Would you do this for a living?

I have thought for some time about either joining the Police academy in a year or two or going to school to be a car and motorcycle mechanic. If I go the mechanic route I would like to do normal work on cars as well as some tuning of bikes. (Newer sport bike type of stuff). Even possibly some cafe and restoration work.


That aside are any of you mechanics for a living? Is it worth it? Is this better as just a hobby? My plan would be to one day own my own garage... I've heard its a good career and also that if you like 80+hour work weeks and making little money than go for it... So just curious if any of you guys do it full time? If you would recommend it? And if you could go back would you do it again?

 

I'd listen to this guy:

http://www.dansmc.com/yourshop.htm

He sounds like he knows what he's talking about.

 

I have no comment on being a cop.

The mechanic thing I can relate to.

My father is ASE certified Master Tech in gas and diesel. I was working on cars at about 6 or so. Little stuff first. Learned what I could, rebuilt carbs, engines, trans, diffs, etc. Worked at a lube shop while I was in school to do what I do now. I can and have wrenched on anything pretty much. Lawn mowers to big rigs.

I've taken side jobs over the years for people I knew. Most recent one, I saved a guy almost $4,000 over a price quote he got from a shop (dealership). Did the work but he chose not to replace a power steering return hose, couple weeks after I'm done hose broke as I told him it would but now he says it's my fault and I should fix it for free. Which would require redoing all my previous labor. I told him to pound sand.

Long story short, I chose not to do it for a living because my hands are too big to fit in half the places they need to go and it's hot nasty dirty work in most cases. Atleast that's been my experiance. I'll wrench on my own vehicles all day, I'll stand there and teach you how to fix yours, with my tools even, I will not work on it for your money or anyone elses.

 

Thank you that was a great article and he has some great info on his site!



Anyone else?

 

As far as being a cop, if I were you I'd ask myself just how much do I enjoy doing piles of paperwork and being bled and puked on by drunks and if the cool uniform I get in return is worth it. Police work is far from glamorous up close. It does have rewards, but you have to think about it pretty hard.

What exactly attracts you to police work?

 

That is definitely a fair question. A good deal of my friends out here in St. Louis are cops. I personally like the thought of being able to respond to calls and help folks as best as I can. I do not want to work city. More rural areas I believe. I lost 3 friends from church a few years ago when their Dad decided to take their lives. The police work was impressive. Every friend I have talked to guys 40 years older than myself tell me they would go back and do it again.

I know that it is not 9-5. That it is dangerous. That in most cases people hate you more than appreciate you. I know it can be hard on a family. But for some reason it is appealing to me. (I will be doing a ride along with a friend here pretty shortly.)

However; even the possibility is several years off. I am only 18.

That being said working on my bike (the VERY little I have done has been super rewarding and satisfying.) Like the article you posted stated though if you do it all day you will not want to do it for yourself at night. So that is something to consider as well.

Mainly I want to do something that I will enjoy and be able to make a decent living off of. I liked his suggestion of opening and evening and weekend shop to start. We have several schools up here that offer part time classes with garage experience as part of your education. Not to mention being a teenage guy I love high end cars and bikes so I imagine I would love getting to work on them daily.

 

This rings pretty true to what I have heard about doing it for a living.

 

From my experiences, I think the best way to sum it up is find what you love and go for it. If you love something, that it should be a good job, no matter what it is. For some people though, going into things they like to do as hobbies can tend to kill the joy of the hobby.

 

i really enjoy working on engines so you know my answer but being a cop is def not my thing as ive been herassed since i been driving scooters. if you do beome a police officer please try to be one of the good ones!

 

Yes, but not what you think. Still, working on these gave me the skills and confidence to work on the bikes. And the car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-esC5GfDOJI

The terminology they use makes me cringe, but they get the gist of it more or less correct.

 

I have known both and my friends all know that I believe that every officer has some degree of "dickage"....your goal should be, if that is the path that you choose, to have a very low degree of "dickage". Those make for the truly fine police officers. They are taught to control any given situation, the smart ones can do that without that high degree of "dickage" that dumber ones have to rely on.....and we've all met them....they are totally taken with themselves and actually believe they are really something. They are, they are a**holes. Don't be an a**hole, keep that "dickage" level low and you'll have made a good choice.

The link to Dan's article is a good one and worth reading. I have read his stuff before and he writes as if he's talking with you, not to you. I would guess that he would warn you away from owning your own shop due to expense and mostly, that you'll never feel like working on your own bike. I never owned my own shop but back in the 70's after I was done road racing, I started doing a lot of engine work for other racers and some street bikes. This was when a cylinder porting job could net me 400 each and all the work was done by hand. I had work out the wazoo.....but NEVER had time to work on my own machines. If I had a couple of "spare" hours, in my head I would tell myself "I can get Joe's job done and make $350, I'll put on my new chain later".....and of course later, never came.....

