Hey everyone,

I'm curious about who is currently employed in the motorcycle industry and what they do? I'm considering making a career change and im curious about the type of money i might expect, say as a sales person would make or what other types of jobs are available.

The idea would be to work at a delaership for a couple years while i finish school and then hopefully move on to one of the big names i.e. cough honda cough, cough yamaha cough, or Kawi.

 

well, i'm kinda self employed, if that helps a lil..

i own a customs/race/stuntbike shop in western maryland.

i make decent money for the area, and as long as you treat ppl good, the rep gets out there without even having to advertise.. i found that you must overdeliver..

by this, i mean if i tell someone i will have their clutch done and their bike back to them tuesday, and the drop it off to me monday afternoon, i will call them later on monday and tell them their bike is done. this may be tricky in a way, but its a good trick. it gives me time to prepare for a problem should one arise, yet, i know a clutch job will only take an hour. i can give the customer their bike, and an unexpected surprise at once with this. i also explain this so it doesn't look fishy afterwards,and provide pics of the service done..

i make good money on custom manufacturing parts and accessories, stunt cages, carbon fiber stuff, engine work, or just general diagnositcs, service and consulting.

theres a whole spectrum thats availably in this industry. you could be the parts middleman (sourcing), you could be the man making the parts, you could be the man installing them, and thats just any part, let alone specifics, whether drag race, road race, stunt, street, custom, cruiser, chopper, metric, standard (like harley), jap, italian........

you can plan and market events nationally or globally, man, the limits are non-existent. theres a ton of things i can think of that just I deal with being a small time shop in a no-name town..

a salesperson's income is almostdirectly impacted by the demographic.. i know a place in N.C where the suzuki dealer was selling 100 bikes a month!!!!!!! just unGodly amounts of blue and white gixxers crossing paths..

now, you come here to the zuke dealer, and they're lucky to probably see 1/4 of that.

location location location....

gotta cater to the people. if my people want Drag Specialties pipes for their sportster, or brocks megaphones for thier busas, and straps and wheelie bars, well, that pretty much tells ya this area is mainly drag racing central. but i have summit point raceway 35 min away, an oval dirttrack, and a drag strip 25 min way, so i have to cater to a wide variety of bike types and people.

i dunno man.. the possibilities are endless..

 

you're a bit far but good to know there is a bike shop in my state i could go to.

how are ya with tuning carbs

 

Under promise and over deliver...it is good business practice WH, not tricky IMHO

 

yup

 

i do it all day at work...you would think that more people would catch on. I work with someone who does the opposite. she knows the customerwantsthe answer "now", she knows she cant deliver on that promise but she'll make it every time. becuase thats what she thinks the customer "wants" to hear. of course then they are pissed when she calls back at 4:30 in the afternoon.