How much does a Harley Davidson Tech get paid?

I am a soon to be Harley mechanic. I've been to school for it and did not do PHD's but did have perfect attendance and good efficiency. I was wondering what the pay for this position might be. (from what to what) I was looking into mainly central midwest positions. Also just out of curiousity, I'm a pretty short person and some of the big ape hangers might make it difficult for me to test ride some bikes, what would I need to do in the field in this situation? Thanks

PHD to wrench? What school did you attend? lol...You get paid flat rate normally. If you're sharp&efficient you could do OK. Flat rate of $20hr might sound good but it is only good if you are.

Unlike the people who answered before me I do know what a Harley PHD is. I too graduated from MMI in Phoenix. I highly recommend you finish them before you graduate, any dealer will want those done. Depending on which dealer you go to you may not even test ride. Some have a test rider. If you have an issue they can work around it. You should start calling around to some dealers in the areas you want to live and ask what they pay. You must remember that even with MMI behind you you are still a new mechanic and you will be paid accordingly. My first job out of school paid $10 per hour. Good luck and get those PHDs done!

I totally agree with Squeaky and I also know what a PHD is from Harley school...So listen to the people who know and you will do fine...Good luck with your career

I dunno about Harleys, but the dealers in Chicago charge customers about 75 dollars an hour for motorcycle repair work. If you only get 10 dollars an hour, that's pretty sad.

Like the rest said, finish your PHDs! ...and don't expect to get rich.
But if wrenching on harleys is what you love, go for it!

I wondered about that too, so I did a little checking around. Depends on where you are, parts of the country where living is pretty cheap $20 per billable hour seems about right, around here the figure is closer to $50 per billable hour.

Mechanics are paid flat rate labor for routine service, if a certain procedure takes two hours the tech gets what ever they get paid times that. If it takes you longer than that your hourly pay just went down. Some jobs will be charged to the customer T&M (Time and Materials) so the time it takes is what you get. If you are very efficient you might be able to finish a 2 hour procedure in less than "the book time" in which case you hourly rite just went up.

During an 8 hour work day about 6 of them can be considered "billable hours" during the riding season, work may trickle down to almost nothing during the off season in colder climates.

One thing, the mechanic needs to be a master of financial planing over the year to say well fed.