Motorcycle Mechanics
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul motorcycles, scooters, mopeds, dirt bikes, or similar motorized vehicles.
- Median pay
- $48,580
- Doing it now
- 14,200
- By 2035
- Up 2.1%
- Usually needs
- Postsecondary nondegree award
a year
across the country
1,400 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Repair or adjust motorcycle subassemblies, such as forks, transmissions, brakes, or drive chains, according to specifications.
- Replace defective parts, using hand tools, arbor presses, flexible power presses, or power tools.
- Connect test panels to engines and measure generator output, ignition timing, or other engine performance indicators.
- Listen to engines, examine vehicle frames, or confer with customers to determine nature and extent of malfunction or damage.
- Reassemble and test subassembly units.
- Dismantle engines and repair or replace defective parts, such as magnetos, carburetors, or generators.
- Remove cylinder heads and grind valves to scrape off carbon and replace defective valves, pistons, cylinders, or rings, using hand and power tools.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/TechniciansSee 24 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
- Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists$61,770
- Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics$50,620
- Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics$47,880
- Engine and Other Machine Assemblers$53,710
- Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers$65,380
- Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians$57,550
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $48,580 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.