im thinking of going there can i get some feedback if its good or bad from what you have heard or if have gone there?
I went to Wyotech, same crap different campus IMO. You WILL NOT learn everything you need to know to be a good dealership mechanic, just enough to get by in an entry level job. Getting an MMI or Wyotech certificate shows a potential employer you know what a wrench is and thats about it. My biggest problem was speed, at Wyotech we spent a lot of time waiting around to get checked off for jobs so nobody ever really had to work fast. In a shop, time is money and if your not working quickly, your boss won't be very happy. I learned a hell of a lot more working in a shop for a few months than I did in 12 at wyotech but I wouldn't have gotten the job without that piece of paper. FWIW I chose Wyotech primarily for the Euro program (Ducati, BMW, and Triumph factory certifications). With BMW/Ducati shops the money can be better and from what I've seen they're hurting a little less in the current economy. I will say I had a blast actually going to school (being in Daytona doesn't hurt), and made a lot of great friends and contacts for the future. Even though I'm not working as a mechanic these days and am going back to real college for an engineering degree, I don't regret going to Wyotech one bit. The one thing you have to know is that at Wyotech and MMI, about 50% of the students are stoners that float through without putting any effort in and usually getting in everyone elses way. Most of them graduate, having learned absolutely nothing and will never be able to hold down a mechanic job (or any job realistically).
I graduated from AMI (now renamed Wyotech) in their first resident training class in 1973. I've worked in the motorcycle industry and fed my family ever since, 37 years now. There were guys in my class who couldn't have repaired a pencil if you sharpened it for them. Like every other pursuit in life, it will be what you make of it. I've hired Wyotech/AMI and MMI graduates, none of the MMI guys had enough skillsets to do the job without a lot of hands-on training, way more than would be expected for the amount of $ that they expected to get paid. The Wyo/AMI guys were 50-50, a few worked out pretty well and are still in the industry doing well. Being a motorcycle mechanic means lowering your standard-of-living expectations quite a bit, working very hard, on your feet and with your hands, every day. Most shops pay poorly and there are very few that offer any kind of retirement or insurance package. Many shops lay off their mechanics in the off-season, which means that you start every spring broke and hungry. The industry has never really been mature enough to support a large core of technicians who are consistently excellent. I have been disappointed, overall, with the people who have chosen the field as their career. Sure, there are some spectacularly talented guys out there, but there are many guys who think they will tinker with bikes and charge $100 an hour between races. Anybody intelligent enough to be a really top-notch motorcycle technician is also smart enough to chose a more rewarding and stable field of endeavor. :wow:
I would look into Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, MI. I'm taking some of their MST classes just for fun and to help me at the track, but they seem pretty good and a LOT cheaper than MMI. However, like others have said, maybe half the people seem like they should ever be allowed to touch someones bike, maybe.
I wouldn't take on all the debt and be saddled with student loans forever. Buy a used bike and a factory service manual and tear the bike apart and put it back together. Even with tools you purchase you will spend a lot less and have something to show for your money besides a piece of paper. If want to go the school route attend a community college. A lot cheaper, don't have to move, meet locals in the business etc. You are better of getting a local job as a parts cleaner, broom pusher or whatever you can find at a bike, ATV, snowmobile, PWC shop, machine shop, etc. Do more listening than talking, observe, ask questions etc.
so im getting wyotech is better and it competive as oposed to just going there and getting the recepts saying you passed so is motorcycle repaire even a good venture?
Forumer MMI Back in the day, If your there for the right reason ,Some will walk away with a chance at least, most are Know where near ready! Please think about it Good. It could be a big waste of in your life. You got to go in there SERIOUS to many Do Not.... Very Rich In Other Ways! But not from MMI " Not High School"
My friend went to MMI in Phoenix to be a Harley mechanic. He had a great time, spent tons of money, and ended up with an entry-level dealership job, but the money just isn't there. He even went to Harley's school in Wisconsin and has been trained in everything, but he still barely gets by. I went the same route of going to a trade school just to get an entry level job, I spent $4k for two weeks of truck driving school and within two years I was making $50k (although finding a decent job was 100x harder than they said it would be). He spent $20-30k plus living expenses for one year of school and two years later was barely making $30k while also racking up thousands more in debt to buy tools. I guess the only positive is that he gets to do what he loves and I don't, but he's already decided that he can't make a career out of it. I would recommend that you be 100% sure that you want to do the job before you go, and try to pay for it up front and avoid the debt.
Like everything else in life, you get out of MMI/Wyotech, any other motorcycle repair training, or the bike business as a whole, what you put into it. Incompetents and stoners in a class do not make it any less informative. It will take you 2 years of OJT after any training before you will be proficient enough to call yourself a tech, no matter what the school tells you. That being said, most schools where you pay for education do not generate a student base and subsequent revenue generated from tuition by telling students the realities of what they will earn in their chosen field of training. Too many MMI/Wyotech grads have come to me looking to earn what an A-technician with 10+ years of experience makes. My 2p worth...
Heavy equipment mechanics, diesel and auto mechanics etc all seem to make quite a bit more money while working in a more stable industry. If you enjoy working on bikes you will enjoy working on anything else, a machine is a machine IMO.
MMI I've been involved with running service departments for quite awhile now, and have hired a couple different MMI grads - usually they know just about enough to go to work in my PDI department and start at the bottom. If they are willing to stick it out doing the low rent stuff for awhile and make an effort to learn, they get better money fast. As an MMI grad I would think about $12 per flat rate hour is about what you can expect starting off - depending on where you live. I've seen C techs in Cali start at $20+ and A techs in Virginia doing $15. Most stores aim for at least 100% efficiency - ie 40 flat rate hours turned in a 40 hour work week. Do the math. A fast tech can do well, but you have to be careful of come-back work becuase you usually dont get paid for it. Therefore the goal is to be fast and accurate. When I'm interviewing for a tech, I wont even call an MMI guy unless he has two years experience at an actual dealership post school.
I find wrenching on heavy equipment ten times easier to understand than the microscopic shit on my bike. Only bummer is that a lot of the time you need 2 guys to do it. And in Michigan everything is rusted together.
I Left out Best "Part" You might Have a Chance With Alot of hard work mixed with the old saying "It not What you Know it's Who You _ _ _ _ ! Good Luck your going to need it ....Iam One of the lucky ones Shop Onwer, Race team, Top 10 fihishes at Daytona ..You can only hold your self back......
If I was mechanically inclined at all I would look at becoming an aircraft mechanic before anything else. I don't know their salary but I would have to imagine it would put cars and bikes to shame.
As a long time tech and serv. manager, I can honestly say, the industry is very weak at the moment...EVERYWHERE. Think long and hard about what your expectations are and then cut in half what your thinking the positive outcome may be. My advise would be to get a solid job as an "apprentice" or even a parts dept. job at a shop, prove your loyalty, and try to work with your employer on a "contract deal". If you agree to work for 2 years for him/her (at a minimum) after finishing your courses at a certian GPA, he/she agrees to pay a certian percentage of your tuition. There are many different avenues to cruise as far as striking a deal goes. Just a few thoughts:up: And, I did go to AMI in Daytona a loooong time ago. Helped, but I knew most of what was taught before hand. Good luck pal!
Aviation pays my bills, some parts of it are enjoyable, but over all it sucks. Car mechanics make more on average, and they aren't putting the future of their career on the line every day.
All of that, x10. Exactly my thoughts although even on PDI's you have to doublecheck their work for a bit. .... -jim
