Powersports mechanics

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mikenixon
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Powersports mechanics

#1

Post by mikenixon »

This borders on being a rant. Bear with me a bit. It'll make sense at the end. And as for user forums, I hope everyone realizes NGW is the exception.

Watching a movie. Scene with a mechanic portrayed in a caricaturist fashion. You know: low IQ, high school dropout, uninquisitive. Revolting, this perception of career mechanics. But there it is.

One of the things a career mechanic learns to expect is a supercilious attitude toward his trade. Just part of the deal. Oddly, this attitude seems a little over-represented on powersports user forums. I get it that many riders have experienced abuse at the hands of incompetent mechanics. Okay. However, in dozens of years of experience with online groups, I've given up. Skeptism, good-old-boy exclusivism and hostility is what I often get when I visit the average forum. Can't account for it. But who willingly subjects themselves to to vitriolic, often ad hominem attack? And all by folks who have never made a living in the industry. I don't have the time for it. 1

I have been a mechanic in the powersports industry for over 46 years. I have enough creds to have my own school, and enough certificates to wallpaper a room. 2 But I'm really not a great mechanic, and I know it. I have worked with guys that were unbelievably talented. That should have been scientists, engineers, professors. I worked alongside a fellow who could crouch behind a BMW boxer twin and tell which carburetor needed its idle raised. By watching the bike! Another guy the service manager used to have simply listen to a Gold Wing and then the service ticket would be written up from the result. From the mechanic merely listening!

For over twenty years I trained mechanics. And not just mechanics, but those at the top of their game and themselves trainers. There is an otherworldly quality about career techs. They are some of the world's ultimate pragmatists, having through day-to-day successes and failures in one of the world's most demanding venues earned a competency that is as rare as isotopes and harshly distills the essence of truth; the pruning aside of all that is extraneous. 3 They just plain know what works. Despite what the manual might sometimes say. Despite "common wisdom". Despite how vehemently factions from respected quarters might object. Despite the pressures on them to compromise, to do less than their best. They have, through the intense fires of necessity, learned the truth. And it is this rare truth that makes others not like them. Because truth -- or to say it another way, reality -- in its barest, purest form, is, sadly, very frequently at odds with the majority, simply because it *is* reality, thus inherently naked and free and owing nothing to anyone. It doesn't sell on Facebook. And make no mistake. not all of this pragmatism comes from experience, though that is precious. Motorcycle technician is a trade with much more formal training than many think. 4

Ever wonder why the Byron Hines and Erv Kanemotos and Pat Owens and Nigel Patricks and Joe Mintons and Smokey Yunicks and Nobby Clarks and Kel Carruthers and Keith McCartys and others of their ilk are not to be found on user forums? It's because along with their admiring pupils such as myself, these giants of the industry, ironically, would not be welcome in many forums. And not only are the good guys increasingly less public, their numbers are steadily shrinking as well. The demographic is shifting. The old guard is well, old. The seasoned professionals, the astute career guys, are getting harder to find. And this is too bad, it really is.

Not long ago I went to the emergency room at the local hospital. After going through a phalanx of in-betweens, finally got to see the doctor. He prescribed a mild narcotic. That was it. No exam, no personal attention. And the uber pain pills didn't even work if you don't count making me sick to my stomach. So then another doctor, same deal. Refill on the ineffective killer drugs. No exam, no suggestions, no conversation, no diagnosis, and no result. Finally, I find a specialist. Short wait, very personal. Knew exactly what was wrong. Appointment. Physical therapy. Finally pain-free. Ba-boom! Wow!

Like the medical specialist, the experienced, motivated, career motorcycle guy is your goal when you're searching for help. Creds. Practical knowledge. No wasted motion. No screwing around. In the world of mechanics, he's the real deal. I could wish for you nothing better. 5

Notes:
1 I don't frequent forums (or Facebook or raves or cat seances, for that matter). Obviously, NGW is an exception. It is much more like a breakfast ride than anything online.

2 I received an offer from MCN to take over their tech guy column when Stu Oltman retired. I turned it down to concentrate on my business. (I was recommended by someone in the industry and the person I in turn recommended got the job and has done great with it. Stu and I have stayed in touch. He's part of the value base of this industry.)

3 That is, the commission pay system, the most dehumanizing and perverse way to treat mechanics ever invented, because it pits them against people much more powerful than themselves.

