Scott Adkins | Building Pro SX/MX Tech Trade School 4

Working in this industry, whether it be a media member, mechanic, or gear guy, we often get the question of, “How do I do what you’re doing”. There is no one, easy answer. If you think you’d like to be a professional mechanic, there is a route that can help with a very high rate of success. The Pro SX/MX Tech Trade School, owned by former professional mechanic, Scott Adkins, is designed to specifically to teach you all you need to know for a career in this industry. Scott took some time to tell us why he started the school and how it works.

For the full interview, check out the Vital MX podcast right here. If you're interested in the condensed written version, scroll down just a bit further.

Jamie Guida – Vital MX: What's going on, Scott?

Scott Adkins: Oh, not much right now. Just teaching some class here at the school.

Vital MX: I was wondering if you’d even have time to do this with a class going.

Scott: Yeah, we'll make time for you. But we go from 8 to 2 every day and we go from October to June. So, you know, we give these guys everything they need to be successful.

Vital MX: I would like to start with your background first, because you were a pro rider from 2001 to 2004. What level of a pro rider were you? What was your background racing?

Scott: I grew up riding and then I turned professional, but I didn't do very many nationals. I realized really fast that I just didn't have what it takes, basically, financially. I think I had the work ethic, and I had what it would take if I could have started it a little sooner and had the funding, but unfortunately, I didn't. So, I got out of that. Then Chad Sanner, I have to give him a lot of credit, he helped me get started as a mechanic, really showed me some stuff and got me going. From there I just busted ass, man, made it happen, just worked really hard and kept my head on straight. That led me into a lot of these factory teams and opened a lot of doors for me to be able to work for some of the top guys in our sport. I then quit as a mechanic or retired as a mechanic and then started my trade school.

Vital MX: Chad Sanner? That's Eleven10 Mods?

Scott: Yeah, that's correct. He's from right here in PA. We rode a lot together back in the day and he was a professional rider himself. I actually worked with him, and he qualified for High Point after he had broken his back. That was one of the last races that he ever qualified for. That led me to being more on the mechanics side of things.

"The repetitive work plus the knowledge he gave us made us students feel confident in the work we were doing. Coming out of school I was prepared with what knowledge I learned on how a motorcycle operates and the proper way to build. One thing that can't be taught is experience. I do feel this is the best schooling to prepare you to be a race team mechanic"

Christien Ducharme - Factory Honda HRC Mechanic for Jett Lawrence

Vital MX: Was that something you always had a passion for? Was working on bikes a way to stay in the industry?

Scott: Yeah, I think it's a little bit of both. I enjoy working on the bikes and you know, I think I wanted to obviously stay in this industry. I've watched it since I was a little kid, just like everybody else, and I wanted to be a part of it. I look back on it now and I realized it was the right path. You know, the second-best thing to do if you're not the rider, is to be the mechanic. Obviously, my dream was to be the racer. But sometimes you have to go with your B plan. My B plan then was to become a mechanic, and I don't regret any of it. It was really fun, and it was a great time. I met a lot of great people, and it furthered my knowledge so I can do what I do now.

Vital MX: You were a factory mechanic for 12 years and worked for guys like Kelly Smith, Nick Wey, Ryan Sipes, Jeremy Martin, and Christophe Pourcel. Talk about the years doing that, what that was like, how much fun, how much work it was.

Scott: It's a lot of work. I've seen a lot of changes throughout our sport from the two-stroke to the four-stroke. Guys that are on the circuit now, they kind of have it made as opposed to what we had 20 years ago. At Yamaha of Troy, we built our engines on the semi-truck. We would build engines Wednesday, build our bike Thursday, set up Friday. Then we actually had to race Saturday to make it into the Sunday qualifiers. So, we did a lot more those first early years of my career than they do now. It wasn't based off of time qualifying and things like that. You actually had to race your way in, and it was a lot of work. I mean, we were gone basically six days a week back then because we built our engines on the truck. So, the workload was extreme. But looking back on it, I don't feel like I've ever worked a day in my life because you go there and you enjoy what you do and then when you have the results to back that up, it takes away all that hard work.

Vital MX: It does seem a little easier than the box for van days. They still put a lot of hours in, but it's a little different.

Scott: Yeah, absolutely. It's not that it's easier. It's just that you have a little bit bigger team. I think some of these teams have realized one guy can't do it all. He can't keep up with the four strokes and the data and all the stuff that we put on these bikes now and how perfect they have to be. A guy like Eli or Jett, you know, they're really beating on those machines. When you do that, those things have to be 100% right, obviously. Or you know, they're going to have a bunch of DNFs, But that's also where my program comes into play. I get these younger kids the really good base that they need to be successful, to be at that level.

