[Guest]

Peace fellas. I want to get training on how to fix Ducatia nd become a certified tech. Does anyone know what route I should go? I'm serious about this 'cause I'm feeling a career change; tired of dealing with body parts. Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

[Guest]

these guys have schools in Fla and AZ

 

[Guest]

Good timing bro. I just called my local mechanic and he told me about it. I checked their website in Florida and requested some info. Thanks for the lead though.

 

[mdark750]

I'd like to learn the basics cuz i feel like everytime i go to a mecanic they rip me off. thanks for the above link.

 

[krista_k]

i hope you're not thinking about being a paid wrench. thankless job with the lowest pay for a skilled worker.

 

[Guest]

It has my interest. I love Ducati's and I'd definitely save money and have fun. I heard you can make good money as a certified mechanic. If anything I'd go further than just being a mechanic. With the knowledge and certification of a desmo, entrepreneurship and my unf#$kwittable charm will get me somewhere.

 

[MagnusVer]

I'd have to say that humility is your finest quality....

 

[krista_k]

I heard you can make good money as a certified mechanic. If anything I'd go further than just being a mechanic.

you heard? from where? someone's lying...

ok. let's talk industry:

- you suddenly are "ducati certified" and went to a school. unfortunately, this means that you were shown a bike in a lab and you took at apart. opps, no actually, (i heard from a graduate) you didn't even split the cases. so you don't realize or know that this takes 5 or so tries to get the preload just right. same as with other AMI/MMI grads, you got some schooling, but you don't have any experience. this gets you $8/hour (maybe 10) at a SoCal dealership with benefits. or you can work under the table ( or "contracting" ) for commission and not get health, etc.

- ok, so you open your own shop. this takes at least $10k in working capitol. we're talking after the shop is up and running. now. the shop is about YOU. so when the phone rings, the people want to talk to YOU. every minute you're not turning a wrench on a bike on the lift, you're losing money. same as when you talk to a customer to educate them about the work you're about to do or just completed. so this time away from working is required to nurture business. now, what about the bike with $3000 in aftermarket parts (that you paid for) is sitting around while the customer lags... ? hehehe.

based on my observation and experience, a shop with 2~3 mechanics will basically break even. the make money and actually earn something as a living, you need to run a shop with 5 wrenches working almost full time.

charm is nice, but most of the shop owners i've seen with charm ended up liberating whole bikes or parts from customers. in the japanese bike world, you can use up a town and move away. in the ducati industry, you'll need to move someplace where they don't speak english, cos those people you screw over will hunt you down and make sure everyone knows what's up.

imho, ducati owners appreciate almost brutal honesty. ducati SpA handcuffs dealers, so they can't talk to the customer about "known" problems.

- the thought of being a bigger part than just a wrench takes timing or money. most of all, it takes reputation. after being in the moto industry for 10 years ... and into ducatis for 6 or so, i have gotten a couple of invitations like this. they didn't seem perfect, so i respectfully declined them. sometime, somthing bigger than what i've got will happen.

and what i always say: the motorcycle industry is about passion, not about making money.

anyhow, all that above text is my own personal opinion after being in the biz for a while. i'm sure (as usual) that it's not completely sensitive to everyone's feelings or needs, nor is it 100% accurate.

feel free to bug me sometime and i'll gladly gab about my beloved industry.

chris

 

[ScottRNelson]

Probably the best Ducati mechanic in the San Francisco Bay Area (lots of Ducatis here) is Jim Davis at Nichols Manufacturing (http://www.nicholsmfg.com/personnel-jim.html). You can read about where he got his training on the web page (MMI). He's making a decent living with less than 3 mechanics, and as an independent (i.e., non-dealer) shop specializing in Ducati motorcycles.

When I had my 18,000 mile service done there earlier this summer I asked him if he still loved motorcycles as much as when he started. After all, he had a shop full of some of the most beautiful Ducatis you've ever seen. He told me that on the weekends he would rather take his boat out to The Delta than go ride his 748. I get the impression that after ten years, he has kind of overdosed on motorcycles.

I also had a neighbor who just got tired of being an electrician, so he took some of the money he had saved up and opened a Ducati dealership, BTF Motors, in Livermore. It was almost a one-man shop, with him doing most of the mechanical work as well as selling bikes and parts. He made a living at it for about ten years (just barely), then decided he had had enough and sold the business and retired.

I'm just trying to point out, that you can be successful following your dreams, but you might find that after enough years of it you no longer have the passion for it that you used to have.

At least you should look into it further.

 

[Guest]

Your information (both Chris and Scott) are both appreciated. It gives me an observable view. I am currently a Scientist studying tissue/cells and their functioning so I have an inquisitive mind. Ducati's have my interest and my interest I pursue, most of the time for the pleasure of it. I own a Ducait now and don't think I'd stop owning them so to take a class or certification would teach me how to work on MY bike. Should anything follow other than a paid investment into my obtained knowledge I would be grateful. But I do have to solve my curiosity.

 

[TDaddy]

i work as a design engineer which i consider my fallback career. I'm just waiting for that big break when some big time producer realizes my musical talent and signs me. but that means i have to write songs first; and practice; and hang out where they hang out.

eh, that seems like a lot of work so right now i'll just take the stable paycheck... :-/

 

[krista_k]

Probably the best Ducati mechanic in the San Francisco Bay Area (lots of Ducatis here) is Jim Davis at Nichols Manufacturing (http://www.nicholsmfg.com/personnel-jim.html).

 

[Guest]

I rank myself somewhere between enthusiast and passionate. If Ducati made a 650cc-ish Desmo single cylinder trailie, I'd be looking to own one right now.

But you Chris are most definitely a fanatic. ;D