Installation, Maintenance & Repair
Motorcycle Mechanics
Also called: All Terrain Vehicle Technician (ATV Technician), Custom Bike Builder, Motorcycle Mechanic, Motorcycle Service Technician
US median pay
$48,580
per year, 2025
Job growth 2025–35
+2.1%
about average or slower
Openings a year (US)
1,400
14,200 employed
Typical entry education
Postsecondary nondegree award
Preparation 3/5 · Medium preparation
What this job is
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul motorcycles, scooters, mopeds, dirt bikes, or similar motorized vehicles.
What they do day to day
- Mount, balance, change, or check condition or pressure of tires.
- Replace defective parts, using hand tools, arbor presses, flexible power presses, or power tools.
- Dismantle engines and repair or replace defective parts, such as magnetos, carburetors, or generators.
- 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.
- Repair or replace other parts, such as headlights, horns, handlebar controls, gasoline or oil tanks, starters, or mufflers.
- Disassemble subassembly units and examine condition, movement, or alignment of parts, visually or using gauges.
- Repair or adjust motorcycle subassemblies, such as forks, transmissions, brakes, or drive chains, according to specifications.
- Reassemble frames and reinstall engines after repairs.
- Remove cylinder heads and grind valves to scrape off carbon and replace defective valves, pistons, cylinders, or rings, using hand and power tools.
Skills and knowledge that matter most
Skills
- Troubleshooting3.9/5
- Repairing3.9/5
- Equipment Maintenance3.5/5
- Time Management3.1/5
- Quality Control Analysis3.1/5
- Operations Monitoring3.1/5
- Operation and Control3.1/5
- Judgment and Decision Making3.1/5
Knowledge
- Mechanical4.8/5
- English Language3.5/5
- Customer and Personal Service3.4/5
- Computers and Electronics3.3/5
- Mathematics3.1/5
- Education and Training3.1/5
Importance rated by people working in the job (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important).
Education and preparation
Preparation level 3 of 5 — Medium preparation. Usually vocational training, an associate's degree or an apprenticeship.
Typical entry education (BLS): Postsecondary nondegree award.
Highest education of people in this job:
- Post-secondary certificate60%
- High school diploma26%
Who this job suits
Mostly Realistic
Hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
Conventional
Organising data, details and procedures
Investigative
Ideas, research and solving problems
Based on the Holland (RIASEC) interest profile for this occupation.