Scooter News

The Scooter Linc - Part 2

The next instalment of The Scooter Linc. You always need to start somewhere, old school versus new school.

Linc Biggins

Over the years I have worked in many different dealerships and worked with a lot of different mechanics, or technicians as we prefer to be called in today’s PC world. There is one particular interaction that stays with me that really defines the difference between the old school mechanic and the modern technician.

I was working in a dealership as their service manager where we had two qualified mechanics and for the purpose of the story we will call him an apprentice technician. I had only been at this dealership for about 2 months (having just finished a 4 year stint as a workshop job and parts clerk for a general hire company) when we had a situation arise where there was, due to circumstance, only myself and the apprentice in the workshop for about two weeks.

Early on a customer brought in a fairly tired 200cc agricultural bike that he wanted restored to usable and roadworthy condition for use as a commuter. This particular model is a 5 speed semi auto and uses a rocker type gearshift lever. This particular lever had been repeatedly bent and along with about approximately $1500 worth of damages required repair. Over about a three day period of parts being replaced the Ag bike started to take shape as a neat enough bike to give its owner reliable transport - easy work compared to the previous ten years as a dairy farm workhorse.

But still this bent gear lever remained until it was the last item required to complete the job. The apprentice was asked why and his answer ran along the lines of “Just order a new one.” This had been a consideration during the initial estimation of repairs, and had this been the only part that the job repair required it may very well have been the resolution, but at close to $170.00 for a new lever the “repair it” option had been taken. This was again put to the apprentice and again resistance was met! After a heated discussion over about a ten minute period whereas the apprentice was schooled on the fact that the owner would appreciate the $120 odd saving (bearing in mind this total repair was over $1500) it came to light that the apprentice was unable to apply the tiny dob of weld required to complete the shifter repair!

Now this apprentice was only two months of finishing his 4 year term and had never laid a weld! I was absolutely floored. It was at that time that I realised the modern system of training was creating a generation of “replacement merchants” instead of a mechanic who could think outside the replacement box.

I consider myself now very lucky to have spent that 4 years in the hire workshop where we worked on everything from hand clippers to 30 tonne Czechoslovakian built road rollers which sometimes (read: most of the time) did not have a direct parts supply and every piece of equipment was only disposed of when it could no longer be viably be repaired, and this may have included a “dob” of weld. 

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published 24/06/2011