MMI az school

I'm a Mechanic by Trade not a Scooter Mechanic but I can answer your question some.

1st you will get out of MMI what you put into it

2nd they have all the tools and manuals but nobody can prepare you for the everyday challenge of repairing machines that have actually been used and abused. Nothing beats experience and as long as you learn and don't make the same mistakes over and over you will do fine.

3rd it's expensive and they bs they sell you on making 60k a year is a pipe dream, expect to make $12 or so to start and work your way up.


4th being a Mechanic is a continuous learning experience be prepared for a lifetime of new stuff and embrace the challenge, don't do it and your career will die a slow ugly death.

Lastly it's a good school if you can afford it or have some backing but don't wreck yourself financially to do it, it might take longer but an entry level job at a local shop might be your best answer.

I went there in 1998. I'd advise to go to college for something else if you want to make money! I had fun wrenching for some years and went to a ton of races but MMI didn't get me a job with anyone. I landed all my jobs myself, cause It's who you know and where you live. Send me a message on facebook and I will answer any questions about MMI in Phx.

Go to college for the highest paying job possible! If you can't buy toys how are you going to play?

if you are good at math, go to college and major in Finance, Accounting or any type of engineering (if you're REALLY good at math) The jobs these degrees will lead you to are ultimately boring and soul-sucking but if you have the mental stamina to do good in school and want a career in corporate america this will be your best bet for a job that will atleast pay you a living wage without having to work in shit conditions and do manual labor.

Don't go to college and major in something like English or Sociology unless you have a connect with a corporation that just wants someone with a college degree. Or you have rich parents and just want to go to college and fuck off..

If you're going to go into the trades go for HVAC or plumbing... motorcycle mechanics dont make shit. I knew someone who went to one of these bogus for profit tech schools and he went into carpentry, so you know..he could make a living wage. $12 an hour is good if you're 18 years old and live at home with no bills.

if you want to be a grease monkey and get paid, be a diesel tech. My best friend growing up works at a ford dealership and he is doing very well for himself while nearly everyone else i went to highschool with who got good grades and went to college are now working shit jobs because they have no skills and make $10 hour..some are even occupying wall street

I know someone who went to MMI. Very intelligent individual who is very skilled at working on motorcycles. After spending a few years in the motorcycle industry, he is now an insurance adjuster.....go figure. Dirt bikes are his hobby and he does some repair work at his house occasionally. One of the few people I trust to work on my bikes, and he knew what was up before he went there. MMI, Wyo Tech, UTI......all for profit, and will funnel lots of kids through the programs that have no business whatsoever with a wrench in their hand let alone getting close to a vehicle with it. In the collision repair industry I have seen some brain dead motherf&*^%rs come out of those schools. Completely and totally incompetent with zero understanding of the absolute most basic tasks. They learned absolutely nothing and retained even less....

If you have your heart set on MMI, you need to get a job at a bike shop for a year or so and pick up on as much knowledge as you can before heading off to school. Things will make a lot more sense when you have a real world understanding of how they will be applied in the workplace.

now see all of this i have heard before... i do understand that the pay as a technician at a local shop is little and very un supportive, what i also do know is that with hard work and dedication to what you do, your skills as a mechanic can turn into owning your own buisness and or shop.. like i said in my first post. id assume thats one of the few ways that you can make a decent living with in this buisness.

for the most part though i cannot stand sitting in a college classroom. i do it right now at the local community college and it just bores the hell out of me. nor do a lot of the requirements out there for a degree make any sense to me. a.k.a learning calculus even though most people will never use a calculus equation in their lifetime. thats why i have considered going to a trade school such as MMI.... on top of that working on my motocross bikes is honestly fun for me.

and here where i live in nor cal motocross is pretty big.. like 6 local tracks and tons of family owned dealerships, so i dont see why starting my own shop and or dealership couldnt or wouldnt happen. and yes i do realize that our sport is basically in the pooper finacially and job market wise. but is MMI reallly as prestigious as everyone says it is? and i DO KNOW WHAT HARD WORK IS. currently i am a grease monkey for the most part

@newmann, i do have a good general knowlege of doing things on motocross bikes. ive always done my repairs with my manual for the most part... except for suspension internals and whatnot. so thats not a problem... and the 2nd part what you said is exactly what im trying to do right now... either a job or an internship at one of our local reputable dealers.

http://www.motonews.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=4&func=view&id=202879&catid=4

Todd (MMITopTech) might be able to give you some insight.

If you go tell them to quit passing everyone just because they paid money to go to their college.

I've had 2 MMI graduates that sucked ass. One could'nt even change fork seals. He told me the forks just fell apart in class, so he had know way of knowing how to do it.

