e th eir shop the best yo u ca n , a n d th at yo u're will ing to wea r th e shop 's jersey or p u t th eir lo go on yo u r bik e. If yo u d o g et sponsored, a lways remember to m en tion the shop and th ank th em if yo u ge t so me space in Cycle News . Man y r id er s d on 't kno w just how , much that m ean s to local sponsors. Sponso rs h ave to be interested i n yo u, a nd what most riders don ' t realize is tha t yo u ha ve to m ake th em interested . If yo u just rid e arou nd a n d yo u don't win regu larl y, sponsors won 't be inter ested . If yo u're a flashy rider who ge ts al ong with every body a nd is respect ed by o ther racers, chances are you're going to g et pick ed up by so mebody. From there, yo u hav e to make the most of th at sp o n sorsh ip and set small goals for yo u rse lf . You can't expect to go from J oe 's Cycle Shop to bein g a factory H onda rider. It' s a fact th at a ll the factories have yo u ng riders lined up a n d wailing for g uys like O 'M ara a nd m e to quit , so th ey ca n fill in th e spo t. Also, th e factori es have been CUlling back lately a nd tr imming th eir !\IX tea m s, a n d i I'S a lot harder 10 get a r id e n o wadays, Th e o n ly guys wh o a re maki n g the factory sq uads are th e rea l p erfo rm ers who can turn in result s. If you ever. wor k past th e' obstacl es an d prove yo u rse lf to be factory r ider ca liber, yo u ' ll fin d yo ur self in a big o ffice so mew here ge tting ready to neg ot iate a co nt rac t. Th ere are ways to work a co n trac t so t ha t it stavs sim p le , but thai it g ives you o p port u nities to m ake a lot o f m on ey - if you perform. Yo u ca n' t g o to a Iactorv without a lo t of cre de nti a ls a nd de~lan d a bunc h o f m o nev, T he factory wou ld hav e no rea so nto pay 'yo u a la rge a mo u nt. As far as th e fac tori es a re co ncerned , the bik e is th e first part o f yo ur pa ych eck. When th ey hire a n ew a n d ye t unproven ri der, th ey'r e giving th at g uy a S50 ,OOO m ot orcycl e to race. T he y fig ure a roo kie bet ter ta ke the S I0.000 sa lary o r what ever th ey're o ffer ing, a nd he'd bet ter go o u t th ere a nd do hi s best. Wh en yo u sta r t as king for bi g m on ey, yo u ha ve to be important eno ugh so tha t th ey wa nt to keep yo u by p a yingyou wh at you' re a sking. I a lways as k a li ttl e hit lo w; I don 't go in th er e and lak e chan ces. W hat I d o is m ak e myself opport unities 10 make a lo t of m o ney. Whal I d id was set up a bo nu s program with m y sponsors - goggles, boots, tires, whatever a n d pU I a ll my bo nus m o ney co n tin gen t o n wi n n ing races . In stead o f arg uing o n a co u p le g ra n ds eith er way in sa lary, I tried 10 m ake th e, bo n us for the champ ionshi p a little h igher. I en de d up winn in g those ch a m p io n sh ip s, a nd I m ade a lot o f mone y. Wit h m y bi gger co ntracts, lik e w ith Honda, I work thi ngs a liule d iff er en tly. Let 's say yo u start yo ur co ntr act at $25, 000 a yea r, a n d your bon u s to win th e 125cc Nationa l C h a m p ionsh ip is $50,000. Yo u wa lk in a nd tell the fact ory tha t yo u th in k yo u shou ld m ake $50,000 in sa lary , because yo u kn o w that' s what so a nd-so is m aking, a nd yo u're j us t as fas t as h im . T hey' re proba bly goi ng 10 te ll yo u to forget it, a nd th e best' th ey ca n do is $30,000 . It 's p robabl y going 10 sca re yo u a little bit, a nd what yo u ca n do to work arou nd that is 10 as k fo r a bo u t $ 10,000 m ore than yo u ex pect to get for base sala ry , a nd th en as k th at a per centage, of yo ur bonus m oney be added 10 th e follow' in g year' s sa la ry. T ha t worked o u t rea lly well in m y case. H onda 's bonuses a re prett y bi g (SIO O O,O Ofor th e Su pe rcross title) a n d I h ad m y co ntract set up where half o f th e a mou nt o f m y bonus m oney wa s ad ded to th e next yea r' s sa la ry . Wh en I won th e Supercross, 250cc National a nd Grand National Championsh ips in 1983, i t ad ded up to so me bi g m oney. H alf o f that was ad de d o n to th e sa la ry I was a lread y getting for 1984, wh ich was a lre ady pretty hi gh , a nd a ll o f a sudden I wa s making a whol e bunch of m oney (It has been rum ored that Ba il ey m ad e o ver $600 ,000 in 1983 . . . Editor). You hav e to be realisti c. when it comes to as ki ng for m oney. If yo u 're