SuzukiSavage.com - Becoming a Bike Mechanic

cheapnewb24

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Becoming a Bike Mechanic
11/23/15 at 18:15:35

This is a continuation of the "Oil War! Cheesy

" discussion http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1448088343

relating specifically to the issue labeled in the title. Oil related comments should stay in the other thread.

Some of you here are probably serious bike mechanics, whether you do it for a side job or for a living. Those that wish to comment on what they had to go through to get into the business are welcome to do so here.

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2004 Suzuki Savage, Riding since fall 2015.

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cheapnewb24 Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 1373 Virginia Gender:	Re: Becoming a Bike Mechanic Reply #1 - 11/23/15 at 18:27:42 Feel free to share your experiences below.
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justin_o_guy2

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What happened?

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Re: Becoming a Bike Mechanic
Reply #2 - 11/23/15 at 19:16:55

You said you need experience. I never said open a repair shop.
Buy something that you think that you can Fix, sell, and buy another project. Or you can pay someone to bore you to death and be there one or two hours, on their schedule. You can move at your place.
Really, it's not a complicated idea I'm proposing. The first ones you Might make money on but even if you buy for ten resell for fifty, you're likely to have fifty hours in it. Experience, proper tools, working on similar equipment,
nd where you get parts is crucial.
I buy two bearings for the blade spindle on the riding mower for under fifteen bucks.
Or
Twenty EACH at the lawn and garden store m.
Belts,
Replaced three for just under fifty.
Lawn and garden
Just one was almost forty.

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cheapnewb24

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Re: Becoming a Bike Mechanic
Reply #3 - 11/23/15 at 19:27:39

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 11/23/15 at 19:16:55:

You said you need experience. I never said open a repair shop.

Maybe I was assuming your method would lead into a business or something.Should it be for experience only? I should try another method after this? School? Apprenticeship? Exactly what are you getting at? If you're worried about my earlier comment about opening a shop with no experience, that was mostly my own musings Wink

Before I wrote that, I was kind of trying to fill the gap of what I needed between playing with junk lawn mowers and having a shop.

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cheapnewb24

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Re: Becoming a Bike Mechanic
Reply #4 - 11/23/15 at 19:30:06

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 11/23/15 at 19:16:55:

You said you need experience. I never said open a repair shop.
Buy something that you think that you can Fix, sell, and buy another project. Or you can pay someone to bore you to death and be there one or two hours, on their schedule. You can move at your place.
Really, it's not a complicated idea I'm proposing. The first ones you Might make money on but even if you buy for ten resell for fifty, you're likely to have fifty hours in it. Experience, proper tools, working on similar equipment,
nd where you get parts is crucial.
I buy two bearings for the blade spindle on the riding mower for under fifteen bucks.
Or
Twenty EACH at the lawn and garden store m.
Belts,
Replaced three for just under fifty.
Lawn and garden
Just one was almost forty.

Is this a reference to school, OJT, or something else?

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2004 Suzuki Savage, Riding since fall 2015.

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justin_o_guy2

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Re: Becoming a Bike Mechanic
Reply #5 - 11/23/15 at 19:40:55

I know a guy in Houston who was working his way through college.
Summers, he repaired bikes, saved the money, back off to school.
Long about the third summer, he couldn't keep up. Word had gotten out. He was a real good mechanic. So, he decided to take a semester off. He works on BMWs, cars and bikes, Mercedes, sells Moto Guzzi, is well known in Guzzi circles. Never finished school. Employs at least six mechanics, maybe more. Of course there is a secretary and a parts guy... maybe he is wearing that hat now.
If you're in Houston and need help , call MPH.

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The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.- Edmund Burke.

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Kris01

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Re: Becoming a Bike Mechanic
Reply #6 - 11/23/15 at 19:47:32

I've always taught myself whatever it is that I wanted to learn at the moment. Sometimes it's easier to disassemble something so you can learn how to put it back together.

I had an old Ford 302 that came out of a '69 Mustang. I rebuilt that thing for fun a million times when I was bored. I just tore it down and put it back together. It gave me a sense of accomplishment.

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Steve H

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Re: Becoming a Bike Mechanic
Reply #7 - 11/23/15 at 20:39:18

I do pretty much all my own repair work. Now, if I need valve guides, cylinder bored, or something like that, the appropriate shop will get it. Otherwise I do it.

I have been working on engines since I was 6 or 7. I began fixing our lawn mowers to keep them running. Mini bikes, go carts, dirt and street bikes, cars, it's all very similar once you have some experience and understand the basic principles.

We didn't have a lot of extra money when I was young. If I wanted something to keep going, I had to take care of it. If something broke, it was much easier to learn how to fix it than to wait and wait to come up with the money to get someone to do it. Parts are cheap compared to the labor bill in most cases.

One of the best investments you will ever make is buying some good quality tools and learning how to use them properly to repair your own stuff. It'll save you a small fortune over the years and allow you to do things that others only wish they could figure out how to do. It will also keep you from having to wait a couple weeks in line at the shop for a 2 hour repair.

There is no substitute for time and experience when it comes to fixing things. The more experience you get, the more you will be capable of doing and willing to try.

If you can fix a lawn mower, you can fix a motorcycle. The basics are the same. It may be laid out a little different but you'll be familiar with it once you start.