I hadn't realized that you were so young Ryan, so that alone is testament to your being a mature, solid guy......whatever you do, you'll do well.

jeff

 

Jeff that is the plan. If I join to not be a dick. I'm young but I've had my share of tickets and police stops. I hate being treated like I committed some capital offense because my tags are expired. Out here it is a pretty stable career. Not to mention I work full time in a call center currently doing sales... The paper work can't be worse than this....

I appreciate the kind words Jeff.

It sounds like it may be in my best interest to learn better how to work on bikes/cars so I can keep my own up with out issues and do some side work eventually. I would love to learn how to modify them but for now just learning to take care of them myself is fun and exciting.

 

I'll check this out when I get off work tonight. My work doesn't allow us to use youtube.

 

Interesting comments,

Ryan, do what makes you happy. I tried to join the RCMP when I was 18 (late 70's), and wasn't "French" enough. I went to my other love and got my mechanics license. At 26, I decided I didn't want to spend the rest of my work life with cars dripping salty water on me in the winter and boiling in the summer.

So, I have spent the last 26 happy years as a municipal police officer.

Policing is a great job, it has its ups and downs, but I can retire in less than 4 years with a great pension and benefits. If you are good at policing, and work for a progressive service, there are many options and areas open to you. I had a great time working in auto theft, with my technical skills for instance.

If I had one suggestion, finish some post-secondary education first, while you are young, it will never be time wasted.

Besides, you can "moonlight" as a mechanic (guess they are called "technicians" now) and do both jobs!

Good luck.

Dave

 

Go the mechanic route.....you can work anywhere in the world and you won't be stuck with family disruptive shift work. Just my 2 cents.

 

good luck, why not a motorbike riding cop, i got pulled over by one the other day and he just said slow down and told me i had a nice old bike,their the ones people listen to,, so on jeffs "dickage"scale his was low, i imagine they will try to install you with "dickage"but you can be a good guy and still do your job effectively, sounds like your well on your way, ps ,love the term "dickage" its very apt.

 

This I have thought about. But it seems like its only a seasonal thing out here which may not be bad.

Any other experiences one way or another? Does anyone do both? LEO and work on their departments vehicles? THAT would be fun.

 

I haven't checked this specifically, but I can't imagine a police department's mechanic also being a sworn officer unless you are talking something really rural. Most city departments likely use whatever municipal facilities are available or contracted for.


Have you checked with your local PD if they have a police reserve? It might be something to do to get you a bit of first-hand information and also might be useful resume item in the future if you do go into LE. I know ours does a lot of crowd control and traffic direction around events in town, don't know what else they do.

 

I will have to ask about a reserve. And I have no idea if that's common or not. But you are right probably only in super small departments... Which I wouldn't want to work for anyway.

 

I have had family members/friends in both fields. My Father was a mechanic in Vietnam and when he got out he worked at a local dealership as such. It did not work out as a career path for him but he did work on our cars and others. The best thing I think that came out of it was we got to build my first car together. Something that I will always cherish. I don't get to see him everyday, we live in different states, but I get to see the time we spent together because I still have that car today (25 years later). I have a friend that has been a mechanic his entire life, working for a Ford dealership. His complaints are mainly about the dealership and not his job. Depending on your outlook, it could be a rewarding career in seeing something that was dead/broken brought back by your hands.

My 2 Uncles, Cousin and Brother were all in law enforcement. They were all cops in small towns in Missouri, less than 20,000 population. My oldest Uncle was a Detective and a MP. He became a cop to help support his farm. He later gave up farming. He enjoyed his job but I think that was more from messing with drunks. As a detective he saw some pretty gruesome things. His son followed in his foot steps as a deputy but it did not pan out for him. My other Uncle (his younger brother) was a Sargant at another town. He finally got fed up with dealing with idiots and became a diesel mechanic where he ended up getting hurt and is disabled now. My Brother went into law enforcement for a particular motivation. His father was killed by a drunk driver when he was about 2. This was a driving factor to say the least. He also has a personality for that type of work. He was a city cop before going to Desert Storm and became a State Trooper when he came back. He was a Trooper for a few months before working for the Drug Task Force. He enjoyed work for the task force much more than being a regular Trooper. He always said he knew who he was dealing with when it came to druggies but never new what to expect when he pulled over a car. He has some very funny stories about his days as a drug cop. He was a cop for about 20 years before quitting to become a nurse.

I am the family odd ball, I became a machine tool designer.

This is just food for thought:
Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.

 

I believe most of the mechanical support for our PDs are contracted-out (it's much easier for a tax-based, non-profit to manage year-by-year and is less-costly in the long run w/o the need for employees and real estate).

The PD reserve thing might be a good way to gauge real long-term interest but it will probably be volunteer (i.e., non-pay) and will be 24hr on-call (like volunteer firemen). Another related profession might be EMT - public service, critical situation excitement, better paying healthcare position.