a top rider but yo u onl y w in occasio nally , yo u have to ask for a littl e bit more than you ex pect, a n d then neg otiate from there . Negotiation m eetings are intense. Once thing I tried to get but didn 't was disability. Wha t th a t m eans is if yo u bre ak yo u r leg and yo u 're OUI yo u o n ly g et paid for 60 days a fter th at. After negotiating , I got more di sability than what th e co ntrac t ca lle d for, but I didn 't ge t full d isabili ty lik e I wanted. Keep i n mind th at a fac to ry will a lways o ffer yo u their ver y-lowest bid , because th ey're going to try to ge l yo u cheap . It 's their job to try a nd pay less fo r m o re. T hey' ll make you think they don 't ha ve it in th eir budget , a nd th a t it 's im p ossibl e to come up wi th more cas h . It 's a ll 10 ge t you a little bit cheaper, a nd yo u ca n't bla m e th em , b u t then I come in a nd tell th em I can ' t rid e for th at a m o u nt ! Wn a reve r ha p pe ns, yo u na ve to keep a level head, be p ol i te, an d as k a 101 of q uest ion s. Be open m inded a nd fa ir. I was in a pi n ch th is year go ing into a ridi ng gear cl a use. I wa nted to h u rr y a nd sign, because at that ti m e Suz u ki ha d trimmed ba ck th eir MX learn and Kawasa ki had dropped th eir ro ad racing team , a nd thi ngs were loo ki ng sca ry. I kn ew I had wo n everythi ng, a n d I was a fra id I wo utd be left wi th no thing . I didn't know wh ere 10 turn so I went to Rog er DeCost er a nd as ked him what to d o . [ took hi s ad vice, co m bi ne d i t wit h wh a t I thought , a nd made a decision. You learn as yo u go, a nd havin g yo ur dad o r yo ur lawyer go iri and n eg oti ate for yo u is ,the wo rst th in g yo u G ill do - you hav e to spea k fo r yo urself. If yo u have th e o pport u ni ty 10 work w ith a good C PA o r accounta n t, you ca n wo rk ahe to keep m ore ad of yo ur mon ey: Let 's say yo u're mak. ing a qua rter o f a mi lli on in sal a ry, a nd yo u have th e fact o rv hol d back a bo u't 5150 ,000 o f i t. Th ey keep it, inves t it, a nd p a y you ba ck wh en yo u 're 30-yea rs-o ld, along wi th interest, T he current rat e o f in teres t is 13. 7%, so if yo u goi j u st 10% in terest fro m th e fact ory, yo u 'd m a ke eno ugh to li ve well until vo u're 70 or 80. When yo u deferpa ym ents like th at, it 's wh en yo u 're m aking so much m oney ta xes a re hurtin g yo u , o r if yo u' re spen d i ng yo ur m on ey too q ui ckly , You ca n spread yo ur m oney o u t in a lot o f different ways. I'm not sure, bu t I th ink H annah set up deferr ed pa ym ents when he rod e for Yamaha, a nd I wouldn 't be su rpsied if they 're still pa ying him. H e's prett y smart, a n d h e enjoys d oing a ll o f hi s o w n negotiating - he likes m aking th em swea t in th ose m eetin gs! I've m ade so me personal investm ents o n m y own, things I think will br ing in m oney years down th e ro ad , I've got th e race track (David Bail ey's Lake Suga r Tree MX Park o n 200 acres), I ha ve a co u p le o f houses, a nd tw o a part ment bu ildings. I hav e so me profit-sharing pl an s, and I'v e set up a m oney m a rk e t accou nt. With th at inter est , th e bank ha s m ade so me investments for m e. T o m e it 's m oney th at d oesn 't reall y exis t. I hav e th em invest it and if it works o ut I' ll br eak o ff into personalized investing, wh ere yo u g o in with about 10 people on p rojects. A g ood Califo rnia investment, if yo u ha ve a lot of cash, is buying 100s, d ividing them. building homes on th em, a n d sell ing th em o ff. Glover is really go od a t stu ff lik e that. H e has a l ot o f things a n d a 10l o f m oney, a ni ce home a nd a lot of tov s. H e has busin esses sta rted, and he has a really g ood accou ntan t he meets with every week. Just from li stenin g to Broc, it seems he knows what h e's doing , Aft er I'm done racing I'm pl anning to buy so me more a pa rt me nts , a nd m a ybe so me land o n Lake Norm an (i n North Caro lina) to build a h ouse o n . I'm thinking a bo u t o pe n ing a rest aurant so m ed a y, but I wouldn 't do that until I kn ew it was being run lik e I wanted it. I hope that lets yo u inside m y head a bit regarding some of the financial matters an MX Star d eals with. Next time, I'll be talking about what it's like riding on a factory team. •

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