Hazen

Do what you want to do but at least look at the overwhelming evidence in front of you.

I personally spent over 10 grand there and a year of my life.

The school is a joke. The bikes are clapped out. The teachers have 30 kids to deal with per class, 3 classes a day. When I say "kids" I mean everything from 17 year olds to 75 year olds but most of them still kids.

If you think you are going to be the one they spend time with out of 90 kids a day - think again.

If you think you're going to stand out because you show up on time and work your hardest - think again.

If you think having some mechanical background is going to help you - think again.

If you believe that you're going to make good money in a shop or get on a race team because of the shcool - think again.

And whatever you do - DO NOT TELL THEM THAT YOU STUNT!

I've been building bikes for over 8 years from the frame up. From old Honda's to $65,000 builds for clothing companies and celebrities.

Write a resume. Go get a job at a shop, even if it's sweeping floors and pushing out bikes in the morning. Show up early, stay late. Help the techs but don't get in the way. That's the kind of stuff that will get you somewhere. You'll make money and you will learn REAL LIFE HANDS ON motorcycle shop work - day to day.

Again, do what you want to do and goodluck.

H.A.I.Famous

MMI is designed around teaching people that have noooo knowledge of motorcycles. It was a running joke that we would not hire anybody who had gone there, because most of them didn't know a chain from a tire. That being said, presuming you actually apply yourself there is stuff to learn after the first month and may greatly help in areas that aren't flooded with MMI students like Orlando.

B0arder606

my 2 cents:

If you love working on your bike, dont get a job doing that because the stress and schedule you have to keep will make you hate workin on your ****. Dont aspire to be a mechanic unless you plan on owning the bike shop and doing work when you please and giving it to someone else when your not feeling like working on it.

But on a side note im planning on moving to jacksonville after i get my degree in Mech. Engineering from UMD in 2 years...Im sick of cold weather

clutchitup21

i see your point but wouldn't a shop want someone that knows how to work on a bike completely instead of hiring someone that dont know ****....
they are not gonna hire me and tell me to push a broom then after time doing that ask me to work on the bikes....but i may be wrong, i worked at a dealer when i was 17 or 18 and i was in the parts dep. and sales.... the only time i was able to turn a wrench there was when they were short a mechanic and needed me... i was a fill in untill they hired someone who was properly trained... i want to be the person with that training...

yea my plan is to own the shop but i dont think i would be able to do that.. you need to have money to do that....

Hazen

Sounds like you really want to go. I guess give it a shot.

Maybe you can take something positive out of it... at least search the site and read all the other threads too.

Annoying Eric

There is no money in being a bike mechanic. Im a everything mechanic, But for the last 4 years i've been working on diesels. That is where the money is at if you want to be a mechanic.. I have a college degree is applied science / Automotive technology and 90% of Ford certifications.. Left Ford for diesels and it was the best thing i ever did.. I started at the same wage that the Ford A tech/ foreman was making.. And believe me im not tooting my own horn.. Just giving the kid some advice if he really wants to be a mechanic

Hazen

Eric is right about Diesel Techs... big $ and places like RingPower or CAT will pay for your school.

There are motorcycle Tech's that make 6 figures... I've met 2... ever. That was before the economy turned though. Now shops are closing left in Right - especially in Central Florida.

You have to be damn good to make decent money as a shop tech, and even then once you're done the last thing you want to do is go home and work on another bike... your own.

Scott982

Listen to Hazen and Eric, everything they have said is true. I am not a bike mechanic but I have been in the automotive industry for over 10 years painting cars. I can't make half the money I used to make and shops are constantly closing down. It sucks.