5 Minutes with Mike farmer of Maxxis Tires

Photos Provided by Mike Farmer

Name: Mike Farmer
Age: thirty-something (yea right)
Occupation: Owner of AMP Promotions LLC. Contracted for Maxxis International

Mike Farmer - Owner of AMP Promotions LLC. Contracted for Maxxis International

Hometown: Hurricane, UT.
Bike (s): Kawasaki KX250, Honda XR650 and a XR 100
Married: Yes, Amber. The love of my life, the most beautiful girl in the world and the greatest mom! “How’s that Amber?”
Kids: Two boys, Evan-3/ Connor-1

1. How long have you worked for Maxxis? Is trackside your only job with Maxxis?
We are about to enter our 11th year of working with Maxxis

2. Explain your job title and every day job for Maxxis.

My duties with Maxxis have expanded somewhat over the course of our contracts. First and foremost is race support and promotions. Maxxis continues to invest in state of the art support trucks and staff offering unprecedented track side assistance. We now have 3 of these support trucks criss crossing the USA, taking care of riders and racers from ATV racing all the way to the big trophy trucks. I also work with the magazine guys helping to keep them in the loop with any new products..

3. What landed this sweet gig?

Wow, that’s a great question. So many things, everything from self promotion to being in the right place at the right time and even some luck. But mostly being persistent and believing in yourself.

4. Have you had any other industry jobs? For who and how long?

I’ve had a great run working in the industry. I started over at IMS Products and was there for 4 years. From there I went to FMF for a year and then landed the Maxxis gig!

5. Maxxis seems to have it’s hand on the pulse of the industry like the ever popular Maxxis Big Horn which is in such a demand it has been known to be on a back order for close to 2 months. How does Maxxis always know what to look for in new tires?

You’re absolutely right about the Big Horn, the demand is huge and we are building them as fast as possible. When it comes to building anything that will be successful its always about the people. Maxxis has been building racing and recreational tires for over 30 years now, and with that time and experience you find the best people for the job(s). We have the best people available and most are enthusiasts as well. Building a quality product at an affordable price is why the Maxxis brand has become so popular.

6. The average consumer might just be aware of their own industry Maxxis tires available, but what people don’t know is that you offer a huge variety of tires. Can you go over some?

The Maxxis brand is larger than most people realize. You all know that we build quality racing tires for your ATV and motorcycles, but we also offer racing tires for Off Road trucks, drifting, rock crawling and so much more. All of this racing experience goes into our production tires that we offer for your pick-up trucks, automobiles and even your mom’s mini van.

7. Does Maxxis work with any OEM’s to supply tires? Which ones?

Oh yea, Maxxis has been working with many if not all of the bike and ATV manufactures on OE deals. You will see the Maxxis brand on certain models of just about all of them.

8. We know you’re at every event known to the offroad industry, what are the main series you follow?
The current push for Maxxis is Off Road. My truck, the West coast support truck follows the entire WORCS Series for both ATV and Motorcycle. The East coast Maxxis truck and staff follows GNCC and GNC. We also work with select dealers promoting what we call Maxxis Dealer Days. The basic premise is we roll out to a specific dealer, set up the truck as if it was a race and offer advice, recommendations and “free install” of all Maxxis product purchased through the dealer. These Dealer Days have been very successful for Maxxis and the local dealers.

Maxxis Track Support Rig

9. Is attending all these events ever overwhelming?

You might think so, but it actually is a great gig! I’ve been a racer for ever and now I get paid to do what I love. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of work to do at each of these events. When your done mounting the barrage of tires, you need to go and talk to the racers to make sure there taken care of and you better not be afraid of microphones and video cameras. Promotion of the Maxxis brand is a constant opportunity. Thats why even all my personal vehicles have Maxxis graphics and of course, Maxxis performance tires!.

11. Your seen running all around main events shooting pictures, is that for enjoyment, research, or are you moon lighting for TMZ?
Thats funny! No, no moonlighting, just photos for Maxxis. Everything from R&D, race report pics to photos of our top riders for future ads and catalogs.

12. What is your favorite event to attend?
Maxxis has a long term relationship with WORCS Racing. We love this series for both ATV and MC, and have produced quite a few tires pounding the difficult tracks that the WORCS staff has come up with over the years. The WORCS crew has worked hard at building their format into the premiere off road series on the west coast.

13. What is your favorite track?
My favorite event was the Pismo Beach WORCS race. It only happened for 3 years I believe but what an event. Driving the 60,000 lbs. Maxxis support truck on the sand with the waves lapping at your tires was quite a rush. But the racing was incredible, a huge track that just got more and more whooped out with each moto. It was so much fun!

14. Any special “shout outs”, or thank you’s?
Thats easy, Special thanks to all the racers and riders who gave Maxxis a chance whether it was last weekend or 11 years ago. If you’ve tried them then you know, and you’ve shared that with your crew. That word of mouth is more convincing than any ad we can run, and for that I thank all of you.

15. What do you want for Christmas?
Wow, thats an involved question. I have everything a guy could ask for, a loving family, personally blessed with great health. The good fortune to work for an awesome company. I guess if there was something I would still want it would be for or politicians to figure it out. Quit playing with all of our lives and just work for the best interest of the people and get this economy going again. With 2 young boys growing up, its extremely tough to wonder what we are leaving them as they mature into young adults. I have confidence that the right outcome will prevail in the end.