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We have had several MMI grads and the few that did work out had alot of experence before they went to MMI and they felt it was not worth the investment. This is only MY personal opinion from when I was a service manager and I am sure there are some real sucess stories but with a family of four it may not be a wise choice.
The Shop
We had another MMI grad who the only thing he could come up with when a bike didnt run was to check the spark plug gap , I dont blame that on the school because this guy had NO clue on anything with a engine but he wasted 10k and that was at 1990s prices I dont know how much tuition is now but I am sure it has gone up. The best teacher is experience.
23,700 just for the school.
That said, I have and had techs with mmi and shade tree make over 70k a year. Year after year. The money is there if you are really good, you hustle and are in a good market for Powersports.
The highest paid tech I know makes 100k+ year after year. That is one out of 70 though. Most in my area make 35-60k per year.
Goodluck which ever way you decide!
That and all of them love to tell the Parents little Johnny will graduate and start making 50K-100K right away. most are lucky to score a 20K a year job and go do something different.
Tools , experience and technical data are more important than the actual schooling.
Billed rate and tech rate are very different and that is how the good techs make more money. I have techs that can almost double flat rate.
I am not in CA, I am in TN. I am in a great area here though for Powersports.
My good techs and other good tech in my group make 29 on MC and Atv and 37 on ski's per billed hour.
Keep in mind a good tech has 20 to 30k in tools and boxes. Another thing is while the dealership will buy essential tools and special tools a lot of techs will buy their own to save time on getting the dealerships tools from the mgr or foreman. Tools is a never ending expense. Batteries for impacts and ratchets die, new diag items are needed, gauges break and sales guys steal or should I say borrow them. LOL
Pit Row
I'm in the power and process industries and can tell you that these individuals are in short supply and make good money ($20 - $30/hour depending on industry and location) right out of school. Senior techs are worth their weight in gold and can really make-or-break some of these highly automated facilities.
It aint turning wrenches on dirt bikes but that kind of salary and job security can put bikes in your garage and buy tickets to nationals.
Thanks for the input
As I see it, you either got it or you don't. I did not need someone to teach me what a 17mm combo wrench is or how to use a volt meter... Many dream of turning wrenches but have no mechanical skills or, worse yet, no common sense.
We then looked at kids in high school that we could train ourselves the "right way". It amazes me how tech schools tell EE's that they will start out at 70k/year. With no experience, to me, they are worth 33k/year. When/if they prove themselves they will stay and work up to that #.
I am certain the same is true in bike shops. I imagine only the truely interested students make it after graduating from any tech school. Same as in anything, really.
My biggest gripe with the mech's we hired is they had no experience. One dude went to fix his first AC job and could not find anything. After just standing there for about 10 minutes he said "in school all the components were on a board hanging on a wall". This car had the high and low ac ports under the car, had to jack it up to even touch them... I advised him to pack up and find a lube shop to work at. He did. *wink*
Rick
Have a friend that teaches part time m/c electronics for the local community college motorcycle program while he works full time servicing the CHP's M/C fleet in our area.
Says dealers love good techs that have great electrical troubleshooting skills and that can handle adding electrical accessories no problem. Says just wrench twisters dime a dozen, but troubleshoot circuit(s) or other electrical probs are much harder to find good people.
Also says now/then an ASE certified mechanic will take a special test to bypass a required class and they don't know an ohm from a watt and other things like PIE/EIR problems(Watts and Ohms law). Makes ya wonder how they got certified ASE.
Too bad schools use to have ROP afterschool programs that you use to be able to learn at least some m/c mechanics then....that was over 30 yrs ago though.
Its been about 7 years and im just about done paying my monthly note for all the loans I accumulated though the deal. Hope this helps.
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