American Claiming rule

Aint it funny the way you never notice sommat for yrs & yrs & more yrs than youd care to admit, then when you do notice it, you keep coming across it time after time ....

The claiming rule in USA im on about, not that darn camera pointing down at the Taxi parking spot outside Lloyds in Camberwell (hope it aint turned on!)

Reading about a race in Ontario in '71, the MV squad didnt go cos they worried the bikes would be claimed ....

I think i read something about a team actually losing their super expensive factory bike for a $1000 due to said rule...(only time its happened?)

WTF ??? sages please explain & does it still exist...?

[Biker Biggles]

Go on,tell us what you are talking about.

It's a rule from the AMA as far as I am aware:

Originally Posted by AMA Rulebook

E. Claiming
1. All sanctioned dirt track, short track, scrambles, motocross,
20 21
road race, hillclimb, and youth meets are claiming meets.
The claiming price shall be 30% over manufacturers suggested
retail price using the Black Book AMA Official
Motorcycle Value guide, Kelly Blue Book or NADA appraisal
guide and include the complete motorcycle or minicycle.
Dirt track, short track, and scrambles claims will be for the
engine including electronics, carburetion, and exhaust.
Claiming prices for dirt track, short track, and scrambles are
established in the following schedule:
0-250cc-$4,000
251-504cc-$8,000
505-Up (single)-$8,000
750cc Multi-cylinder-$17,500
Vintage class equipment will be excluded from the claiming rule.
2. Any rider (claimant) may enter a claim for a motorcycle (or
minicycle) ridden in an event in which the claimant has
competed. A claim must be entered with the referee after
the meet has been completed, but no later than 30 minutes
afterward. The referee then notifies the owner of the
claimed motorcycle and may take possession of it.
3. A claim must be accompanied by cash, certified check or
bank draft. The owner of the claimed machine must immediately
deliver it intact, along with a clear title or bill of sale.
4. If more than one claim is received for the same motorcycle,
a drawing will be held to determine the successful claimant.
5. If a rider whose motorcycle is claimed refuses to comply, he
must forfeit his trophy, is disqualified from the meet and will
be suspended for one year.
6. A rider may not enter a claim on his own equipment.

I think it was put in place to give a potential level playing field. A team is always under the possibilty that another rider could come along and buy there bike from them. The quote is from the 2007 AMA rulebook.

EDIT: These are the AMATEUR rules, AFAIK it doesn't apply under the PRO rules

Originally Posted by rigor

It's a rule from the AMA as far as I am aware:

- a rider may not claim their oewn equipment

I think it was put in place to give a potential level playing field. A team is always under the possibilty that another rider could come along and buy there bike from them. The quote is from the 2007 AMA rulebook.

EDIT: These are the AMATEUR rules, AFAIK it doesn't apply under the PRO rules

Well - thats why MV didnt go to Ontario in 1971 according to Classic racer this month.....

I would cough $1000 now for a 71 MV.
But seriously if you are correct thats a crazy rule. Only in the U.S.A. eh!

Citroen 2CV racing in this country used to run a similar rule. It was to stop people spending huge amounts on their cars, cos they knew they could lose it to a competitor.

They set an upper limit on how much any car could be sold for, so it was in everyone's interests not to spend to much on tuning and preparation.

That way it kept the class affordable for anyone who wanted to enter.

[northwind]

Yeah, I think it's quite clever. Lots of budget car events do this too... It's good for levelling the playing fields, which presumably is why MV didn't want to play- they obviously felt they had some killer advantage that people would want to get their hands on.

This is how I remember it. BSA and Triumph were racing the three cylinder bikes in a class that only allowed minimum mods. The winning BSA was claimed for $10,000- by a privateer. The BSA guys did not know much about the rule. They gave the guy another bike, one that did not have all the money and mods applied, plus $50,000- so they could keep the winning bike. There was a lot of money being spent on British motors to make them competitive. The motors had some inherent basic design problems. My 68 Dunstall went quite fast after we changed it to match the John Player funded bikes, and it handled better than the newer Isolastic suspension wobble mobiles.
Crusty

Originally Posted by SV-net

I would cough $1000 now for a 71 MV.
But seriously if you are correct thats a crazy rule. Only in the U.S.A. eh!

Ontario is in Canadiastan

The event I am referring to happened in the States, as in USA.
Ontario is in Canada. Canadian Motorcycle Association rules did not have the claiming rule or anything like it at the time. CMA governed all races in Canada, so any claiming incident did not happen there.
I had an expert CMA license at the time, plus a junior motorcross, and senior cross country license. Junior senior and expert were the grades in Canada at the time. I also had an AMA ( American ) sportsman license. This license was for non pro riders. But the sportsman riders could ride with the pros if they got a different level license from AMA.
Yvon Duhamel father of Miguel was the number 1 plate at the time, followed by Steve Allen. Duhamel road for Yamaha, Allen for Suzuki.
Crusty