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I Plan is to sell Moto Hose in the next 2 years and wife and I will full time RaVing across America and riding everywhere I can along the way.
Hylton Beattie rode for the same team as i did in South African He had worked his way up to landing a job with FMF. He ran the race team and race support team. He gave me a chance at FMF and through hard work and being fully committed I got the Stewart amateur gig.
I left the USA to pursue my next dream. In my heart i knew i wanted to be a helicopter pilot and saved every dolla i made which paid for my PPL(H) here is South Africe.
Sadly i was not smart enough to pass the Commercial exams required for the CPL(H) licence needed in order to fly for income.
Then people started crashing and dying and i had just started a family. Jobs in aviation are scarce here. Even as a certified Operations Manager and Safety Officer I could not find a good paying job....all taken.
So in 2007 i joined Caled Tennant and spent 13 yrs helping him through his MX career and ended up back in the USA with him.
Some doors opened whilst I was there but with immigration and their red tape I face a never ending battle.
All these yrs and I'm a rich man in memories but realistically broke. Few very people earn a good living in the MX industry. There are only a certain amount of good paying jobs available and those jobs, when they become available are snapped up by ex elite Pro riders.
A mechanic can be a glorious job but its long hours and the wage is minimal. I got bonuses from Big Bubba, James gave me brand new GT MTB as a gift when i left for Africa.
I did two yrs mechanical engineering after my motorcycle trade but the love of moto took me to the states.
I always question myself...where would I be now if i got my Degree?
At 51 yrs old and sitting here with no job. Having to sell shit for the next two months before I can get back to the states. Its also tough being away from my wife and two daughters...my anxiety levels are through the roof just thinking having to be away for an extended period.
My advice to you is to study and get a good qualification and a good job. Buy bikes for yourself and your family and enjoy the fun and freedom of riding.
Thats my story, maybe you do pull it off and earn the dream job.
Good luck to you going forward.
I also studied finance and work in purchasing now. It's a lot less product focus than you think and more excel spreadsheets but at the end of the day the numbers in excel represent gear, parts, accessories, etc. so it's pretty cool. Plus there is some really cool perks to the job.
When I was in college I tried to get industry internships and it wasn't much of a thing unless you wanted to work for free. Instead I focused on sales and marketing internships outside the industry and used the experience to get me where I am today. The biggest thing I see is you either have to have a connection to get most jobs or you need to start at the bottom of the company and prove yourself to work your way up. It's possible to get a really good gig but most likely won't happen right out of college. You might have to work customer service or another type of role that's similar to that and after you prove yourself and meet the people in charge you can work your way up.
As far as keeping your hobby and career separated I disagree in my experience. My first job out of college I was paid well and signed a $10K signing bonus however, I started hating Sundays because I had to go to work the next day. I wasn't passionate about it and the money wasn't as big as a motivation factor that I thought it would be. Left that job joined the industry now I'm stoked. Keep your eyes out on Motorcycling Industry jobs, Malakye.com, Linkedin, and follow the brands and companies you're interested in on social. A lot of the smaller ones will post their opportunities there as well. Feel free to DM me in you want. Those last 5 semesters go quick
I've been in the industry for well over twenty years now and have seen both sides of the coin. Burnout for some, happiness for others. Some need the bigger paycheck to be happy, others are just content talking about motorcycles for the rest of their life. It's always going to be different depending on your personality.
My name is Jason Gearld and I'm always happy to talk with anyone looking to get in the industry. What I do with MIJ is just for the love of the sport... I'm not a recruiter. I don't get paid to help land anyone a job. But the way I see it is that if I keep passionate people working for good companies, that passion will hopefully find its way to our customers. It's the same passion I give to my own company Phoenix Handlebars.
If anyone wants to rap, feel free to hit me up. I'm happy to talk on the phone. And keep an eye on motorcycleindustryjobs.com. Lots of great opportunities right now.
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I have worked in F1 ,WRC, and Indy/ Nascar stuff here in the UK, and it always paid me enough $$$ to be able to race all over europe and the USA , raise a family.
I only really struggled for 2 years , and they were the 2 i spent working in a buddies dealership, working 6 days a week and trying to race on the 7th.
That was as a result of getting laid off in the early 90's , and it was just what i needed, and just what he needed, but the pay and hours sucked, and i lost the will to live , as far as bikes was concerned.
As for the dude who decided to do it later on in life (like my age now) , thats a great option, if you can afford to do it, after getting yourself in a position to do it .
MX as a sport , is underpaid and overworked, there may be a few decent spots to land, but by and large, the guys in it with the money are earning it somewhere else.
The rest is long so its really just intended for the OP.
All that said, here is my .02:
I've worked for a motorcycle manufacturer for over 20 years. Loved every second of it and most days don't really consider it working. I do not or would not work for the race team. I have almost every weekend off and many times just do other family stuff instead of riding as I can ride a lot during the week. I haven't owned a bike for years because I have use of pretty much anything my company makes. I also make six figures and have great benefits.
So, how did I get here. Long story longer, I went to college and got a degree in finance. My parents told me I would never make a living in motorcycles and to look elsewhere. I was going along just fine in life working on the 8th floor of a large bank downtown, suit and tie guy, that was me. Then one day at lunch I went to a local dealer down the street for something and overheard a conversation that the owner was having (very upset and talking loud) with the bank that owned his inventory. A light went off in my head, someone at a bank was dealing with my love and passion, motorcycles and doing it for a living. That wasn't much but better than looking through financial statements and UCC's of transportation companies (trucks and buses) all day. I looked into this company, Deutche Bank, or DFS as they were known at that time and sent in an application. Got a job with them and worked closely with the manufacturer whose dealers inventory we were financing. They (the motorcycle manufacturer) got to know me and realized that I was a motorcycle guy and spoke the language while also knowing business and the finance side of things. When a position came open, they came to me with a job offer in Field Sales. Free car, cell phone and gas card and hit the road. It was awesome. Work from home office, no suit and tie and got to drive around showing and telling people how great our bikes are. I've worked my way up since then but one thing you 100% have to be willing to do is move. When I got the job with Deutche Bank, I had to move to Atlanta. When I got the job with the motorcycle company, I had to move to North Carolina. And we have lived in 6 different places to get to where we are now.
So, if you really want to do it, then do it but you have to be willing to move around the country somewhat. The OEM I work for has internships and I have seen quite a few of those interns hired full time down the road. But, we are not located in Utah!
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Good luck and hopefully you come back and update us on how things turn out in a few years. Hopefully you find your dream job, its out there no matter what others say.
It shows you can be ' in the industry' with zero motorcycle related talents and earn a good living.
I was always factory based staff, working on the Quality side of manufacture, l was well enough organised and funded to never have to do stupid hours, had good guys , that cracked on and got it done, and still had a 10 minute drive to work and all my weekends free.
The race team guys lived and breathed it, 24/7 and its a hard existence on double what moto will pay, with all the travel and weekend working, even though the guys can get KTM's for buttons through the work scheme, they never see them to ride them .
I have a mechanical engineering degree and work in manufacturing...but work within minutes of a local track here in Utah so it’s the best of both worlds. Just wishing I didn’t take a 16 year break from the sport. Glad to be back though.
Great to see you planning ahead like this though. The interns we see come through have done the same.
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