MMI

Snap
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Snap
Edited Date/Time 1/25/2012 5:59pm
I was wondering if anybody has any input on the MMI school I have been really considering going for Honda and Kawi, but I keeps thinking about the other brands. I'm just wondering how the job market is once your finished, and if the school is a good choice
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Cygnus
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Cygnus 7/12/2009 6:58pm
7/12/2009 6:58pm
I would say for your kids sake do not even think about being a mechanic.
ASH510
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ASH510 7/12/2009 7:56pm
7/12/2009 7:56pm
i had an mmi grad do fork work just to help him out he was in the top 5 in his class
after 3 times sent them to RACETECH they fixed them for free
i would say just look at being a drug dealer they make better money
Snap
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Snap 7/12/2009 8:06pm
7/12/2009 8:06pm
wow haha I was thinking of doing it so that I could do my own work on my sons bike and knock out the hassel of taking it to a shop. and eventually start my own shop. thanks for your advise thus far.
project racer 7/12/2009 8:13pm
7/12/2009 8:13pm
I have a friend who has been the head Harley Davidson instructor there in Orlando for about 15 years. He likes his job. When he would show up at the weekly short track races, his bike was the worst maintained machine I can remember at that track.

Flagging 50% of the labor on repairs is a tough way to make a living. Thats what the going rate was in the 90's,early 2000. You had to hustle to make $600-$800 a week. And you better make sure you don't have a lot of come backs due to your mistake, or sometimes you get to work on things a second time for free.

Not to mention the amount of tools you need to buy. There is always something you need but don't have. When the tool truck rolls in , they have a way of getting into your pocket, sometimes deeply. Not to mention the specialty tools.

On top of the tuition payments, Hmmmm? What's MMI courses run these days, about 15K?

I would have to agree with Cygnus.

The Shop

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Snap
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Snap 7/12/2009 8:29pm
7/12/2009 8:29pm
the tuition runs around 25k. that is on the steep side. You guys are making it sound like a mistake to even go to the school. thanks tho
xnationalwrench 7/13/2009 4:23am
7/13/2009 4:23am
Any schooling is a good thing but book learning is not the same as hands on learning at a shop. If you look at teachers or doctors they go thru lots of book learning but have to learn hands on learning also before they turn them loose.
Snap
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Snap 7/13/2009 6:33am
7/13/2009 6:33am
xnationalwrench wrote:
Any schooling is a good thing but book learning is not the same as hands on learning at a shop. If you look at teachers or...
Any schooling is a good thing but book learning is not the same as hands on learning at a shop. If you look at teachers or doctors they go thru lots of book learning but have to learn hands on learning also before they turn them loose.
I agree with that as I'm in the medical field now. from my understanding the school has alot of hands on training. I'v heard alot of good things and alot of bad things, it just seems to be who you ask
ACMYERS
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ACMYERS 7/13/2009 6:54am
7/13/2009 6:54am
The training would be good. Hands on real life will complete it.
ScottP
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ScottP 7/13/2009 8:04am
7/13/2009 8:04am
I am an MMI Phoenix AZ grad. I went for Yamaha and Honda and was pretty high in my grad class. The school does have alot of hands on which I liked. It is structured so you can also work full time which is great. All said and done it was about $25,000.
Just like any school, it is what you make it and what you choose to get out of it.
My one dissapointment is that it is too easy for kids to get through, alot of kids that graduated I would never let touch my bikes. But if you choose to use all that is available to you, you can get alot out of it.

As far as getting a job out of school, forget about it. Dealers are horrible, they charge alot of $ for labor and they want to pay you very little of that. I graduated with a good GPA, yamaha certified, Honda tech certified, and took race tech classes, worked at dealerships before and during school, and dealers didn't want to higher me because I would not work for $10.00 and hour. So I started my own thing.

