Topic: Working at a Motorcycle Shop....

[TheSaint]

So I was thinking about taking a Seasonal job at a local motorcycle shop this summer, kinda like a 'Jr.tech/shop rat/intern' type job. Several of the independant shops in my city are currently looking, and I've got a couple of offers on the table already. The pay sucks, ( $9.00 an hour) but the bennies are that I get a shop to work on my own bike in, which is really cool 'cause I don't even have a covered space to work on her now and parts at cost...So my question is, to all you folks who work at or have worked for a shop, is : What kind of drama should I expect? The guys I kinda know of who are long time motorcycle mechanics are always telling horror stories of insane service managers/owners, techs who hate each other, sudden 'departures' of key staff 'cause another shop poached 'em, and general chaos. I love motorcycles...But everyone I talk to who is in the biz tells me that the quickest way to hate them is to work on them for a living. Any tips or opinions as to weather I should take the job, or what to watch out for?

Thanks!

[754]

 Could be interesting, could learn something..  What could you lose.. I mean unless you are quitting a higher paying job. Sounds like cheap parts, but not much cash to throw at them..

[TheSaint]

Not quitting any job at this point, this would be a second gig. I'm your typical broke college student. This would be a summer thru fall job. As for 'high paying jobs', well, I didn't think those existed anymore. Especially for those of us getting Liberal Arts type degrees!

[Gordon]

But everyone I talk to who is in the biz tells me that the quickest way to hate them is to work on them for a living.

Well, since you're not the shop owner and you wouldn't be doing it for a living, I don't think that really applies to you.  You'll just be doing the grunt work and won't have to deal with the bike owners, repair quotes or getting your money for parts purchased and work performed.  It's just for extra income and you're not out anything if it doesn't work out.  The main downside, IMO, to turning an enjoyable hobby into your main source of income is dealing with all of the crap that you won't have to worry about if you're just taking a temporary shop help position.     

[Duke McDukiedook]

Do it, for a part time job I am sure you could do worse if you want to.

[donny]

please report back here, you will have stories to tell.

For a summer job, it beats the hell outta working in the blood pit, or the hay fields.

[MikeKato]

TheSaint: Take it before someone else does. There are people paying for technical college classes just to get their foot in the door for a job like that. Pay attention to the mechanics that work there,and take all the sh*t they give you without getting pissed at them. You wont be sorry.

[Xnavylfr]

been there , done that!!

As soon as you get YOUR bike in there to work on it is when the S**T will hit the fan.  I'm not paying you to work on your bike, I'm paying you to be my gopher and floor sweeper. Then they will put you in place as a parts expeditor( ORDERER). They expect you to take orders ALL day but never actually send orders to parts suppliers then at closing time they want to know WHY the parts haven't been ordered. Maybe you'll get lucky to have a company that will pay their bills because you can't get orders and you have to LIE to customers and tell them the parts they ordered are on back order!! Or you have a customer that wants a BRAND NAME part at a cost of 180.00 and it's not available any longer so the company has you order after market 70.00, not tell the customer and steal the money difference instead of returning it. One good thing about this story is, this company went out of business...

[Greggo]

Do it, for a part time job I am sure you could do worse if you want to.

+1,000,000

[TheSaint]

TheSaint: Take it before someone else does. There are people paying for technical college classes just to get their foot in the door for a job like that. Pay attention to the mechanics that work there,and take all the sh*t they give you without getting pissed at them. You wont be sorry.

That seems to be the general consensus! I'll be going over to talk to the owner of the shop that made me the best offer, money wise, tomorrow. Unfortunately, it's not the shop I'd give my eye teeth to work at (that place is the go-to shop in my area for the guys in the Antique/Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Association, along with the old-school European bike guys, and there's a waiting list to even do summer internships there for free...)but it's not a bad shop for my second choice. They said they don't do a whole lot of 'vintage stuff', although they say they occasionally get an older CB or even a Triumph or two thru the doors. Mostly older sport-bikes/crusiers and scooters, but at this point I think getting in the door is the most important thing to me.

[fmctm1sw]

I've always told folks that it's called it "work" for a reason.  Wake up, drag yourself there, deal with #$%*y customers all day and get paid little to do it.  Just like the rest of us saps.     But as mentioned, take it.  I worked a gig at autozone and got 20% off any (hard parts) I wanted.  Perhaps there are some similar fringe benefits.

[Don R]

Any job is only as good as you make it. Keep a good attitude and give them a good 8 hours work  for 8 hours pay. My thought always was, if what you do for the shop provides more value than your cost to the shop you should do well. Learn everything you can, different mechanics will have different techniques, learn them all and later you can choose your own path.

[70CB750]

I wrenched on vehicles all my life - some of them were russian tanks and personal carries - and let me tell you, wrenching for your paycheck sucks. It is doable if you are reasonably young but working on cars just plain stinks.

I would take the job,so you know why you are in college,  makes you appreciate your brain more:)

OK, part of my problem is the guy I worked for,  he was a body guy and to see him wrenching on the car hurt my engineer's feelings.  How many people brake a four taps a week because they refuse to lube it?

[liPPy]

Go for it! Don't see any downside. If you hate it you can always leave.

We have just taken on an intern where I work. He surprised everyone by getting to the lab half an hour early every day. Let me tell you, that simple "I'm here to work" gesture has bought him a ton of goodwill and has certainly caught the attention of management. Something to consider