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Need to hire a mechanic for performance shop in Orlando

Discussion in 'General' started by Gumby647, Aug 19, 2021.

  1. Turbotech

    Turbotech Well-Known Member

    Preach it brother, preach it.

    Good luck getting anything serviced in another 10 years.
     
  2. Scott S.

    Scott S. Well-Known Member

    man you're looking for a rare breed. IMHO with almost 50 years of wrench time on exotics and motorcycles I have gone from dealers to corporate and back.
    Your guy is likely one who wants to work part time for an hourly rate or salary. He is burned out on flat rate , doesn't care and likely just won't.
    He is retired or semi retired and just loves bikes and still rides or races.
    This individual likes to take his time and do first class work. He is not interested in a "production" shop.

    I am that guy but I am verbally committed to a specialty shop that fits me.
    D@D is an awesome place to work. It can be challenging but the passion there is strong, they love racing, and cool bikes roll through there.
    Just finished a tenure with ESP and learned a ton more.
    I'm headed back east to better align myself logisticaly with the MA race schedule to work next season also with a MA team as a race tech and also to be close to family and old friends.
    Maybe cruise the MA paddock and look for the old guy wrenching with a smile still on his face.
    Your guy is out there, keep up your standards as well. It sells.
     
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2021
    KneeDragger_c69 likes this.
  3. SpeedWerks Racing

    SpeedWerks Racing Well-Known Member

  4. Jim Moore

    Jim Moore Well-Known Member

    How much work is actually being done in a dealership shop? I mean, bikes are pretty reliable, and most people barely ride them. I assume you do some tire changes, but what else is breaking and having to be replaced? I mean, I'm sure rich guys with Ducatis and Beemers are bringing them in for service, but a kid with a Gixxer 600? I'd bet that never sees the inside of a dealership. Right?
     
  5. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    You'd be wrong, those kids have no clue how to do even simple stuff.
     
    KneeDragger_c69 and Jim Moore like this.
  6. Robby-Bobby

    Robby-Bobby Steeltoe’s Daddy

    Honestly, our major work is a mixture of new bike services, people that cant afford a new bike so they want to keep their old shit going, and then there are the old restorations. Our shop is unique that we work on damn near anything from 1900-current.
     
    Sabre699 and Jim Moore like this.
  7. Rdrace42

    Rdrace42 Almost Cheddar

    I get that the treatment for mechanics and some other trades has been unfair and at times even exploitative. That's not the case in my industry, where a good tech can make 6 figures. It's not about the money, as I can give you plenty of examples where the pay is strong, but people don't want to work in factories. Hell, people don't seem to want to work period. The number of decent paying jobs (and by decent I mean $75k +) that we can't fill, is ridiculous. Full benefits, profit sharing, 2 weeks vacation to start, and zero interest. We've actually had people accept a position, and then call back declining, saying "I've decided that life is too short to be a slave to work". Yes, that's a quote. Good luck finding a Plumber in 10 years, or an Electrician, or Welder, or how about the Tech to work on all the robots that are supposed to make these other trades obsolete? People not wanting to work 'labor' jobs is not strictly an issue of past mistreatment. It's a fundamental shift in the mindset of our society.
     
    TurboBlew, GNC, RonR and 2 others like this.
  8. CJ

    CJ Well-Known Member

    Dave, see if you can get Grant to sit still long enough - and there's your guy.
    Just pay him in Mountain Dew... :D
     
  9. grasshopper

    grasshopper Well-Known Member

    I think the root of the problem here is the school systems. Stop pushing these kids to go to state universities and push them towards the trades.

    Don't ruin it for yourself. As stated in several other posts if Motorcycles are your passion making it your job will likely ruin it for you. Keep it as a hobby and pass time if you love it that much. Remember this if you decide to go down the path you described above... It's not the motorcycles that are the difficult part, it's the people / customers
     
    Past Glory, TurboBlew and GNC like this.
  10. Gumby647

    Gumby647 Señor Member

    It's a great idea but he currently has no plans to stay in one place more than a few days.
     
  11. TurboBlew

    TurboBlew Registers Abusers

    who was the racer / shop teacher that had his students get into the process of building a machine for club racing??
    I did alot of tinkering in HS much to the chagrin of my teachers pushing college. Even military service didnt have the career push it has now.
    My younger brother got his hvac school paid for via the GI bill...

    And yes the customers are what push people out... or they do the cult or orphan bike thing
     
  12. Turbotech

    Turbotech Well-Known Member

    What is your industry?

    I'm looking to get out of the car world and looking for different options that require the same type of skill set.
    All I've ever done is fix things and could work on anything given the time to learn.
     
    pro69ss and Sabre699 like this.
  13. Ducti89

    Ducti89 Ticketing Melka’s dirtbike.....

    Brining back some semblance of a pension instead of a 401k or profit sharing would probably turn the labor industry around.
     
    418, busa99 and motoracer1100 like this.
  14. Stumpy

    Stumpy apprentice

    Singley? If so, I don't see sitting still happening any time soon.
     
  15. YoshiHNS

    YoshiHNS Mr. Slowly

    Almost as if the generation who decided to defund or get rid of shop class programs unintentionally created a situation where fewer people were exposed to trades and other skills...
    I think wages in general for (some) trades wasn't as favorable then as now. Times change.

    Don't think it's like this now, but in Hungary, you only got to go to college if you were very nearly a straight-A student from grade school through high school. But that was a different time, in a different country, with a different population, under a different economic system.

    The MotoGo shop class program we run in Cleveland has more demand than we can fill. It's still a small program with small class sizes, limited bike/equipment/tool/instructor availability, and still relies on outside funding and donations. Only way to get anything close to what is it is probably going to involve a new tax to fund it. That's not happening.
     
    Rdrace42 and 418 like this.
  16. Past Glory

    Past Glory I still have several AVON calendars from the 90's

    Fuckin' A.
     
    grasshopper likes this.
  17. Past Glory

    Past Glory I still have several AVON calendars from the 90's

    Perfectly explained.
     
  18. Sabre699

    Sabre699 Wait...hold my beer.

    I don't think there will ever be enough motivated young folk who care to fill the positions the trades need. :(
     
  19. Ducti89

    Ducti89 Ticketing Melka’s dirtbike.....

    Because a cubical office draws the same pay, benefits and retirement without the over head of purchasing tools, working in extreme cold/heat and really shitty bosses who are trying to screw you.
     
  20. grasshopper

    grasshopper Well-Known Member

    There will be if parents stop coddling their kids and the schools push more kids to get into the trades. It will take a while but with the proper support and channels it is totally doable. This isn't even about motorcycles specifically. It's about following direction, it's about fathers being involved in their kids lives, it's about teachers and schools actually giving a shit about what they are teaching kids and how they are sending them off into society. FUCK! This is not rocket science. Stop pushing all these computer careers and get the youth into skills to actually produce and work on a tangible good / product / machine.
     

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