Vital MX: For you as a mechanic, Supercross or outdoors?

Scott: As a racer I like the outdoor stuff, but as a mechanic Supercross. It's easier because you do less time on the bike. It's on a prepped track unless it's a mud race or something weird. But for the most part, your bike doesn't get beat up as bad. In Supercross, it stays a lot cleaner. They ride it for less time, so it is a lot less work. It's more of a show where the outdoors is a lot more work for mechanics because you're out in the elements. Then you have to wash your bike more. You're running back and forth. You have two motos, they put more time on it, things get beat up more. But at the end of the day, you frame the bike every week. You look for cracks, you inspect it. That's the main thing that we do is we make sure that that thing is ready to go. You know, we don't tear them down just to clean them. We tear them down to so we can clean them and then inspect them to make sure everything's perfect. But I like Supercross personally as a mechanic and then on the racing side of it I like the outdoors, you know, the great Outdoors. You can't go wrong there.

Vital MX: I’m sure you got the, “How can I do what you’re doing” question often when you were wrenching? People don’t always understand what all goes into it.

Scott: Oh, yeah. I mean, you know, I think if you follow the sport and you actually understand it, then you realize what you're getting into because you have the love for the sport. Now, if you are an outsider and you're just looking at, “Oh man, it's cool. We can hold the pit boards and hang out with the riders”, you're just fooling yourself. But I think if you're a true hardcore guy, you know what it takes. Those are the guys I really like to have at my school, the guys that put the work in and kind of understand the sport. If you just woke up one day and started watching the race and said, “I'm going to go be a professional mechanic”, obviously you can get there. It's just going to take a few years to establish yourself and get the education that you need. But yeah, it's a lot of hard work. I mean, you're doing a lot of 16–18-hour days and it might be consecutive, six, seven days a week for a while and especially leading up to like Anaheim 1. Then the switch, the transition from Supercross to outdoors, a lot of long days. But as far as work goes, I was never scared of it. If that's sounds like something that you guys want to do, then that's something you could get signed up for. This program is a good base for you. You're going to get what you need so you can be successful later on.

Vital MX: When did the idea come about for doing a trade school? Was it while you were working as a mechanic or when that was winding down?

Scott: I started bouncing the idea around in 2011 and ‘12 and actually met a couple, exactly what you said, a couple of kids came up to me at Washougal and were like, “Hey, how do you get into this? This sounds really fun. We'd like to do it”. So, I actually bounced the idea off of them. The next year I went back, and I talked to them again. Well, come 2014, they were my first two sign ups. Their names were Jeffrey and Cody out of Washington State. Jeffrey actually went on to work for Ryan Sipes in the GNCC Series over at Coastal Racing. He was in it for a while and then he chose to go back home and do the thing there. But no, I kind of thought of the idea and I got this game plan all sorted out way before I pulled the trigger on it. I had a pretty good plan set in front of me. I had the financial side of it saved up. Then when I was ready to do it I could pull the trigger on it. I did that in 2014.

Vital MX: How long would you say it took before it came to fruition? How many years?

Scott: I'd say two years because I started thinking about it in 2012. Then during ‘12 and ‘13, I put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Then in ‘14, I opened it. It was my first year for school, October 2014.

Vital MX: What were the hurdles to get it going and get the word out? This is sort of a new idea to do a motocross/Supercross specific trade school.

Scott: A lot of people say make sure you have a very good business plan and stuff. I had that. I just kind of knew what to do. I had it all in my head. I didn't really cross too many hurdles, honestly, to do this program. I had it set in stone. I had thought through, you know, I needed a website. To get kids to recognize and see my school I'm going to have to do advertising. With RacerX here in my backyard, it was pretty easy. I did a couple of ads on RacerX, I just bought the banner on the website. They did a couple of ads on the website, and as soon as they did that, kids could go check out my website. Then they would sign up and email me. Once they emailed me, then I could contact them, whether it be by telephone or more through emails. But I'd call them and say, “Hey, I can send you some paperwork”. I had a professional contract written up and I did all that in the off season from ‘14 when I was done with Christophe until the school started. Even when I was working with Christophe, I was still coming back during the week and working on all this stuff. Once the kid can contact me, then I could send him some paperwork and then he could see what he was getting into and then he could sign up and send back a deposit.

Vital MX: What do you feel sets Pro SX/MX Tech apart from an MMI or any other school that might be around.

