| Author | Message | ||
     Blasterd  |
As some of you know I was laid off in October of last year. I did attend college for a while and did start back to work in May of this year, but my heart is just not in it. I do not enjoy what I am doing at all right now, there is no satisifaction in it at all. While talking with my wife the other night about it we happened to come up with an idea, why not take something I love and believe in and run with it. And so here I am, pondering the idea of becoming a mechanic. I have always been mechanically inclined from when I was a kid helping my dad with his cars (he drag raced) and growing up racing dirt bikes and ATV's I had to wrench on my own bikes. So anyway my question is this, how many of you are Harley/ Buell mechanics? How many of you work in a dealership or a private garage or just own your own shop? Do you make enough cash to pay the bills? What kind of training do you have? I have looked into AMI in Daytona, but would be taking a huge risk to be out of work for that long again but I would do it. (might have to sell the M2  ) Is there anyone that can chime in and give me some advice? Ken | ||
| Buells Rule! (Dyna in disguise)  |
I know more guys who got into the HD tech biz & are now out of it due to the amount of bs they put up with. Some have stuck it out & enjoy themselves...I guess it may just come to choosing a proper dealership to work for. Sadly much of a techs day is made up of oil changes & bolting on chrome. | ||
| Budo  |
Well, I wish it were different but apparently mechanics don't get paid that much. Motorcycle consumer news has had a couple of articles on being a bike mechanic and according to them the pay is pretty low, and the initial investment in tools is pretty high. You do have to buy your own tools and that is several thousand dollars I think. However that might be different for Buell H/D techs. So, you could go to AMI and get hired on at a HD Buell dealership. Would the dealership then send you to HD/Buell tech school? You might check out www.mcnews.com and see if those back articles are available or just ask in the forum, someone might have the articles handy and fax you a copy. Sometimes the Buell tech at my dealership would just work on my bike, then there were times when he was working on three bikes at once. No surprise, when he was just working on my bike I could tell, he would always do something special. When he was working on three bikes he might miss something on mine. I wish it were different, good luck. | ||
| Sportsman |
I'm freackin old and still can't figure out what I want to do. I've a fantasy of being a Buell mechanic after I retire, hopefully 55. Till then, I'll pound away at making as much money as possible truckin. It's my understanding, a decent wrench makes around 40 if they know what their doing, but till now I've needed more. If it's really your calling, I guess you can make a extra buck teaching at Riders Edge too. Then you'll have to have an understanding spouse to put up with the hours you'd be putting in. Eternal question, what's important to you. Career, Family, Fun, Forfillment, disposable income. It changes with the stages of your life, so you'll have to look deep. Good luck, it is a tough question. | ||
| Vegasbueller  |
The last time I talked to the folks at MMI, they had a service that helped you find some work while in school. I wished I could do it to, but the money and the seniority keep me working on the flying machines. Good luck! Nick | ||
| Hoser  |
It's a thankless job , pay sucks , many dealership owners treat employees poorly. You have to spend a small fortune on tools , expect to not have any time for riding when the riding season is at it's best , often you are working with and surrounded by complete jackasses , many of the customers are total buffoons and posers , as Greg said, much of the time spent in a modern day service department is bolting on crap and changing oil , we have turned into a throw away society. In the future there will be few who know how to build a crankshaft , do a valve job , it's sad .There are exceptions to the above , I was making pretty good money till I was laid off in October , however it took 20 years to get there !! , ya I'm returning to work in January , not looking forward to the same old crap that must be tolerated and moronic horseshit dished out by management. Very soon there is going to be a serious shortage of skilled trades people , public education is shifting away from teaching shop classes , and pushing more students towards white collar careers , thats both sad and scary !!!. Have I wasted a lot of years doing this ?.......Yup !! , I did it because of my love for motorcycles , probably should have pursued a more rewarding career. Do I want to be doing this kind of work much longer ?? , .....not while lining some one elses pockets !! , and wondering if it's even safe to say good morning to the boss or getting so much as a simple thankyou from my employer. Here's a portrait of your average "Dealer Principal" .......................  I'm not gonna tell you to not work at a dealership , that's your decision to make , I will tell you it isn't going to be easy at first and it will be very difficult to hang in there long enoughthat you start to feel it's all been worth it. some day I'll tell you guys how I really feel !!! That thread will be called - Confessions of former dealership staff | ||
| Brucelee |
From an economics perspective, the move would be to go to a good tech school and then hook up with one of the luxury/performance brands of autos, ie Lexus, BMW, Mercedes. Pay and benefits are very good, work is clean. Discounts on iron. And these cars (not Lexus) break all the time so job security should be high. Good luck! | ||
