s0nofg0d

well after a few years of me bitching ive decieded to give school a try. so i applied at the mmi in orlando.

is this school worth it if i want to pursue a carreer in motorcycle mechanics?

or what can i expect and what would you do? if you made a choice like this?

NINER

Not worth it. if you really want to get a job at a dealership, just apply and work your way up from shop bitch. The school is fairly expensive and most shops like to train their mechanics themselves.

edgeman68

Niner is entitled to his opinion, but it is way off base. One of my best friends and former roommates is an instructor at MMI in Phoenix. Many of my friends are graduates of MMI. There is not a single one of them that regrets their decision to attend the school. While the idea of working your way up the ladder sounds good, there are not many dealerships willing to take on the time and effort required to train someone. Without at least a working knowledge of theory and application nobody is going to want to let their bike be the guinea pig for an untrained mechanic. I also happen to personally know Paul Yaffe who is a MMI graduate. I met Paul over 15 years ago when he moved from CA to AZ to attend MMI. Although he already had a good working knowledge of motorcycles and had built several already, he knew that his skills were lacking in order to be able to truly excel in his field. 15 years later his work can now be seen here: www.paulyaffeoriginals.com . It is well worth your time and money if you truly wish to become a quality mechanic.

The Edge

Afflicted

not saying your wrong but i never went to a motorcycle mechanic school and i can completely rip down a whole engine and every part of a motorcycle and put it back together, and i know for a fact the guys at my local shop who have gone through training cant cuz in the past i have dropped my bike off there to change tires and they have put it on the wrong way, fucked up my sprocket, bent my shifter

and they all have their certificates / diploma or whatever hangin on the wall


sonofgod what you need to do if you want to get into a career of it, become a like a yamaha/honda/kawi/ or whatever you feel like, certified professional mechanic

they make more money

Up0n0ne

I think the best way to find out is go to a dealership and ask if it makes a difference in hiring and pay.
I asked a suzuki shop on LV. and was told whether you go to school or not you start at I believe a C level mechanic and work your way up to A level.
I've also had "top mechanics" work on my bikes and one caused my front brakes to lock up. Had one that went to MMI school and that ended up in my bike hydrolocking.

The ones that actually care about what they're doing make the best mechanics. Cause they care about the quality of thier work and safety of the person that owns the bike.
This will set you apart IMO.
I'm all for school but it's up to you if you're going to end up liking what you do. If not then you end up doing half hearted work.

MikeM

My friend went. he said he learned a lot of good stuff, but when he applied for jobs they still paid him chicken ****.

punishmentcycle

how somebody else caused your bike to hydrolock is hard to believe...school is school...youj get what you put in..if you halfass it then your going to be a halfass mechanic and so on...there are always somethings that you dont know..we learn something new everyday. so in my opinion school or learning for that matter is always a good choice

punishmentcycle

thats any stealer's i have 10 years working on harleys, and a harley dealer wouldn't give me more than $17hr to start.nowi fix street sweepers and cant complain...

Ethiopian

+1 my friend had the same problem, i think all the shops only wanted to pay him $10 an hour so he decided to just open his own shop. he said he learned alot but he also said a bunch of rich kids go there to just go to school to make there parents happy and dont learn anything, then get a job somewhere and are useless and thats why MMI has kind of a bad rep.

eazenutz33

I got a buddy who went to MMI in AZ and said it was a waste of time....working on outdated bikes, and all that, he said he got a basic knowledge of what he needed to work on bikes with teardown and rebuild, but on new models he didnt know what caused what on em with all the electronics.

As said above, motorcycle mechanics dont get paid dick! I wouldnt waste my time PAYING to go to school only to get a job that doesnt pay out. If you wanna work on bikes, do it on the side and enjoy your work instead of doing it for a living and cussing your dealership's name with every paycheck you get!

I work on bikes a fair amount and will do anything but motor teardown and messing with ECU's on bikes......no formal training, just common sense and plenty of tools (including multiple rear stands, front stands, triple stands, tons of metric wrenches, a tire machine and balancer). The tools make almost as much difference than know-how usually!

Up0n0ne

That was basically my point.
As far as the person working on my bike and 5min. after leaving the shop it hydrolocking, well that's a little long and off topic.

eazenutz33

a mechanic causing a bike to hydrolock sounds off, BUT I have seen where a mechanic doing a rebuild and ordering rod bearing based on original factory color instead of the actual size has caused a motor to blow during break in.

At the same time, Andy Clem from controlled insanity rebuilt my motor correctly, spec-ing everything inside the motor and ordering the correlating sizes int eh required parts, and its runs flawlessly for the last 8 months and has spent plenty of time on the rev limiter to boot.

s0nofg0d

so basically id be wasting money and wouldnt get out what i got in?

sdfkillz

dan herz went to mmi in daytona i think or uti or someshit. i almost went, i know theyre really expensive schools. and its true even with the schooling a dealership is gonna start you at the bottom and pay you dirt.

eazenutz33

its expensive and my time is worth a god amount to me.....so if I get out with some sort of degree I expect to be paid for it!

I would think you might be better of becoming a diesel tech or somin like that.....at least you might get paid well for that.

dizzie56

+1 reason why i just bought the service manual as soon as i got the bike...best $60 ive spent. i might not be that great of a mechanic, but im learning and if it ***** up at least i didnt spend a **** load on gettin it fixed for nothing.

i thought bout going myself, just to much in debt right now lol. im thinkin that its like everything else man, you get what you put into it really. if you hustle your *** off learning everything and making connects (****** key) then you can prolly go somewhere. if you slack off and **** around then your gonna get the shitty $10/hr job, cussing after you slipped the wrench and broke open your knuckles for the third time that day.

Up0n0ne

O.K. maybe I'm completely using the wrong term. how about vaporlock. It was a long time ago.
Got bike back after 2 years. Mech. was supposed to clean carbs, etc. Next thing I know it's stallled on the side of the road with gas and bubbles in the site glass.
What would this be called?

outdoorchamp

**** mmi. been there done that. it is the biggest joke. start from the bottom at a shop and work your way up. they dont try at all to find you a job at all. its fun going there but ther is alot of bull **** that comes along with it. think real hard before you go. i wish i didnt go. if you can read a manual then you can wrench on bikes

sativa lover

mmi az is a ******* joke. bottom line they tell you what ever to get you in and your money. to be honest theres not enough teachers, tools, or bikes to work on. dont expect to be the next OCC mechanic/technician when you graduate, your starting at the bottom as in any field! im supposed to graduate in jan 2009 but might just do honda and get the **** out of here sooner.

DerekMey

Looks like everyone, INCLUDING MYSELF disagrees with you. I was a bike mechanic at shops for years before and during college, and every single time i started at the bottom and passed up the guys that went to MMI schools, and then then next cycle shop i worked at wouldn't hire MMI trained guys......just those who rode/worked on them their own. Now i'm finishing my accounting degree, and will still be a better mechanic than the MMI guys and won't make **** for cash:YEAH