Mobile Motorcycle Repair Service

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. Carburetors! Day in and day out. The Southwest is notorious in varnishing up carburetors in 3 months, especially if your garage is on the south side of the house, since it is just like an attic; it would be better to leave it outside on your back patio in the shade with circulation.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. There is no substitute for certification, and there is no substitute for experience. One is just as valuable as the other; you want a mechanic with both. If you hire a kid with fresh certification, you have an inexperienced mechanic with some current tech tips; if you get an old timer who has been "wrenching" for 20 years, you got an experienced mechanic without current tech tips.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. As a customer, the most common desired knowledge is how to perform simple maintenance. If more shops allowed folks to watch the work performed, there would be fewer shops. The trade secrets vary from make and model, but for the most part, again, you get what you pay for. If you run high grade fuel and oil, you will have fewer visits from me.

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. To give a mechanic an edge to give you a proper diagnostic and estimate over the phone, you need to tell him the symptoms the vehicle is having, not tell him what it needs. Also have the year, make and model, and if you have done anything at all to the vehicle. All service requires good fuel and battery, so have those things ready, and you will save labor time.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. My service stands out from others because I am mobile, I have over 17 years of experience working on all types of vehicles and recreational equipment, and I have 5 motorcycle certifications, including Motorcycle Core Technician, Harley-Davidson Technician, Harley-Davidson Early Model, Harley-Davidson Late Model, and Master Motorcycle Mechanic.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. The best part about what I do is the people I meet. I enjoy the conversations so many folks open up to, and the networking. Many of my customers have become my friends. I always make sure to be fair with everyone, and have an adjustable service call that appeals to your location within the city.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. People always ask me what is the best motorcycle there is to own. As a mechanic, I can tell you that there is no brand that doesn't break. Generally, the principle of "you get what you pay for" applies. If you are wondering what the best bike to own is... I'll tell you the same thing I tell everyone... a new one!

Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?

A. My favorite stories are the fabrications I have done for handicap folks. There was a midget that I cutomized a Royal Star for, and a one armed man that I routed his front brake lever for so it could be actuated with his knee, and his throttle with his right heel, so he could still brake with his right toe when he would decelerate.

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. Mechanics is typically cleaning. We figure out bad designs from the factory, and fix them, or compensate for them with something better. Keep it clean, but don't power wash it. It is sometimes hard to convey why things need to be done to your vehicle, we try hard to make you understand but sometimes you just won't. Shops are inclined to do unnecessary work.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. I was tired of seeing the shops push their "suggestive" additional "maintenance proceedures", and the labor rates are ridiculous. I had a friend who was a mobile car mechanic, and I said "why not" do motorcycles the same way! Ever since then it has grown every year, and has been very satisfying in giving folks a half-price labor rate.

Q. Tell us about a recent job you did that you are particularly proud of.

A. Recently I repaired multiple transmission issues on a sport bike without pulling the engine top end off as the repair manual said to do. If the engine is a verticle split case, you have no choice, unless its a "cassette" transmission, but a horizontal split case can shorten labor costs by over 6 hours, if you have a mechanic who knows how to think.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. MPN magazine has alot of great new products that go into explaination on their application. There are only so many kinds of applications that can come out, as long as we are using combustible fuel and wheels. So far the new products are nothing more than an improvement on the previous invention. In the information age, it isn't too hard to discover and learn anyting.

Q. What are the latest developments in your field? Are there any exciting things coming in the next few years or decade that will change your line of business?

A. The custom field is running out of room for radicalism, but Japan is breaking new ground with electric vehicles, alternative fuels, and robotics. Thats when con-ed will be necessary, or else you will be an antique dealer!

Q. Describe your most recent project, what it involved, how much it cost, and how long it took.

A. My last job was a 150 Chinese scooter that wouldn't start. It has a remote starter and alarm system. The customer ran the battery dead and didn't tell me. After charging it, the remote worked, and after a compression test, it ended up being a carburetor cleaning. Apparantly the scooter had been sitting more than a "little while". $120 bucks.

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

A. I am $70 an hour, and there is a sliding fee for the service call depending on your location. The middle of my map is basically the Stratosphere. Anywhere inner-city is only a $20 service call. Farther out it goes to $30, and then to $40 on the outskirts of town. I have gone as far as Pahrump, Boulder City, and Logandale, and charged additionally by mileage instead of just the flat rate service call. I have a half hour minimum, plus service call. If I can fix it within that half hour, I will, but you will at least get a thorough diagnosis. Most jobs are not very long really, at least for a quality mechanic, but there are exceptions!

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. When you are working on peoples motorcycles... business is personal. No matter what, keep a good name, it would be better to lose money than to lose a good name. Always go the extra mile if need be. If a job is out of your league or you don't have the tooling, don't attempt it; get the tools, research the service. Be honest with your customers, and yourself.

Q. Write your own question and answer it.

A. Do you do tires? No. That service is the most competitive one in the market, and it requires huge expensive equipment, which must be trailered, and the roadside "spooning" method should be avoided altogether, due to the damages it causes, unless you are stranded without any other resource. I refer tire jobs out, and they refer jobs back to me as well.