| Pcmodeler  |
There has been several stories about the shortage of mechanics overall, primarily due to the amount of computer controlled components and a lack of people trained to properly work with them. These same stories say taht a qualified mechanic can make $50,000 - $60,000 on the average. I don't know too many mechanics making that kind of money. | ||
| Mikej  |
Listen to those working in the industry, not to those selling the educational programs, but doing what you like often over-rides pay scales, but better pay scales allow you to do more of what you like, the trick is in the balance, I have bad balance (but I'm working on it). | ||
| X1tx  |
Agree with Brucelee. Go with a high-end auto. Knew a guy when I lived in Atlanta that worked as a Mercedes mechanic. He could buy one car a year at a deep discount. he would drive it for a year and sell it at a profit. Made decent money as a mechanic, and drove a new Benz all the time. MC mechanics are typically paid a pittance. There was a top notch bike mechanic on the South end of Houston. A couple years ago he took a job installing telephones and got a HUGE raise just to do that. | ||
| T9r  |
I looked into it when I was laid off after getting a valuable college degree. To me it didn't seem worth it because I'd have to go to some tech school and spend that money on top of anything else (tools). Try the mechanic thing as a part-time business, that might make you happy while still being able to support your wife. I only work to support my hobbies (working on/modifying my Buell). | ||
| Roadsurfr |
The trouble with a career in anything is that you have to do it. I rather ride than wrench. The little wrenching I can or am willing to do is only on a bike that I don't need to be able to ride. I do find wrenching gratifying but if I had to do it when the weather was perfect for riding that would suck bigtime. | ||
| Tramp  |
i worked in BMW motorcycle service mgt., the pay was good, and the techs made really nice coin. don't make the critical life mistake of making your play your work. worldcup snowboard racing pretty much destroyed my love for 'boarding, and working for bmw mc group made more sense because i wasn't working on or near buells or many old beemers (which are the only ones i dig) forget about schooling. just start at a dealership as a class b or c, 'sweeping floors', OR at an independent shop. show some degree of aptitude and your boss at a bmw mc shop might opt to send you to bmw classes, as this is more economical for him than hiring a new associate. great for you, too, as he might pay for most or all of the training. avoid hd/buell dealerships for employment.... or, better yet, ask phat j for advice re: the ami/mmi road to dealership work. i hate hd customers, having had a small indy shop was great for me, as the HOGs avoided it like the plague and i could pick and choose my customer base. it also didn't hurt that the only bmw mc dealership for many miles around had been closed down by bmw-na. i got scheissloads of work form that. starting a tiny indy shop might just be the route for you. | ||
| Rick_a  |
Well, here the mechanics pay for their own hand tools but any specialized tools are provided for "community" use. They get paid a lot more than parts guys, I can tell you that, but forget about the idea that you'll be working on many Buells or doing a lot of really rewarding work. Like it's been said above, a lot of chrome, regular services, aircleaners, jet kits, efi downloads, and exhaust. Generally, unless you're an experienced old time Harley mechanic, without formal schooling (franchise Harley dealers seem to prefer MMI grads) they won't even consider you. We get discounts on merchandise, parts and accessories...but basically no deals on bikes...except maybe MSRP...oooh! I'm with T9r...I work mainly to support my hobbies. That's where most of my $$ goes, anyway. | ||
| Mikej |
Thumbing through the February issue of American Iron magazine I came across this that might be of interest per the topic of this thread: http://www.fortscott.edu/wp/vpac.asp?ID=20 http://www.pittstate.edu/mgmkt/harley.html (Message edited by mikej on December 30, 2004) | ||
| Swampy  |
I would have to say be very shrewd, never fall in love with your job, I mean its OK to have the greatest job in the world, but get paid for it. Never having worked in a dealership(Car), I have been courted by a few. Most of them have some very screwy pay schemes, and I emphasize schemes. Just cause you are working in any given field doesn't mean you are going to reap any special benefits from it. My three cents...your welcome....good luck. | ||
| 2brdy |
Hi, do what makes you happy, getting up in the mourning and go to work at a job you don't like can take your life away. I spent 25 years working on harleys at some good dealerships and some not so good plus a couple of independent shops. If there is a dealership by you that you think you could work at let them do the schooling, in house PHD program and school at MMI for certification and other classes. may have changed some from when I was in it. I left after being screwed by an independent shop owner about 8 years ago and haven't worked on bikes since with a few exceptions, a couple of years ago I wanted to be back riding when I bought my S3 and love this bike and will start drag racing another Buell this season. The time away did keep me closer to home and my daughter and that has been a blessing since I've been rasing her alone from age 4 till today at 17, make family come first. But in saying all of this in a few months I'll be starting my own shop and doing something I enjoy. It's all in how you look at it and treat it, don't let some of the people get to you and try to have some fun along the way. |
