FYI, all dealers are stealer's, HD, Honda, Yamaha ect. are all the same. P.S. there is allot of good info given here, consider what has been said before you make a decision.

 

The best advice in this thread yet unless you just want to change oil until you're sixty-five. Get an A.S. or an A.B.A. for a fraction of the cost of MMI. Current times dictate that you keep all options open and unfortuately a MMI certificate says to the world that you are one thing and one thing only: qualified to apprentice at a motorcycle shop. A degree from a community college in my opinion says that you're qualified to do much, much more. Correct me if I'm wrong, but MMI and the like do not teach things such as how to obtain start-up capital, how to prepare a profit/loss statement, how to write a business plan, grant proposal or bid on a municipal contract. In my opinion, that is where they're exceedingly lacking.

 

good luck with your endeavor young man, now the rest is up to you. perseverance goes a long way. give her hell.

 

I am currently in MMI at Orlando. I have read many posts where people state it is up to the student on what they put into it as to what they get out of it. Well I can say that I have a 98% overall in the school and several Student of the Course Awards so I am putting my all into it. The issues is MMI is all about the money. They have a weighted grading scale where the students get 20% of their grade for attendance and 20% for professionalism. What this means is you can score the lowest possible passing on your tests (70%) and fail (called majors) on all of your hands on and still pass the course. Many people move on strictly based on this. Overall this is not an issue to me except the attendance number. I have been consistently completing all of my work and still have a week and a half left in the course. So I am required to sit and do nothing for 7 days or give up points or even fail if I take time off though I have a 98-100 % in the course. In any other school you could take off early or even take a night off, MMI could fail you for that. They claim it is because they get government grants and loans, so do all other schools and they do not play these games. It is strictly to pass more students so they can collect more money.

Also the staff is not the best, the ones that have the technical knowledge have personality issues. Denny Ruckal is a good example! Great technical knowledge - worst personality in the world and his goal is to intimidate the students and brag on his exploits which are so ridiculous nobody believes him.

Education manager O'Neill is another joke. He is always trying to catch smokers outside of the smoking area but walks all over campus with a lit cigarette. He even walked up to a student that was running a MMi motorcycle and made remarks about the condition of the bike and asked the student if he kept his bike outside all of the time since the seat was rotted. The student told him that it was not a personal bike but a MMI bike. O'neill did not want to believe this. He doesn't even know the condition of the training bikes.

I went into MMI to fill in the gaps as I had a lot of experience. I also have a full time job that makes over 100k a year so my perspective is a little different. If you are new to mechanics and can put up with the attitudes and more than militarlistic approaches you will learn somethings.

 

100k a year, hmmmmmmmmm.

 

Sounds like a really fun place with all of those Jokers around!

 

Yep, when yer young, workin for a livin sounds like an invitation to do what you love. In actuality it is only going to help you work for some one else's living. Jobs are for subsistance, careers are for funding what you love. (Wish some one could have convinced me of that many years ago!) There isn't a machine on this earth that I would hesitate to open up, but I'm sittin here knowin alot more than I know what to do with, and still I can't make minimum wage...

When yer sweatin yer tail off to pay rent, you don't get much time to do what you like.

 

Ok, before my current job (Firefighter, always wanted to do it but getting a job is not guaranteed) I was an automotive mechanic. I took jr. college courses and got an Associates degree in auto tech. Then I got a job at a Dodge dealer-started off doing oil changes, bulbs,tires, accessories. Then slowly moved into more technical work. 13 years ago I was making $8.50 and hour and transitioned into flat rate. Basically I was making a minimum of $8.50 an hour at 40 hours so if I didn't make flatrate I didn't starve. And then ended up working flatrate only. Flatrate work is hard work. You have to be efficient and know your stuff. And if there is no work in the shop you don't make any money. Not to discourage you, just to let you know.

 

I am an AMI grad from the old location.Ive been turning wrenches my entire life,it's all i ever done and im good at it.Since i was kid i wanted to do nothing but wrench on harleys.Actually had plans to attend ami after high school,but that got delayed.Long story short,its not about the money.I love what i do and would do it for free if i could.
I was going to attend mmi after ami but a mmi instructor talked me out of it,now im glad he did.He asked me what my plans were,and they were to grad.ami,and get a job at a dealership for a few years then open my own shop.With that he told me not to attend mmi becuase its the same thing in both schools only mmi is reconized by HD.So if youre gonna make a life outta this,and turn wrenches for a Harley dealership,go to MMI.However If youre not save youreself money and time and look into AMI.Now i also suggest you get some dirt under youre finger nails,to make sure this is what you want,because youre not gonna get rich turning wrenches for somebody else.Its also been said you get out what you put in.Thats a fact,to them its all about money,and they see 50 new faces every 5 weeks,so its shoot em shoot em out,however if youre worthy of the time the instructors will give you a little more.Also i cant speak of other places but here in eastern nc,top tech is 20hr flat time.Roughly 40k.When i started iwas at 14hr,in 6mnts time i was at 16hr,then quit to open my own shop.Hope this helps.If you have any other questions feel free to contact me directly.

 

I graduated from AMI in 1976 (Daytona Beach). I thought I knew bikes before I got there but found out I didn't know 'nothin'. Learned a lot.

Wrench that summer for a Yamaha, got laid off that winter, worked next summer at a Kawasaki dealer, got laid off that fall and said good bye.

Went to a Ford dealership and worked flat rate for a year. Couldn't make a decent living at either place.

Later, I got a my BS in Business Management at the State University at Buffalo and now I make a good living. It's not $100K, but it's good for the Buffalo area.

If you don't get a bachlors degree, I'm willing to bet you won't make much more than double minimum wage the rest of your life.

If you like bikes, get the Business degree and start your own company. Granted, you'll work 80hrs a week to keep it going but you'll love what you do, provide work for good people and make a good living.

Just my two cents to the thousands of dollars of advice you've gotten so far.