In the Sept 29^th version of my File POV opinion column I criticized AMA CEO Rob Dingman for having presided over a membership that has dwindled by over 40,000 since he took the reins. I was contacted by an AMA board member and given an explanation of this rapid loss.

In early 2006 the AMA did an agreement with Nationwide Insurance, which gave a free one-year AMA membership to policyholders who were not already AMA members. That program was discontinued and according to the AMA nearly all the members signed up through the Nationwide program did not renew when their one-year free membership was up, thus the rapid decline in membership numbers.

I credit Dingman and board chairman Stan Simpson for publicly explaining this situation in the October issue of the American Motorcyclist. In the magazine article Dingman said the plan is to reach 300,000 members in 2010 and eventually 400,000, although no timeframe is given for that goal.

The fact remains that AMA membership reached 250,000 nearly 10 years ago (May of 2000 to be exact) and with the exception of the temporary boost of the Nationwide Insurance program, membership has been flat for a decade. The economy has something to do with that number for sure, but the AMA could and should do much better.

The Motorcycle Industry Council reported 25 million Americans rode motorcycles in 2003. If those numbers are accurate than only one percent of motorcyclists are AMA members. It’s clear the AMA is struggling to connect with the majority of riders, especially younger riders.

From my perspective Pro Racing was one easily identifiable way to get younger riders interested in the AMA. Even if the association was losing money from its professional racing operations, I maintain that it should have been looked at as an outstanding avenue to connect with young riders. Believe me, government relations, as important as it is, will not get a 25-year-old rider pumped up. Seeing Josh Hayes slide a Superbike at triple-digit speed will.

I hope I’m wrong, but I would be amazed to see AMA membership increase to a real 300,000 number as soon as next year. The AMA is currently doing very little of interest to young riders and its membership is aging rapidly. The AMA is very proud of its new roadside assistance program and are counting on following the AAA model of getting members. But people sign up for AAA primarily so they or their wives will get help when they get locked out of their car, get a flat or run out of gas. That’s not going to happen on a large scale in motorcycling. I’m sorry to burst the AMA’s bubble, it’s just not.

Instead of sitting back and criticizing I will submit some ideas that I think could bring memberships up, and begin to reach that all important 25-35 demographic.

1. Get Pro Racing back in house.

Nothing generates web traffic to the AMA like Pro Racing. I remember when I was communications manager for Pro Racing, the numbers on web hits for the Pro Racing side of the website dwarfed all other sections combined. I don’t care that the AMA’s name is still on the product, if it’s not in house you don’t have control. You then parlay the stars of pro racing into the biggest spokespersons for the AMA, not only featuring them in ads, but paying them to make appearances across the country on behalf of the AMA. How cool would it be for young people to have Travis Pastrana show up at an event and as part of the deal he talked just a little about the importance of the AMA?

2. Get the current members involved in bringing in new members.

It sounds quaint now, but in the old days the AMA used to give awards out to the dealerships that sold the most AMA memberships. Get back to those days of having AMA-friendly dealers promote memberships. And promote them in turn when they bring in members. Actively use current members, especially young people, to serve as ambassadors for the AMA. Have groups throw parties where videos are shown, or where live races can be shown in pubs or club houses. Have AMA banners, laptops set up where people can join online. Make it fun to be a member.

3. Get totally behind the off-road community.

It’s a fairly small sector to be sure, but no single group of motorcyclists knows more about supporting the right to ride than off-road riders. The AMA needs to be much more proactive in showing states how they can generate revenue through off-road parks and tourism. At the same time the AMA needs to work with the manufacturers to make sure the off-road machines they are selling are friendly to the environment. Promote quieter, lighter off-road machines, softer tire compounds with less aggressive tread patterns and support like crazy trail-building initiatives.