500guy wrote: I'm a Mechanic by Trade not a Scooter Mechanic but I can answer your question some.

1st you will get out of MMI what you put into it

2nd they have all the tools and manuals but nobody can prepare you for the everyday challenge of repairing machines that have actually been used and abused. Nothing beats experience and as long as you learn and don't make the same mistakes over and over you will do fine.

3rd it's expensive and they bs they sell you on making 60k a year is a pipe dream, expect to make $12 or so to start and work your way up.


4th being a Mechanic is a continuous learning experience be prepared for a lifetime of new stuff and embrace the challenge, don't do it and your career will die a slow ugly death.

Lastly it's a good school if you can afford it or have some backing but don't wreck yourself financially to do it, it might take longer but an entry level job at a local shop might be your best answer.

Good advice there.

My son went to MMI in Phoenix, straight out of HS. He was a 4.0 student in HS, and applied himself the same way at MMI, and came away the star pupil, (and the youngest), in all his sections. The instructors brought their personal stuff for him to work on, since he was always finished with all his projects way ahead of schedule.

He has a strong mechanical aptitude, and he was always as interested in working on the bikes as much as riding them. He did most of the work rebuilding his PW50 top end at 6 years old, with little more help from me than installing wrist pin circlips, and squeezing rings while he dropped the cylinder on.

He works as a technician at a good size metro area dealer, and when I met his Service Manager, he shook my hand, saying it was the best decision he ever made, hiring Nick, and that he is consistently their top producing technician.

So, at the ripe old age of "just turned 21" he is doing pretty well. BUT, he is smart enough to realize that this is what he is doing to help pay his way through College, because he doesn't want to be doing this the rest of his life. He knows his back is gonna wear out way before he gets rich doing this. He loves working on bikes, but at the pace he's working, he knows he's not gonna love it forever.

oh im sure that kids go through the program and dont pay attention and get a damn cert just cause they showed up for the most part... rich kids.

where do all the big time motocross mechanics come out of? i know that josh hansens mechanic is a MMI graduate.
what about mike gosselaar. ricky and ryan dungeys ex mechani does anyone know where he started way back when.

williamsmotowerx wrote: If you go tell them to quit passing everyone just because they paid money to go to their college.

I've had 2 MMI graduates that sucked ass. One could'nt even change fork seals. He told me the forks just fell apart in class, so he had know way of knowing how to do it.

Problem is, if they make them retake a six week session because they didn't learn a damn thing, they'll usually just leave. At Universal Technical Institute in Houston, everybody gets a trophy. Gotta keep the money train on the tracks.

edit

williamsmotowerx wrote: If you go tell them to quit passing everyone just because they paid money to go to their college.

I've had 2 MMI graduates that sucked ass. One could'nt even change fork seals. He told me the forks just fell apart in class, so he had know way of knowing how to do it.

There were many graduates from MMI while he was there, that I wouldn't trust to tighten my chain properly.

and does anyone know of a once tech that has thought outside the box and made a real career out of being a one time mechanic or tech? not to bring any of these stories down but it seems like they havent really applied themselves and worked their way up... with the exception of terryb's son. and of course right now any mechanic in this sport will make less but it can really only go up from here for the most part

MMI is not all its made up to be. When I went there the school's bikes were clapped as well as the tools and equipment. They push tons of students through that school its crazy! If I could go back and redo everything I wouldn't have gone there and probably went to the Delta Pilot school! It's the same price!

Also the economy is killing all the bike shops. Look at Honda of Troy and a bunch of others that closed!

Passion, attention to detail, mechanical knowledge, excellent memory, studying other teams bikes, hark work and prior riding experience is what makes a good moto wrench.

But I should add that, I never had any intention of ever working in a dealership or starting my own shop.

@terryb, if one cant tighten a chain properly before leaving for MMI they shouldnt have been accepted

Chris O'Neal wrote: MMI is not all its made up to be. When I went there the school's bikes were clapped as well as the tools and equipment. They push tons of students through that school its crazy! If I could go back and redo everything I wouldn't have gone there and probably went to the Delta Pilot school! It's the same price!

Also the economy is killing all the bike shops. Look at Honda of Troy and a bunch of others that closed!

Passion, attention to detail, mechanical knowledge, excellent memory, studying other teams bikes, hark work and prior riding experience is what makes a good moto wrench.

