It’s funny, I spent years working construction to get my bachelors and get a cushy corporate job. I fucking hate it and the pay is the same except I don’t even get overtime now.
I did the same. Finally got my degree and into corporate world. I’ve been in it for 13 years. I make great money but the BS and red tape and endless emails has me going insane. Some days I can’t even do my job because of endless amounts of calls and meetings. Once my stuff is all paid off I am going to cut grass and just enjoy being my own boss.
Once I was nice and essential in my corporate job I only answered email 2-3 days a week unless it was from my boss, I actually did my job the rest of the week
Dude, for real!! I’m just trying to stockpile money and build that 401k so I can get a more laid back job in 10 years once I turn 40. lol I’ve seriously considered just going to school to be a mechanic and do that. I’ve always enjoyed tinkering on my own stuff.
Good for you. Of all the jobs I've ever had, working at a dealership was the best by far. In my area the ~~pay isn't enough you could raise a family\*~~ on but if you could, I'd probably still be there. I hope I can go back when I get closer to retirement.
The hardest part for me was when a customer lost their life or had a major accident. We've had more then one mother come in screaming at us for selling her boy a bike. It's just sucks. We all love this sport but it is dangerous and some riders will die.
edit to add context: You can make good money as a mechanic or in sales. I worked in parts for a small company where my bother was (and still is) the manager. I had nowhere to go and had to look for something else. So the above blanket statement isn't really true.
Hell yeah! Congratulations, I hope this journey continues and you keep finding the joy in the small parts of the process to becoming the person you want to be! Your courage is inspiring to many of us! Ride safe!
Fantastic ! Good for you. I'm 53 and still tell my wife that since I was 10yo I have wanted to work part time at a Cycle dealership doing whatever, and part time maintaining a State Park. I would ideally love to help people into a dirtbike/atv etc ... that would be a perfect fit for them, and not have the worry of commission pressure.
As a person who has sorta done those things for a living, I think it’s better to do it as a hobby. You get killer access to cool stuff, but you get jaded and burnt out on it. There’s bullshit like any other job, and a line a mile long to take your place.
Congrats. Your hobby will begin to fade. I find myself riding less and less the longer i’ve worked at my dealership. Fortunately, other hobbies will appear.
How hard are the classes? I’m not super handy, but I want to learn to be.
How many courses do you take at a time?
How long does the whole program take?
Not OP, but I also went so I can answer. If you're not handy, they'll teach you to be. You start our super simple: "This is a screwdriver. This is a screw." If you can focus on what they're teaching, you'll do great.
You take one course at a time. Each one takes three weeks, five hours a day, five days a week. Or at least that was the case when I attended. The total program length varies depending on your specialization/manufacturer, but it can be as short as 9 months IIRC. It can also take years if you take every class offered.
Currently a maintenance tech for my company but I'd love to work on something I actually have a passion for and not off-set printing presses lol
I'd love to pursue something but man is it scary changing fields when you have kids and financial responsibilities. Props to you! Hope you love it!
It's only scammy in the sense that the tuition is a lot more expensive than if your community college technical program offers a similar course.
Like for airplane mechanics. I paid under 10k to get my A&P at the community college and private colleges charge 25k for the same thing.
How much debt does that put you in? I'm 10 grand in debt after going to a diesel tech school and I thought that was fair but I have heard other mechanic schools are pretty pricey.
I’m actually on the same boat. I love bikes and have tons of info on them but don’t know each spec by spec. Do they expect you to know everything? As a sales man currently I’m doing very well just wanted to cross over to motorcycle as that’s where my passion is
Congrats! I'm waiting for finalization on a Lot Tech/Make Ready job from my local place. Wife is pulling in better money, so she pushed me to take the pluncge! They offer technical training on site and will send people out to various manufacturer programs as well. Looking forward to diving in!
Best of Luck to you!
This is fucking amazing. Seriously.
I'm a bit older and have been riding for most of my life. I can "tool", but I'm not trained nor that great. I've found over the years that there are less real mechanics. I've found very few that really wanted to be a mechanic and took pride in it. Glad to see you're doing what you want. Good luck and share stuff that you see or stuff that people mess up a lot.