Scott: A lot of stuff. Number one is class size. I take 10 to 12 students where MMI takes more. I teach all modern four-stroke which is what we're racing, I teach all brands and then the quality of what we have here, it's all new bikes. You're not going to be in here learning on a four-wheeler or street bike or anything like that. I think the biggest thing is connections. I have the connections in the sport to get the guys the jobs. You know, you want to get placed right out of school. I've tried to work really hard to do that each and every year. Also, you're learning from a guy who has actually done it. Not some guy who came from a dealership or maybe he's passionate about Harley's, but he's teaching you motocross, you know? You don't have that full connection whenever you go to a different program other than mine. What we teach here is basically exactly what you're going to be doing.

"The most beneficial part of the school was giving me a broad understanding of all components on all different brands of bikes. Scott gives you the knowledge to diagnose any problem and to have the confidence to fix any problem you may run into"

Kade O'Grady - Factory Husqvarna Mechanic for Craig DeLong

Vital MX: What does the class cover? Engines, suspension, chassis, etc?

Scott: Yep. Correct. The first part of my program is parts recognition. That's learning the machines. You have to know what a piston is. You've got to know what the cam chain tensioner does. You need to know all these parts. Then you practice build. Then we get into setup as part two. That's what it takes to make that bike work better, such as triple clamps and raising the forks, lowering the forks, tire sizes, all the setup stuff. Longer linkage, pull rods. How to properly set sag. The third part is problem diagnostics. Let's just say you hit the start button, and nothing happens. Where do you look? What do you do? If you have any kind of problems, we need you guys to understand where to look and then diagnose that problem quick so you can fix it. Because time is not our friend at the races. The fourth part is exactly that. It's timed drills and drills to speed you up so you know how to work on the bike. You know how to set it up, you know how to fix it if there's a problem and then you're fast at it.

Vital MX: I assume aside from the mechanic skills, you also talk about being on the road, the rigors of not being home much, missing your family, the long hours, etc? There’s 18-hour days on Saturday and then you're up Sunday morning rebuilding the bike in the parking lot of a hotel sometimes.

Scott: That's it. No matter what question that these guys have, I can answer it. From what it's like being on the road to what you do at the test track. That's why it's very important to learn from a guy like myself that has been there and we've done that. We understand what it takes. We didn't just dabble in it. This is my life. I've spent 43 years and I've done nothing but motocross and Supercross. So again, I can answer pretty much any of those questions and bring to life exactly what they're going to be doing every day if they want to make this a career.

Vital MX: You mentioned smaller classes is one of the things that sets you apart. How many employees do you have? Is it just you or do you have people helping?

Scott: Nope, just me. I teach it all, engines, transmission breakdown. We go through all the electrical. Not just what that plug is, but what does it plug into? So, if you have a coolant temperature sensor, how do you know how to test those sensors? If you have TPS, a throttle positioning sensor, not only what is the sensor, but then how to test it it’s good or bad and its function, what it does. We go through everything, like I said, full transmission, all the timing, some of the cool trade secrets, little tech tips all the way through. We teach how to true a wheel, wheel building bearings, there's not a part on a bike that these guys won't touch and touch extensively time and time again. Obviously, it's a trade school, but think of it more as a training center. Aldon trains the riders. I train the mechanics.

Vital MX: I know you take your guys to races sometimes. I met you the first time in 2017 at St Louis. I also met one of your students, Kade O’Grady that weekend. He actually worked for Travis Delnicki that night. I think that's really cool that you take the students to the races, and they get a chance often to actually get their hands on a real race bike in a race situation.

Scott: Yeah, a lot of the guys can intern, they can do different stuff those nights while they're there. It's a good time to find a job, to hand out resumes and see what it's like firsthand. Like you said, Kade, now you see where he's at. He's well on his way over at Factory Husky and loving it. I have a lot of guys that I've placed in the past. Obviously, Jett Lawrence has one of my guys, Joe Shimoda, Max Vohland, Levi Kitchen, Daxton Bennick, pretty much the whole HEP Suzuki team minus Travis (Soules) basically has come through my program. Guys for Troy Lee. Another guy is a test guy at Pro Circuit. So, yeah man, really good placement. Now obviously that's not all placement just from last year, but over the last five or six years.

"His school taught us everything you need to know from tearing apart a chassis, an engine, to rebuilding diagnostic problems"

Austin Watterson - Factory Red Bull KTM Mechanic for Maximus Vohland

Vital MX: Out of all your students, do you know how many total have actually gotten into the industry and worked at the professional level?

Scott: They may not have all stuck with it, but my percentage placements is 80 to 90%.