How many people here work at motorcycle shops?

I work at Suzuki of Senece in S.C i do mostly parts..but i work on stuff here and there and like sometimes i sell stuff..im 19 and live at home so im not "independent" yet. Plus the guy that owns my shop races vintage so we go to races together alot of times..works out pretty good.

 

I'm a service "advisor" for a Kawasaki/Yamaha shop. Used to work for a seven line dealership that was micromanaged, and hated it. Now I work for a great shop, I can honestly say we're one of the better establishments to work at. Period. We're doing good. And we're defenitally gona be around for a while. I like my job. It has it's ups and down's, but if you guys think the MC buisness sucks you should try getting a real job. Like digging ditches. Or laying ceramic tiles. Your defenition of "sucks" will change dramatically. The day it's not fun anymore, I'm out...

Amen. As long as you have a good boss, and the right people around you...it's great. :up:

Plug...
www.bartowpowersports.com

 

I have run several companies, in a couple of different places, but usually the motorcycle business.

There is only ONE thing that is completely certain:

No matter what you pay, it is not enough.

Even if somebody looks right at you and says "I just want to do something I love, like work on bikes. Money really isn't important to me", they will change their tune within 6 months.

Most MC industry jobs pay $18K-40K. If you make more than that in the industry, you are VERY lucky. The majority of those jobs pay $25K or less.

If I had a nickel for every time some guy in a white shirt and tie looked at me and said "Man, have you go it made. I would give anything to be able to work on bikes all day...", I would be retired and laying on a beach right now.

They would give anything but their $100K salary, company car, 30 days paid vacation, stock options, and 401K.

The reason they can afford to play with bikes, is because they have a high paying job.



I think a lot of guys leave the killer job to take a low paying job in the MC industry, but then they can't live on the money, their standard of living drops too much, and then the thing they "loved" becomes the reason for their misery.

Stick with the high paying job, and ENJOY your motorcycle.

 

Hey Wera971 I am at M.M.I right now.
The school has a huge amount of resources available to the students and the instructors are very knowledgable. Some instructors have roadracing backgrounds and others have backgrounds in dragracing, custom bike building, or experience working in product development directly for the manufacturers so there is always someone that can answer your questions and give advice.
Suzuki and Harley are the two manufacturers that seem to invest the most time and money into their future technicians, whilst Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha look like their just their for the ride.
The school has a huge amount of motorcycles to wrench on. For example they have 50 V-RODS at the school and all of the latest sportbikes ( they are expecting delivery of the ZX10R, CBR1000RR, and the '04 R1 sometime this June). They also have 3 Dyno's which I regularly take advantage of (hey, its free ), not to mention such other things as flowbenchs, ATV's, PWC's, and discounts for seminars such as the ones held by Race-Tech Bi-anually.
Yeah, the school is expensive and relocating is a bitch but I think it is more than worth it.
Just my .02 cents
Anthony

 

Amen Brother MAX!!!!!

I have worked in the industry for a little over 5 years. I am one of the lucky ones that actually get paid more than $6.50 an hour.

(Who said parts guys don't make shit?)

But it is still tough.

It is very, very hard to make money in the motorcycle industry. Especially at the lower levels. (sales, mechanics, parts guys.)

It's also easy to get burned out on your passion. I know a lot of people who got into the industry because it was what they loved, but after several years of dealing with it day in and day out, they got tired of it. They still work in the industry, but they want nothing to do with motorcycles outside of work....(We call it the gynocologist syndrom.)

I originally got into the industry to learn more about motorcycles and get cheap parts.......Well I'm still learning about motorcycles and I damn sure buy a shit load of cheap parts!!!!

 

I worked with Paige's dad before there was a Paige

He tried to fire me for working on my Hodie too much

The shop I worked at did have a few fringe benefits. A small MX track and a 1 mile hare scrambles loop. Compress three years of riding experience into 6 months while test riding customer bikes.

Motorcycle mechanicing is not a job for slackers or non-detail oriented people.

Max has it right.

Ray

 

I don't know... I always seem to make fair money in the bike business. I do agree with Maxxion though, as it is little more than a hobby. It's difficult to make a living from a hobby. Just the same, I could make more money doing other things, but not much more. $20,000- 30,000 a year more is not worth being miserable to me. I am far more productive, tolerant, and easier to get along with when I enjoy what I am doing.

 

My Dad grew up in Seneca. I haven't been there in years but I will be making a short visit after Christmas. I heard it has changed a lot. Anyway, good to hear someone from Seneca on here.

 

Lee and I used to own a dealership. We sold it 2 1/2 years ago. That was the smartest business decision we ever made.

Owning and operating a dealership is stressful. Lazy employees, manufacturer dictatorship, sloooooooow winters (as in how am I going to pay this bill slow) aggravating (understatement) customers wanting something for nothing and everyone in Greensboro wanted a discount for knowing someone. It was just not a fun job. At the end, Lee would just get away from it and go work on a motorcycle. We made a good living when sales and the economy were good. Thankfully, we got out at the right time.

 

My Dad just sold his business and I am so happy. The stress and long hours he has put in since he was 18 was just too much. He will now be able to take care of his bad back and neck and to enjoy some time with his family.

 

Uh, oh... How am I going to get my racebikes, Paige?

 

MAx,wich part of the industry are you speaking of?? I n dealers??

Because dealer reps(parts unlimited,tucker rocky ect..)usally make 50-150k a year.We have a couple reps for our company in cali.washington that make 250k

I wish i made that kind of scratch........

 

I have never heard of anything like that. That must be a "dream territory" sorta like when a Snap On Dealer gets to have the Big City International Airport on his route. Just pull up and park on Monday, leave Wednesday with $50,000 in sales each week.

I am sure lots of people can name somebody they know who is in the industry who makes a lot of money. That is the equivalent of a Factory Superbike Ride. There are only about 15 to go around in the US.

Motorcycle Industry Jobs are more analogous to being a club racer. You are going to have to pay your dues long and hard if you ever want to be part of the game.

If you look at the bell curve, $25K is the middle of it, and the bulk of what people make.

 

Weren't you supposed to leave, like couple of weeks ago???

As for the figures you're talking about, that sound a little high to me. 50K's...I'll go with. 150K's....I seriously doubt it, unless they have the "hook up", or their daddy owns Part Unlimited...

 

Good analogy about paying your dues ect...Right on the money,i'm paying mine right now.

 

BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta. :up:

 

I've spent most of my young life working at bike shops. I started filling the pop machine and wiping em down when I was 14 or so. I move to parts then off to sales for about 5 years. Now-a-days I work at the ultimate squid shop. http://bikes2nv.com

 

i work at a kaw yam dealership in mid tn midstate motorsports. the buiseness has been here for 20+ years theirs about 12 of us and all the service parts and sales guys are at the top or above(SALES) of that pay scale and our work envir. and owner is pretty great after hearing all this. if it wasant for the gen. public this job would be perfect.....and broke. i cant think of anything realisic that would be much better.

 

Best friend and god-father to my daugther ,owner of augusta triumph/ducati and tech,we have been like brothers for the last 25yrs. . Spend a lot of my spare time helping out at the shop,working on the race bikes and part of the team.Shop is like a second home and we incourage coustomers to join the family.We have a great bunch of guys/gals all pitching in to help anytime,and peparing for a race-weekend/track-day is a lot of fun and a good excuse to get together.

 

fixin to be 34 years for me,,,