MMI is good, but you have to pick your teachers brains and make sure you get all you can from it.
ASH510
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ASH510 7/13/2009 10:14am
7/13/2009 10:14am
there was supposed to be a motocycle mechaincs school opening in cleveland ohio with bernie thompson he used to be with mmi. if you want i can try to find out the name
oh it was going to be at the north randall mall i think they bought the mall up there
newmann
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newmann 7/13/2009 12:17pm
7/13/2009 12:17pm Edited Date/Time 7/13/2009 12:18pm
You really need to have a decent understanding of what you are wanting to go to school for before you go. Classroom instruction doesn't go over too well in the real world and a lot of the kids coming out of MMI and all the other trade schools are at a complete loss when they enter the work force. If you know a little bit about what you doing, you will be able to better relate to the training and get a whole lot more out of it. Those are the students who seem to excel. Trade schools make their money by moving students through the program whether they are grasping any of it or not. If they failed students and made them pay again to retake a segment most of the kids would drop out. It is a complete joke what UTI and Wyo Tech turn out for autobody technicians. Two year courses and these kids don't know the absolute beginner basics when they "graduate". Some of the kids I've had come through here from Tech schools have absolutely no business picking up a hand tool let alone using it on a motor vehicle. Like I said, get some hands on experience before you go in and you will learn tons more.
Craze
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Craze 7/13/2009 6:29pm
7/13/2009 6:29pm
xnationalwrench wrote:
Any schooling is a good thing but book learning is not the same as hands on learning at a shop. If you look at teachers or...
Any schooling is a good thing but book learning is not the same as hands on learning at a shop. If you look at teachers or doctors they go thru lots of book learning but have to learn hands on learning also before they turn them loose.
You're better off being a Doctor than a Mechanic, Doctors "Practice" medicine, where as a Mechanic is considered a "Professional".......plus Doctor's don't get combacks when the patient dies....Mechanics do!!!
yak651
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yak651 7/13/2009 7:33pm
7/13/2009 7:33pm
Motorcycle mechanic talking to a dr at a party, ask him what he does. I'm a heart surgeon, i change valves, rebuild pumps. Dr ask him what he does, he says he's a motorcycle mechanic, does something similar, changing valves, rebuilds, etc. Mechanic says, what you make an hour? Dr says $250/hour. Mechanic says, that's not fair, I only make $25/hour, basically doing the same thing. Doctor ask, you ever try to do your rebuild while the bike is running?...
ASH510
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ASH510 7/13/2009 8:50pm
7/13/2009 8:50pm
haha pretty good one there
harescrambled 7/16/2009 7:04pm
7/16/2009 7:04pm
ScottP wrote:
I am an MMI Phoenix AZ grad. I went for Yamaha and Honda and was pretty high in my grad class. The school does have alot...
I am an MMI Phoenix AZ grad. I went for Yamaha and Honda and was pretty high in my grad class. The school does have alot of hands on which I liked. It is structured so you can also work full time which is great. All said and done it was about $25,000.
Just like any school, it is what you make it and what you choose to get out of it.
My one dissapointment is that it is too easy for kids to get through, alot of kids that graduated I would never let touch my bikes. But if you choose to use all that is available to you, you can get alot out of it.

As far as getting a job out of school, forget about it. Dealers are horrible, they charge alot of $ for labor and they want to pay you very little of that. I graduated with a good GPA, yamaha certified, Honda tech certified, and took race tech classes, worked at dealerships before and during school, and dealers didn't want to higher me because I would not work for $10.00 and hour. So I started my own thing.

MMI is good, but you have to pick your teachers brains and make sure you get all you can from it.
Man I read you. I graduated from the Orlando campus in '94, FAST and Motorcycle Tech program. I've been working on bikes since I was a kid and I'm damn good at it. I couldn't find a job in the business for more than $6 an hour back then though. So I went back into the steel fabrication business and I repair bikes on the side. (got a garage full right now)..
project racer 7/17/2009 2:07am
7/17/2009 2:07am
If a shop pays you hourly, you are getting hosed. The shop I worked for paid 50% of the labor charge to the mechanic, based on the time alloted in the Yamaha labor rates book. If labor rate at the shop was $65 an hour, and the book said it took 4 hours to do the job, you got half of the labor $$, in this case half of $260 for the four hours of labor the book alloted for the job., which is $130.

You can't make any money as an hourly wrench. As your experience grows, you get more efficient and can usually complete the jobs under the given time allotment. This is when you may start to make a little money as a mechanic.

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