Hi my name is chris, I dont post here to often but I thought maybe a few of you guys would help me in my decision. I live in Rapid City South Dakota (25 miles from sturgis) and now that the rally is over I find my self back at work wishing I could continue being around motorcycles. Right now I work for a small internet help desk in rapid city. I am 20 years old and I am single. I really have nothing from holding me back from starting school some where. What do you guys think? Should i apply for motorcycle mechanics school? What is your oppinions on going to school there? Any first hand information would be greatly apreciated!!

 

I went to MMI in Phoenix about the time you were born so don't know what it's like now.

It worked for me. Taught me enough to get me in trouble but also enough to get a job with no problem. They had a good job placement program and everyone I went through with had jobs locked up before we were finished with the program.

I took the optional (at that time) Early Model and High Performance courses. I did use the Early Model allot but really didn't get that much into the high performance end as the shops I worked at farmed out most of their head work and the class was mostly geared for jet ski's and snow machines anyway.

I did it for about 4 years and then got out of it. A major reason I left the business was because working on them all day long made me start to lose interest in riding when I was off and I didn't want to lose that passion that I've always had for Harley's.

I'm glad I did it and would recommend you do if you really think it is something you would enjoy. I did get allot of satisfaction in seeing the smile on someones face when I healed their sick baby.

 

I went to University of Northwestern Ohio (an auto/diesel tech school) and I loved it. I got a job and worked it for a little bit but quit because I started to hate working on cars. I hope people would take more pride in their bikes than their cars. But I foundout that I didn't even like working on my car after a little bit. I love working on cars now, but mine and my friends. I couldn't do it as a 9-5 but I learned a lot and have been able to apply it to my bike as well.

 

I would recommend that you see what the job market is like for techs and check with the school and see what there job placement percentage is. It is not cheap $26K for the HD program. Not trying to discourage you, but be cautious

 

thank you guys for the opinions and info, how can i find out what the job market is like?

 

Search on the internet,call shops in the areas you would want to live/work.
Some biker magazines have ads looking for techs,but most of the ones i've seen like in Thunder Press are looking for techs with experience.
From what I understand,the pay is not that great when starting out.You would probly be stuck with a huge loan to pay back.

 

So son, you're 20 years old, why ain't ya in college or the military. Two choices I gave my kids when they turned 18. Actually there was a third and that was out on the curb.

 

I went to Lincoln Tech in Union NJ for Diesel mechanics or Diesel Technology as they referred to it. I drove trucks for a few years and also worked on them at various jobs so I thought it would be a logical next step and I could make more money! Well after about 2 years I had enough and went back to driving to make more money, BUT I still had an ***-load of student loans left which took about 10 years to pay off. Dont forget every one of these "schools" are a business and are there to make money, do not believe for one minute their wonderful "hype" about job placement and all the wonderful success stories. What they dont tell you is if they land you a minimum wage job at the worst shop around, they call that a success! Extremely few graduates actually get the good jobs upon graduation. I have wrenched in a friend's Harley only shop p/t or whenever he needed me and I love it. I can tell you MMI will give you approx 50% useless **** and 50% good, depending on your experience before entering, I have seen many a MMI and other H-D tech grads come through the shop and most of what I saw was hilarious. If you want to work on Harleys try to get into a Harley only independent shop and start from the bottom you will not only get good hands on "real world" experience but you will also, in most cases, learn how to wrench old Iron, something completely lost on todays MMI techs/Harley Dealer shops. Its gonna suck and it will take as long as your commitment and passion will let you but it will be worth it NOT being stuck with $30,000+ in debt. Also keep in mind Harley's are built much better today and run alot longer and are very reliable, so demand for Harley mechanics isnt a high for newer bikes, most of the work you will be doing is PM or service work,changing fluids and making adjustments etc and putting new parts and accessories on with the occasional big bore set up. The older bikes will need the work and those bikers arent gonna spend $90+ per hour for boutique work. Anyway Good Luck as beware of their hype and BS

 

If your planning to work on bikes for a living I suggest first being an apprentice at an independant cycle shop for a while. It will give you a better foundation to start on. Don't be afraid to work on import bikes either. Harley or Honda, they're all just nuts and bolts.

The last thing you want to do is to go to MMI completely green.

 

Loved working on cars, back when i was young i was building hot rods all the time, decided to do mechanic for a living, just seemed like the thing to do since i was just good at it...got out of school, ASE certified, worked in a garage, did the old mechanic thing for 12 years and left it, I have not built a rod since, and i wont even change the oil on my truck today, I simply just hate working on cars.
You just got to remember, once you get paid for wrenching, and you wrench everyday on everyone elses crap, your passion very quickly turns into a ,,,,,JOB.