4. Continue to pursue better member benefits

OK I’m not trying to make fun of current AMA benefits, but if I hear of one more 10 percent discount on some bike lock if I join I’m going to puke! These discounts for products are mainly a joke that very few members use and primarily act as great free advertising for the companies offering the “discounts”. Let’s get benefits riders can really use, like real discounts at hotels, restaurant chains, movie theaters, gas stations, video chains – stuff we use all the time. How about when we go to a Shell gas station and first swipe our membership card we get 10 cents per gallon off our gas? Now that would bring in new members.

5. Think Hollywood

Look at TV and magazines today. What sells? It’s celebrity! The AMA should work with the manufacturers to get celebrities on motorcycles and at racing events, group tours and things of this nature. Get pictures of the stars on the AMA website. Create some buzz that doing stuff with the AMA is cool. And I’m not talking about Jay Leno here. Jay’s great, but constantly keep in mind you need to get young people in the AMA. Start young. Hell, get Hannah Montana on a scooter or the Jonas Brothers on dirt bikes. Identify who young people are into and work with them to create an image of motorcycling as a fun, safe, cool thing to do.

6. Media Outreach

Have the AMA’s communications department get off their butts, or hire more communications staff and get articles placed in mainstream magazines, newspapers, TV and radio shows. Use the racers, find riders who do interesting things and get them in the local newspaper, TV or radio station. It takes work, but it can be done. Help the promoters promote their races. Encourage the membership to ask for more motorcycle coverage in their local media. If a story appears in prominent media, send out a release to all the motorcycling websites so web traffic flows to that newspaper or TV station. Get the 250,000 members working on your side to make the sport bigger.

7. Get back to the nicest people.

Create programs that encourage friendliness. Again it sounds simple, but how about a “Wave AMA!” program. Do articles and advertisement to have members wave not only to other motorcyclists on the road, but to kids on buses or mothers in SUVs or farmers on tractors. Let’s raise a generation of people who see motorcyclists as super friendly and always having fun.

8. Special Ops

Ever think about working with dealers to have riders on cool looking motorcycles decked out in cool gear riding past schools in the afternoons when kids are let out? I’ve happened to be riding by a school at times when it was let out and I wave or nod to kids who are admiring my bike. They wave back so enthusiastically. I’ve had countless riders tell me they begged their parents to get them a bike because they saw this guy ride by school every day and he had a gorgeous girl on the back and it looked so friggin’ cool to have a bike.

9. Stickers

Get members to hand out nice looking AMA stickers wherever they go. Encourage members to put AMA stickers on their cars and trucks. It’s free advertising and creates brand recognition. Give stickers or rider cards to schools and summer youth programs for teachers to hand out for good behavior. Make lunch boxes with racing stars and have the AMA logo on them.

10. Hire and consult with young people

The AMA has cleared the deck of pretty most of its experienced employees. Maybe now they can hire some young kids out of college who might have their finger on the pulse of what gets people their age excited. Use consulting firms to find out what might attract young people to the AMA. 

Here’s a tip – get a hold of Pat Schutte here. Shoots  has forgotten more about generating excitement than I’ve ever known about the subject.

11. Youth introductory rides

Work with the manufacturers to host introductory rides across the country, using little 50cc bikes. Yamaha used to do a program like that in the early 1970s and look at the explosion of riding that came as a result.

12. Gift memberships

AMA membership is big on “retention”. They look at programs like the one they had with Nationwide Insurance as not all that useful because people join for free and are not retained over time. I say do all those programs you can. Sure most of the members won’t stay on past their introductory membership, but at least some will and these were people that weren’t members before. How about allowing members to buy “gift memberships” to new members at a highly-reduced price. I contend that you get these types of programs going and you keep them going. If you had ten Nationwide-type deals that brought in 500,000 new members in a year, even if 90 percent drop off you still have 50,000 new members.

There you go AMA. I just sat here and rattled off a dozen ideas in a half-hour of typing. Surely you can get people in membership who can at least come up with ideas like these and more. 250,000 members is nothing to be taken lightly, but if there really are 25 million motorcyclists in the country, or even 10 million, shouldn’t the AMA be able to attract 10 percent of them?

FOR AN UPDATE ON THE REAL MEMBERSHIP STORY GO HERE.