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Dave

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Re: Becoming a Bike Mechanic
Reply #8 - 11/24/15 at 03:36:33

When I was about 17, I got a job at a lawn mower repair shop. I scheduled my high school classes so I could leave school about 2:00, and I would go work at the lawn mower shop after school and on Saturdays.....summers I would work there full time. The fellow that owned the shop was great mechanic and in the winter when the mower business was slow he rebuilt Ford Model A and V-8 engines (I got the job of cleaning the grease off the engine blocks!). I learned a lot, and the fellow was a great teacher and very good at trouble shooting. He taught me you just don't rip into something and tear it apart - before you do some troubleshooting to find out what is causing the trouble - if you just tear it apart randomly you most likely won't ever find what is causing the problem.

Most factory bikes shops aren't going to hire you as a mechanic unless you have been to a school.....or already have a lot of experience. They can't afford to teach you to become a mechanic - and they can't let you learn on someone's bike where you are likely to make a mistake or two. One of the problems with apprenticeship programs is that the shop loses money on you while you are learning.....then once you become experienced you leave and their investment is gone - and this has caused a lot of businesses to stop training employees and they only hire experienced folks.

Modern motorcycles are very technical (The Savage is really simple), and if you can't take a Savage apart, and put it back together easily you are not going to be much use to a repair shop as a mechanic.

If you want to be a motorcycle mechanic for a career ...you most likely will need to go to a school and make a 1-2 year commitment for training. I am not sure how secure your job will be - next time the economy goes bad the bike market will likely slow down and the dealerships will lose a lot of sales and repair work and they will have to lay off employees.

If you just want mechanic experience....find a mower shop and to work for them on Saturdays. You will start by changing oil, cleaning filters, sharpening blades, taking heads off and cleaning out carbon, replacing sheared flywheel keys, replacing bent blades......but it is all good experience and teaches you how to use tools to take things apart and put them back together properly.

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gizzo

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Re: Becoming a Bike Mechanic
Reply #9 - 11/24/15 at 15:10:57

I did a 4 year apprenticeship as a heavy diesel mechanic in an open cut mine. Discovered motorbikes. Then went to work in a country garage/workshop and worked on pretty much anything from chainsaws to big trucks and refrigeration, bodywork and painting, tyre repairs, breakdowns and recovery. I was ok at it but not anything amazing. Ended up hating it and had quite a career change. It was a great thing to learn though and got me going. I still do a bit of mechaniking for friends and family and of course my own stuff. I like working on bikes again and look after a few for mates without the skills or tools.
If you plan on doing work on your bike, don't f... about with cheap tools. Buy good quality, buy once.
If you want to do it, do it. Like Dave said, get you some PT work to see if it's for you, commit to the training and see what happens. If it doesn't work for you, no biggie. You haven't committed to anything for life and you can always try something different.

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Art Webb Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 3007 columbus, Texas Gender:	Re: Becoming a Bike Mechanic Reply #10 - 11/24/15 at 19:43:08 I started learning Auto repair at my daddy's knee, and loved it all my life then I did it for a living for 5 years nowadays if you want me to spin a wrench on your CAR you better be a friend or have a gun on me I still putter with motorbikes and bicycles
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WD

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Re: Becoming a Bike Mechanic
Reply #11 - 11/25/15 at 15:14:01

Have been spinning wrenches for 39 years, started at age 4 with the family Ford and Dodge V8 trucks and in my uncle's hotrod shop.

Also did an apprenticeship with a long defunct A.M.A. club's chief mechanic. Harley Davidson and Indian side valve and early OHV, British and Spanish bikes.

Have had my own shop. Repairs and customizing of vintage motorcycles.

Have worked in other shops, motorcycle-antique boat- antique truck- rod and kustom- lowrider. Also have done all eras diesel big rigs and their trailers (own a 1938 trailer).

Having owned in excess of 105 street motorcycles, I can tell you that parts is parts, as long as you do 4 strokes only.

Stay away from anything to do with 2 stroke engines, modern ones are only rated for 10-20 hours before you throw them away and buy a new one, you can't get many of the parts courtesy of the environmental nuts.

M.M.I. and such crank out book smart, tool stupid graduates. But, most shops want to see the piece of paper these days. They know you will need proper hands on training, but the paper shows you can stick with something.

Good luck, 10 shops fold for every 1 that makes it.

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Kris01 Serious Thumper Offline Eat, sleep, RIDE! Posts: 3767 Tennessee Gender:	Re: Becoming a Bike Mechanic Reply #12 - 11/25/15 at 17:28:40 WD wrote on 11/25/15 at 15:14:01: M.M.I. and such crank out book smart, tool stupid graduates. But, most shops want to see the piece of paper these days. Ain't it the truth! You can't get a job without experience and you can't get experience without a job.
Back to top	There's no problem that a full tank of gas and a sunny day can't fix! 2008 S40, Rotella T 15W-40 w/ZDDP added, Dyna, 140/90-15, Battery Tender Jr., Seat lift, #52.5/150/3 washers, Raptor IP Logged

Poll
Question: How did you do it, and how serious are you in the trade?
School (professional) 0 (0%) School (side job) 0 (0%) Apprenticeship/OJT (pro) 1 (33.3%) Apprenticeship/OJT (side) 0 (0%) Misc. Experience/Winged it (pro) 1 (33.3%) Misc. Experience/Winged it (side) 1 (33.3%) Other (specify below) 0 (0%) Total votes: 3 « Last Modified by: cheapnewb24 on: 11/23/15 at 19:56:59 »