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I'm a Marine. I have held various jobs while in, mostly in security, but I managed to get a good deal a few years back and now I am a contract manager - I do a lot of purchasing and negatiating deals on behalf of the government. In other words, I spend your tax dollars on some cool stuff. I've actually been known to bring my work home with me and have arranged quite a few group buys in the past. I would be willing to do that here as well. And the pay? Pretty damn good. Even in SoCal.
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I went to UTI myself, stay away from any of those schools. They were GREAT until they were bought out, just like anything else in this world.parkone said:
I was a mechanic for about 5 years (at least on the payroll) I started out working for my uncle at his independent shop. Came out to AZ to go to UTI... after graduating from there I worked for Cadillac for about a year, transfered over to Lexus, wrenched there for about 2 years. Shattered my wrist, became a service consultant with lexus after my injury limited my hand movement. Got fed up with that, quit. Tried to go back to school and work at Fedex (where I am currently) while going back to school.
Fedex is a cool job, but it doesn't pay the bills.
I'm currently in the market for a new job after my failed attempt to work on a second degree. I'll let you know when and if I figure something out.
I say do what makes you happy (within reason). You'll incur debt going to school (unless you save up for it) but if you're happier being a motorcycle mechanic I say go for it! You only get one shot at life and you don't want to be saying "I wish I'd gone to MMI" 40 years down the road.
I'm a full time graduate student (it's kind of like a job) and a teacher's assistant part time. I'm working on my masters in psychology with an emphasis on social psychology.
I'm a full time graduate student (it's kind of like a job) and a teacher's assistant part time. I'm working on my masters in psychology with an emphasis on social psychology.
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I agree do what makes you happy, but your best bet would be to get your foot in the bike shop door by whatever means neccessary, change oil, and work your way into apprecticeship. That's the best way to learn. Forget about these commercialized schools these days, just another way to take your money. Trust me on that... don't make the same mistake I did.Grandevil said:
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really? i always heard mail carriers like ups, fedex made good money??Plastic Cup Politics said:I went to UTI myself, stay away from any of those schools. They were GREAT until they were bought out, just like anything else in this world.
I was a mechanic for about 5 years (at least on the payroll) I started out working for my uncle at his independent shop. Came out to AZ to go to UTI... after graduating from there I worked for Cadillac for about a year, transfered over to Lexus, wrenched there for about 2 years. Shattered my wrist, became a service consultant with lexus after my injury limited my hand movement. Got fed up with that, quit. Tried to go back to school and work at Fedex (where I am currently) while going back to school.
Fedex is a cool job, but it doesn't pay the bills.![]()
I'm currently in the market for a new job after my failed attempt to work on a second degree. I'll let you know when and if I figure something out.![]()
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I'm in the Air Force and work as a Network Admin, i used to be able to play on servers and such but since the AF had this grand idea of centralizing things they've started taking permissions from the base network control centers and are now at a single base in each command. It's basically like another pearl harbor they're putting all their ducks in a row.
Ha ha, yeah, pretty much. I just finished an MBA about a year ago and also have an MAS (Aeronautical Science) and I teach evenings at Embry Riddle Worldwide. Believe me when I say that I know what you are talking about. The best part about my education is that I didn't really pay for any of it. The Marine Corps paid for 75% of my BS, 75% of my MAS, and then 100% of my MBA (Naval Postgrad School). When I went there, it seriously was a full time job because that was all I did - and got paid for doing it. Hey, military service has it's perks.Grandevil said:
All that and you might just say I'm an over-educated trigger puller. But I like it and that's what really counts right?
Do what makes you happy, but don't go broke doing it. There are milions of happy people on welfare.
I went to MMI a few years ago, and although I learned quite a lot, It's fairly impractical to become a Motorcycle tech if you want to make decent money. Most shops will start you out on an hourly basis, but want you to move to flat rate. That's great if you are in a huge shop that generates tons of service work, and you can beat the flat rate. I didn't say beat the hourly shop rate, because even if a shop charges $45-$80 and hour for shop rate you aren't gonna see anywhere close to that. I don't know any Motorcycle techs that earn enough money to buy a house, pay for a family, have a savings account. Basically you can pick one of the three. Remember unlike cars, our bike are really just luxury items, and people won't bring them in to get worked on if they don't have the money, so a shop can go weeks without decent work. When they do get work to keep you busy, it doesn't make you enough to catch up what you didn't make while it was slow. Don't forget yo also have to buy all your own tools and that will run into the tens of thousands of $$ to keep your tool chest up to date with all the needed stuff. If you want to attend MMI so you have a hobby then fine. I paid nearly $16K for 63 weeks of training, and that included classes for all four Japanese manufacturers. Gixerkat's daughter is going now and I believe she is paying about $10K more than I did. So for $26K you can go to MMI to train to work on Motorcycles and probably will make about $30K after a few years in a dealership, and maybe less in an independent shop. There are guys in shops who make some pretty good money, but that is usually for tuning, and only if they are good at it. A basic tune and service job will never go anywhere, and warranty jobs will frustrate the hell out of you unless you are extremely good at diagnosis..I thought I was lucky, I got a job at a company called K&L Supply Co. In Santa Clara CA., I thought I was getting an industry job, because all the instructors said it would be a good job, that they were a good company.. I'm not gonna talk trash about them, but K&L wasn't an industry position. They were just a Mom & pop tool supply company, who did more copying than inventing tools and equipment. When I did try to get a job with any of the manufacturers I was left out in the cold. because I didn't have an insider to the companies..(it was who you know, not what you know) Honda is Impossible, Kawi is slow to hire, Yamaha is Bureaucracy to the ultimate, and Suzuki Just doesn't hire people they don't scout themselves..
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well when you become a courier, or land a full time gig, management, etc... you do make good money. But landing a full time spot is the hard part. I was lucky to see 30 hours a week. Not exactly paying the bills.silversv1k said:really? i always heard mail carriers like ups, fedex made good money??![]()
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Im Mel's #1 lover, and carry her umbrella at the track. Ha
Actually im Active duty Navy, Been in for 9 years. Im what you call a Navigation electronics tech. I do most of my stuff on submarines. Im also a navy diver. Right now though i teach people at Subscol in New London CT how to navigate submarines. boring. Im bout to kill my time on shore duty early to go back out and fuck up some terrorists:guns:hung:gun:warning
Actually im Active duty Navy, Been in for 9 years. Im what you call a Navigation electronics tech. I do most of my stuff on submarines. Im also a navy diver. Right now though i teach people at Subscol in New London CT how to navigate submarines. boring. Im bout to kill my time on shore duty early to go back out and fuck up some terrorists:guns:hung:gun:warning
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Durability Technician for Nissan/Infiniti Proving Grounds
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