But I should add that, I never had any intention of ever working in a dealership or starting my own shop.

chris, what were you intentions? and im sure that since 98 they have advanced the way they do things there now.. the recruiter guy that came to my house really preached a lot about how they have jobs basically waiting for the students that do good... i mean jeremy mcgrath does do a full scholarship with factory honda..

here's a quiz kawi... how do you know how much slack to put in chain?

it really seems like just above all in the moto industry knowing someone will get you pretty far... i do know people that are fairly high up in the world of moto. and i know even more people who know people that are on top of the moto world. sooooo?

on my bikes two fingers and a half a finger gap is what i do at about the middle of the chain guide. check the tension after every ride as well for chain slack. as far as how to know you have to add the weight of the rider into the factor as well. a lot of people do not have their sag set correctly to their weight and their suspension is often too soft so therefor you should give a little bit of breathing room in the slack.

kawimoto_615 wrote: oh im sure that kids go through the program and dont pay attention and get a damn cert just cause they showed up for the most part... rich kids.

where do all the big time motocross mechanics come out of? i know that josh hansens mechanic is a MMI graduate.
what about mike gosselaar. ricky and ryan dungeys ex mechani does anyone know where he started way back when.

Not just for the rich kids, they'll take poor minority as well as they must be easier to secure student loans for. One that UTI recommended to me.....sheesh! I was extremely patient with him and tried so hard to teach him just a few basics of paint prep. Weeks went by and he couldn't catch on to anything. I felt so bad for the kid that I called the school and gave them a thorough reaming for stealing two years of the kids life for a job he was 100% uncapable of performing. It truly was a sad thing.

Two years at Wyo Tech and one kid didn't know the difference between 80 grit and 180 grit sandpaper.Obviously they both had 80 in them.....LMAO

Two year at TSTI/TSTC in Texas and one of their graduates who happened to have a certificate for Advanced Steering and Suspension removed a front strut from a car, sat it on the floor and zapped the nut off the top of it. Holy shit, he wanted to kill me after the coil spring barely missed his head. Just a guess that Advanced Steering and Suspension didn't cover the proper use of the $600.00 strut compressor mounted on the wall in my shop. Or maybe he missed that day?

I wouldn't hire you.

Ask the MMI recruit the question I asked.

kawimoto_615 wrote: chris, what were you intentions? and im sure that since 98 they have advanced the way they do things there now.. the recruiter guy that came to my house really preached a lot about how they have jobs basically waiting for the students that do good... i mean jeremy mcgrath does do a full scholarship with factory honda..

My intentions we're to be on a team for motocross but I didn't want anything to do with a dealership, street bikes, quads and generators. Yeah I'm sure its gotten better since 98-99. But, the jobs they preach, to get you right out of school are, $7 per hour dealerships, prepping new bike or changing tires. You could get lucky cause one kid in my class went straight to Factory Yamaha for street bikes. But, like I said, he had all the qualities I mentioned above and knew riders that helped him in.

I seriously knew way more about motocross than 95% of the teachers. But I will say that I didn't know much about 4 strokes when I went cause, everything was 2 strokes in moto. I did learn a lot more than I knew coming in.

when i said rich kids i meant more like kids who have their way paid for anything, someone who pays outta their own pocket is more likely to try harder and possibly do better than the kid who hasnt done anything for himself. i deal with it on a daily basis at my current job.

@newmann some of the things you say i can see happening because i work as a manager at americas tire/discount tire and i work with retards that would do shit like that. but after training as you speak of it seems like the people you have talked about have serious issues when it comes to working on anything

chris it kinda seems like you had the same idea that i have, just i do realize that coming straight outta the school and to a factory race team is a long shot. no matter how good you are, and yes 4 strokes are what i need to learn, i can rebuild and jet a carb. i can rebuilt a 2 stroke top end no problem, i can adjust suspension. and i can do all the basic stuff for the most part... tires, sprockets, chains, oils, ect ect.

and what if i said i know some people that could put a entry level mechanic to work in a short amount of time..

kawimoto_615 wrote: and what if i said i know some people that could put a entry level mechanic to work in a short amount of time..

Since you already have all the answers and have all the right connections in the industry, nor do you want to hear advice those that might have more insight than you........what's the point of this thread?
Are you Ddavis?

advice from a lot of people and this school is pure hate. hard to believe there is so much bad about a school that you pay 20k plus to go to? wouldnt you think. i do not have the answers, i am not asking for answers there will never be a correct one because everybody has had a different experience for the most part, and thats exactly what i asked for. someones experiences with the school, so have said it was good some have said it was bad.

williamsmotowerx wrote: here's a quiz kawi... how do you know how much slack to put in chain?

I don't know the scientific terms but essentially cycle the rear suspension until you find the point where the chain is the tightest and use that point to measure whether the chain is too loose or too tight.

IMO Kawi you should learn how to rebuild suspension before going, its a piece of cake just read the manual if you have trouble.