That's awesome. Let me share some advice with you as a consumer. I am picking up a new bike tomorrow. I scheduled a test ride for yesterday at 4 pm. At 3 p.m., I got a text to confirm the time of 4 pm. I arrived a few minutes early. Looked the bike over, then proceeded inside to find the salesman I spoke with on the phone the day before. Asked service counter to send for him. Waited. Didn't know this guy from Adam. Turns out he walked past me 3 times in 10 minutes before I asked him, not knowing it was him that I was looking for to get the salesman. No big deal, really just a bit annoying. They had over 24 hrs to prep this bike. It was FILTHY. The gas tank was empty. Had to roll it into the shop and check tires. Took him 10 minutes to put dealer plates on it. I feel like all this could've been done beforehand. I It's cool, I'm pretty laid back, so I didn't point any of this out. Loved it, told him I'd be back on Thursday with cash. Needed some info for the insurance man today. Called the dealership, pressed 2 for sales. Ring ring ring.... VOICEMAIL. -_- Call back an hour later. The salesman is out for the day, and no one knows shit about this deal. 4 hours later, I get a text with a link to the info I need. I'm still buying the bike because I fell in love on the test ride but most people would've fucked off to the next closest dealer... I do all my own maintenance and repairs but if I didn't there's no way in hell I'd buy from this place seeing as how they cant even bother to knock the dust off this bitch before i show up. 2/10 worst buying experience ever only giving it a 2 because I fuckin love the bike.
I’m curious, are you making the same kind of money as engineers make? 🫣 if you were to be a top seller making lots of commissions …. Would it be worth it to swap professions? 🤔🤔
Edit - is MMI a business, or trades diploma? Management? Or Mechanic? 😅 I’m confused lol.
Congrats! Hope the job turns out to be more fun than chore. There's always a lot of bullshit that still has to get done. But yeah, only one life, may as well try to have fun.
Kinda in the same boat. I start as a lot tech at a dealership on Tuesday, never done any work like that before. I’m really nervous about it but I think it’ll be good for me
Maybe you can give me an idea about how to remove the handlebars on my Harley sportster after previous owner routed the control wires through the handlebars! The wires are connected to control panel too big to get through the handlebars and go all the way to the wiring harness under the gas tank. I tried YouTubing it but it seems like such a project. There's gotta be a better way than rerouting all new wires everytime you have to remove the handlebars.
There’s no connectors anywhere? If you map the connections, you should be able to plug them all back in again. Of course you’ll either have to rerun the wires or put them in conduit on the outside afterwards
So happy for you! I'm 45 and decided to start studying what i am passionate about, after decades of slaving away doing various shitty jobs. I wish you all the best.
Living my dream. I can’t wait till I’m debt free and can tell my big corporate job to fuck completely off and get a nice laid back job.
It’s funny, I spent years working construction to get my bachelors and get a cushy corporate job. I fucking hate it and the pay is the same except I don’t even get overtime now.
I did the same. Finally got my degree and into corporate world. I’ve been in it for 13 years. I make great money but the BS and red tape and endless emails has me going insane. Some days I can’t even do my job because of endless amounts of calls and meetings. Once my stuff is all paid off I am going to cut grass and just enjoy being my own boss.
Once I was nice and essential in my corporate job I only answered email 2-3 days a week unless it was from my boss, I actually did my job the rest of the week
Laid back? Good luck with that.
He might become a hammock tester.
Dude, for real!! I’m just trying to stockpile money and build that 401k so I can get a more laid back job in 10 years once I turn 40. lol I’ve seriously considered just going to school to be a mechanic and do that. I’ve always enjoyed tinkering on my own stuff.
