Factory riders here in the US are paid well for their services. If you can use your talent on a motorcycle to win races, or contend for wins in some cases, you will cash very large checks.

It has often been said that Suzuki's payroll for just Mat Mladin and Ben Spies is larger than the payroll of the entire World Superbike grid. Mat Mladin, the last time he won the US Superbike championship, made between four and six million dollars in total compensation--not all of it from Suzuki of course, but a great deal of it.

And while compensation for some of the paid-to-wear-leathers set seems to have dropped over the last few years as bike sales have slowed, riders are still making money that would get noticed by a mid-level hedge fund manager. Especially if you can deliver: Erion Honda's Josh Hayes confessed on a Soupkast last December that he's made over a million dollars in Honda championship bonus money in the last few years. Miguel DuHamel made over a half a million dollars in one day at Road Atlanta just a few years ago.

Those numbers aside, the coming off-season is going to be very interesting to watch. A number of riders do not have factory contracts for 2009. Those include Tommy Hayden, Eric Bostrom, Jason DiSalvo, Ben Spies, Miguel DuHamel, Aaron Yates and several others.

Being a factory rider means you can walk to your mailbox once a month and get a check with an awful lot of zeros on it for your trouble. But if the factories aren't racing or the dynamics of the series change then one can only wonder who will have contracts and who will have a lot of free time on their hands.

Potential loss in income aside, an unbelievable number of riders are exploring WSBK and World Supersport rides for 2009.