4 In the mid-1980s America Honda ran a series of classified ads in Cycle News. In the ads Honda equated completing their technical training program to achieving a Bachelor's degree. Far from an isolated valuation, another OEM, Harley-Davidson, shared with me through their training managers that they equate every three years of experience to one year at a university.

5 If you know a good mechanic, value him or her. Get to know him. Appreciate his credibility. And try not to be shocked when some of his ideas are out of step with what you find on Facebook.
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Re: Powersports mechanics

#2

Post by Rat »

Hear hear.

Gord
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Re: Powersports mechanics

#3

Post by desertrefugee »

Dang. Sorry you have had to deal with some of that stuff, Mike. Not something those of us on the other side high visibility of.

I hope the comfort of this forum and the catharsis of being able to vent like that did some good.

But, there's nothing wrong with a cat seance every now and then. Really helps to break up the monotony...
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Re: Powersports mechanics

#4

Post by mikenixon »

desertrefugee wrote:...there's nothing wrong with a cat seance every now and then. Really helps to break up the monotony...
LOL! :lol:
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Re: Powersports mechanics

#5

Post by dontwantapickle »

Mike, did you have a shop in PV back in the mid 90's?
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Re: Powersports mechanics

#6

Post by mikenixon »

dontwantapickle wrote:Mike, did you have a shop in PV back in the mid 90's?
Hi dontwantapickle (an Arlo Guthrie fan?). Nope. Thanks for asking though. :-)
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Re: Powersports mechanics

#7

Post by sgwilly »

On other forums, I am usually nauseated by the time I get to the information I came for. Hanging out there is out of the question. Maybe it's the median age of this group, maybe it's the modest income drawn to the accessible economics of running/cutting/wrenching an older wing. Whatever it is, there's a lack of pretentiousness, grandstanding, and trolling that is way to abundant elsewhere for my tastes.

Thanks for the insights Mike. I always come away improved in some small measure.
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Re: Powersports mechanics

#8

Post by mikenixon »

This group is exceptional. You can and should feel good about that. And Whisker is no small part of the reason.
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Re: Powersports mechanics

#9

Post by Track T 2411 »

Great read, as usual, Mike, and sad to say, true about many professions nowadays, it seems. I certainly appreciate your presence here!
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Re: Powersports mechanics

#10

Post by mikenixon »

Thanks Track T 2411. :)
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Re: Powersports mechanics

#11

Post by 5speed »

desertrefugee wrote:
But, there's nothing wrong with a cat seance every now and then. Really helps to break up the monotony...
This is twice I had a comment already to type out and scrolled past it word for word in your post..I'm starting to think I have a brother my parents didn't tell me about. :mrgreen:
I have a good friend who is one of..if not the best automotive technician / mechanic I've ever seen..and I've been around the automotive business's both as an employee and customer for a very long time.
He is as unorthodox as they come..and every time I go to him with a problem it is an education for me.
He is also a big GoldWing fan..I bought my 78 from him.
The days of mechanics like him are coming to an end..with more and more computer controlled gadgets in vehicles and the hi tech tools needed to diagnose and repair them..the guys like my friend who come home from work, eat supper and spend hours in their own shop repairing vehicles are not doing it anymore except for regular maintenance stuff.
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Re: Powersports mechanics

#12

Post by Rat »

Hi dontwantapickle (an Arlo Guthrie fan?). Nope. Thanks for asking though. :-)

Not to be picky .... but it was written by a Canadian lad named Murray McLachlan .... Arlo did cover it tho

Gord(just wanna ride on my mooootoooor .... cicle)Jones crossy.gif
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Re: Powersports mechanics

#13

Post by mikenixon »

RAT wrote:Hi dontwantapickle (an Arlo Guthrie fan?). Nope. Thanks for asking though. :-)

Not to be picky .... but it was written by a Canadian lad named Murray McLachlan .... Arlo did cover it tho

Gord(just wanna ride on my mooootoooor .... cicle)Jones crossy.gif
Ah. Gotcha. Didn't know that. :)
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Re: Powersports mechanics

#14

Post by Rat »

Got to apologize here ....turns out it’s other way around ....Arlo wrote it and Murray covered
Sorry about that .... old age is my excuse :oops: :oops:

Gord :guitar
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Re: Powersports mechanics

#15

Post by mikenixon »

Mo-mo sickle, mo-mo sickle... :)
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