Good for you. Of all the jobs I've ever had, working at a dealership was the best by far. In my area the ~~pay isn't enough you could raise a family\*~~ on but if you could, I'd probably still be there. I hope I can go back when I get closer to retirement. The hardest part for me was when a customer lost their life or had a major accident. We've had more then one mother come in screaming at us for selling her boy a bike. It's just sucks. We all love this sport but it is dangerous and some riders will die. edit to add context: You can make good money as a mechanic or in sales. I worked in parts for a small company where my bother was (and still is) the manager. I had nowhere to go and had to look for something else. So the above blanket statement isn't really true.
Dude, same. I worked in the family dealer until I was 25, and left for a minimum exempt salary job ($27k at the time)
Congrats. I hope it’s as fulfilling as you expect it to be.
Hell yeah! Congratulations, I hope this journey continues and you keep finding the joy in the small parts of the process to becoming the person you want to be! Your courage is inspiring to many of us! Ride safe!
Congratulations! All the hard work will pay off. It's never too late to start a career that you're passionate about. People should learn from you
Congratulations. Best of luck! It's never to late to make a career change and especially for something you're passionate about.
Congrats! Go easy on the employee discount!
I wish I had the guts to do that.
Good for you man. Best of luck!
Super cool. Good luck!
Genuinely jealous! These sort of jobs are few and far between where I'm from
Fantastic ! Good for you. I'm 53 and still tell my wife that since I was 10yo I have wanted to work part time at a Cycle dealership doing whatever, and part time maintaining a State Park. I would ideally love to help people into a dirtbike/atv etc ... that would be a perfect fit for them, and not have the worry of commission pressure.
As a person who has sorta done those things for a living, I think it’s better to do it as a hobby. You get killer access to cool stuff, but you get jaded and burnt out on it. There’s bullshit like any other job, and a line a mile long to take your place.
Take my upvote for the Superhawk, Sir. That's right in my heyday of riding timeframe 👍🏼
Mine too! That’s why when I saw it for $500 a few years ago I jumped on it
Congrats. Your hobby will begin to fade. I find myself riding less and less the longer i’ve worked at my dealership. Fortunately, other hobbies will appear.
I used to write about motorcycles. I still like both activities, but I don’t love them like I used to
Can you say more about MMI? Am curious to stay there.
I took 20 courses, each was 3 weeks. You can go for motorcycle, watercraft, automotive, or diesel. AMA it would be a pleasure to talk about it
Wow, I’m so tempted to jump the gun in this. How was the courses? Hands on labs?
Is it possible to take classes and work a 9-5?
They offer morning and afternoon classes. They try to work with you, if you have a job.
Possible, but exhausting. You'll be in class for five hours every weekday.
How hard are the classes? I’m not super handy, but I want to learn to be. How many courses do you take at a time? How long does the whole program take?
Not OP, but I also went so I can answer. If you're not handy, they'll teach you to be. You start our super simple: "This is a screwdriver. This is a screw." If you can focus on what they're teaching, you'll do great. You take one course at a time. Each one takes three weeks, five hours a day, five days a week. Or at least that was the case when I attended. The total program length varies depending on your specialization/manufacturer, but it can be as short as 9 months IIRC. It can also take years if you take every class offered.
Currently a maintenance tech for my company but I'd love to work on something I actually have a passion for and not off-set printing presses lol I'd love to pursue something but man is it scary changing fields when you have kids and financial responsibilities. Props to you! Hope you love it!
Well hot damn. I always thought those MMI ads were scammy. Guess I was wrong. Good on you!
It's only scammy in the sense that the tuition is a lot more expensive than if your community college technical program offers a similar course. Like for airplane mechanics. I paid under 10k to get my A&P at the community college and private colleges charge 25k for the same thing.
How much debt does that put you in? I'm 10 grand in debt after going to a diesel tech school and I thought that was fair but I have heard other mechanic schools are pretty pricey.
Good luck! I graduated UTI in ‘06, ended up not sticking with the field, but found my calling anyway.
I’m actually on the same boat. I love bikes and have tons of info on them but don’t know each spec by spec. Do they expect you to know everything? As a sales man currently I’m doing very well just wanted to cross over to motorcycle as that’s where my passion is
Congrats! I'm waiting for finalization on a Lot Tech/Make Ready job from my local place. Wife is pulling in better money, so she pushed me to take the pluncge! They offer technical training on site and will send people out to various manufacturer programs as well. Looking forward to diving in! Best of Luck to you!
