The American Motorcyclist Association is an American not-for-profit organization of more than 300,000 motorcyclists that organizes numerous motorcycling activities and campaigns for motorcyclists' legal rights. Its mission statement is "to protect and promote the interests of motorcyclists while serving the needs of its members." The organization was founded in 1924 and now has more than 1,200 chartered clubs.
For clubs and promoters it provides guidance and advice on running events and rallies, and allows affiliated members to vote on AMA matters. It also has a corporate membership category with representatives from the US motorcycle industry.
AMA Pro Racing
The AMA is the largest motorsports organization in the world, overseeing 80 professional and more than 4,000 amateur events each year. The AMA also maintains the Motorcycle Hall of Fame located near Columbus, Ohio. It is the designated governing body of motorcycle sport in the US by the world governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM).
AMA Pro Racing was formed in 1994 to respond to the growth of motorcycle racing in United States and holds many events. The AMA Road Racing Series includes the AMA American Superbike Championship, the AMA Daytona Sportbike Championship (which incorporates the former AMA Supersport Championship and the now inactive AMA Formula Xtreme), and the new AMA Supersport Championship, which is limited to riders of age 16-21 on near stock 600cc motorcycles. Other series include AMA Supercross, AMA Motocross Championship, AMA Flat Track and AMA Hillclimb.
On March 7, 2008, the AMA Pro Racing series was sold to the Daytona Motorsports Group (DMG), headed by Roger Edmondson and Jim France. The DMG will be responsible for the AMA Superbike Series, the AMA Motocross Series, the AMA Flat Track Series, the AMA Supermoto Series, the AMA Hillclimb Series and ATV Pro Racing. The sale did not include the AMA Supercross and AMA Arenacross Series, whose rights are currently owned by Live Nation. DMG will license the AMA name and trademarks to promote the motorcycle racing series'.The new management has sparked criticism among some of the press and fans for allegedly alienating the factory teams and for introducing NASCAR style rules such as rolling start and pace car.