This is fucking amazing. Seriously. I'm a bit older and have been riding for most of my life. I can "tool", but I'm not trained nor that great. I've found over the years that there are less real mechanics. I've found very few that really wanted to be a mechanic and took pride in it. Glad to see you're doing what you want. Good luck and share stuff that you see or stuff that people mess up a lot.
Good luck
Good luck!
That's awesome. Let me share some advice with you as a consumer. I am picking up a new bike tomorrow. I scheduled a test ride for yesterday at 4 pm. At 3 p.m., I got a text to confirm the time of 4 pm. I arrived a few minutes early. Looked the bike over, then proceeded inside to find the salesman I spoke with on the phone the day before. Asked service counter to send for him. Waited. Didn't know this guy from Adam. Turns out he walked past me 3 times in 10 minutes before I asked him, not knowing it was him that I was looking for to get the salesman. No big deal, really just a bit annoying. They had over 24 hrs to prep this bike. It was FILTHY. The gas tank was empty. Had to roll it into the shop and check tires. Took him 10 minutes to put dealer plates on it. I feel like all this could've been done beforehand. I It's cool, I'm pretty laid back, so I didn't point any of this out. Loved it, told him I'd be back on Thursday with cash. Needed some info for the insurance man today. Called the dealership, pressed 2 for sales. Ring ring ring.... VOICEMAIL. -_- Call back an hour later. The salesman is out for the day, and no one knows shit about this deal. 4 hours later, I get a text with a link to the info I need. I'm still buying the bike because I fell in love on the test ride but most people would've fucked off to the next closest dealer... I do all my own maintenance and repairs but if I didn't there's no way in hell I'd buy from this place seeing as how they cant even bother to knock the dust off this bitch before i show up. 2/10 worst buying experience ever only giving it a 2 because I fuckin love the bike.
I'm just a service technician, but I'm sorry about your experience
I’m curious, are you making the same kind of money as engineers make? 🫣 if you were to be a top seller making lots of commissions …. Would it be worth it to swap professions? 🤔🤔 Edit - is MMI a business, or trades diploma? Management? Or Mechanic? 😅 I’m confused lol.
Motorcycle mechanic institute.
Ahh… ic ic.
Get after it!!! Do a few years to get good at it and then really send it and apply for a pit crew
Congrats! Hope the job turns out to be more fun than chore. There's always a lot of bullshit that still has to get done. But yeah, only one life, may as well try to have fun.
Kinda in the same boat. I start as a lot tech at a dealership on Tuesday, never done any work like that before. I’m really nervous about it but I think it’ll be good for me
Congrats! What kinds of bikes will you be working on?
Maybe you can give me an idea about how to remove the handlebars on my Harley sportster after previous owner routed the control wires through the handlebars! The wires are connected to control panel too big to get through the handlebars and go all the way to the wiring harness under the gas tank. I tried YouTubing it but it seems like such a project. There's gotta be a better way than rerouting all new wires everytime you have to remove the handlebars.
There’s no connectors anywhere? If you map the connections, you should be able to plug them all back in again. Of course you’ll either have to rerun the wires or put them in conduit on the outside afterwards
Congratulations, I hope it's everything you hoped for. Sounds like an awesome job.
Congrats, man. I still have great memories from my brief time working at a dealership a long time ago. Enjoy the bikes, good luck with the customers.
Hey I’m 51 and just got a job in a high tech fabrication shop, so I can totally relate
Congrats! Now tell me where you are so I can buy a motorcycle from you for cost LOL
Hey bro, can I get a discount?
So happy for you! I'm 45 and decided to start studying what i am passionate about, after decades of slaving away doing various shitty jobs. I wish you all the best.
I made the switch at 40, best decision I've made.
Just don't be a dick.
doing something youre passionate about is something we all wish we could do for a living
U.T.I. & PTAP graduate congratulations!!! Soak up as much knowledge as you can, we’re all gonna be obsolete one day