Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

. - MOTORCYCLE SCHOOL -A STU E T D N 'SREPORT '. I With a shop lull of motorcycles, AOTC students aren't short of work. Practical experience Is a major part of emlcatlonal prog ram. William Beatty, in loreground, checks over Montesa piece s. Siory and Pholos by Darryl Sk ra bak Can a college dr opout motorcycle enthusiast from a middle-class fam ily in San Francisco find .s ucces s and happiness as a motorcycle mec hanic ? I'm about to find out. Three months ago I came to Los Angeles to enroll in a school for motorcycle mechanics. Soon my class will graduate, and hopefully I will becom e a par t of the industry I've wanted to join for years . If you're li ke me , looking for a means to be around the mach ines you like and get pai d for it , maybe you'd want to consider enro lli ng in a school, too . Now is a good ti me to cons ider . A new class is for ming at my school. Clas s starts January 29 . There' sa pla ce for you, II you' r e pro mpt about taking it. My school is the Adult OCcupational Training C e n t e I' (AOTC), oper ated by the Los Angeles City Schools District. The address is 6200 WiImetka Avenue, Woodland Hills, CallI. 91364, telephone 346- 3540. Enr oll ment at AOTC ts per mitted at any time during the semeste r . However , you' ll benefit most if you beg in a ttendance when the semester starts. There are several other schools training motorcycle mechanics which have sp rung up in recent months , as you know if you're a regu lar reader of the motorcycle pre ss. How good are these schools? \\I'hat is a motorc ycl e class like? I can't speak for the othe r schoo ls, of cour se, but I can tell you so mething about mine. I like to thtnk it's one of the better ones . AOTC Is a new concept in adult education. Es tablis hed In 1965, its program s are des igned 10 train people in the fastest, most efficient manner to fill jobs in the demanding Los Angeles _ emp loyment market. Tuition cost me a nominal $13.25. The motorcycle repair cour s e Is full time , and lasts a full 20 week semester . The motorcycle class assembles each weekday morning at 8 a. m. The s tudents are a diverse grou p, s ome of them married, mos t In their twentie s but som e a little beyond that. The majo rity hold jobs after sch ool. Most are fr om Los Angeles. A few, like me, moved from other parts of Caliiomia to attend. The class is small, numbering about a dozen . At the begtnning of the semester ther e are invariably a few students who are dabbling In motorcycles . By semes ter's end, only hard- core motorcycle scho la rs re main. Cour se ins tructor is Dale Martin , 33, prob ably one of the men mos t qualified to teac h motorcycle mec hanics in Los Angeles, an area r ich with industry talent . Martin was rais ed in a motorc ycle family - you may I' e c a II some of the Bonnevllle s treamliners built by hts father , Bill Martin . His background includes racing in L,A, s crambles, emplcyment in a number of Southland shops , and a year wor king as a motorcycle mechanic in England . Martin has also been an aircraft Inspe ctor and mechani c, a field of demanding standard . Immedi ately prior to com!ng to AOTC, he was a ser vice and racing mechani c at Johns on Motors, the Tri umph dis tributor . Bes tdes s upplying experience In the class r oom and the s hop, Mar tin Is a man pos se s s ing patie nce, good humor and a flair for teac hing. It all helps, There' s a lot a motorcycle mechanic needs to know, and Martin wor ks hard to teach as much as ~ Aut hor Darryl Skrah ak trues a wheel. Skra hak came trom San Franci seo for the course, other s hall from Fr.sh lo n, Imper ia l Va ll. y and Stockton a s we ll as L.A. area. pos s ible In the 20 weeks he has with each clas s . Teaching begins each day in the classroom . For about two hours there are concepts to be put across, exa mples and situations to be discus sed, and much bla ckboard wor k. Students take notes, enough to flU a binder and provide an inval uable refer ence for the future . If all this note- taking sounds dry and academ ic , don' t for get it happens tn a roo m full of motor cycle r iders, a class of people not known for lack of spi r it under the mos t trying condi tions. Clas s hours are never long ones . Fro m the clas s r oom students and ins tructor retire to a shop session, which lasts until school ends for the day at 2:3 0 p . m , In the s hop s tudents are introduced to the tools and equipment they will find in bet ter -equipped commer cial shops . Factor y tools and manuals are In stock for mos t makes . There are two boring bar s and complete val ve gr inding and facing tools , plus welding equipmen t , a press and other equipment a mec hanic finds nec essary . Work per for med in the shop Is act ual r epair wor k, just as a commer cial shop under take s . Most" cus tomer s" are local r es idents and s tuden ts of nearby colleges who find AOTC a good place to take their ailing bikes . Cur r ently the shop Is an open garage, a facility which leaves something to be desired in the way of working conditions . For tunately, my class will be the last to use the open garage . A new and larger enclosed garage is being r ushed to completion for the motorcycle class. And AOTC Is providing funds to embell is h the new facllity with mor e equipment and tools . That new gar age will besomet hlng to look forward to for those of you who wlll be using it as stude nt mechani cs this sp ring . For myself, along with the rest of my class I'm looking forward to a new garage , too _ the s hop of my future employe r . One final note: the best way to learn I! the AOTC motorcycle prog ram can pro vide what you want is to come by during class hour s for a visit. Visi tor s - both prospective students and prospec tive employer s - are alwa ys welcome at AOTC. EVERYBODY'S A Southem Calif. Area Representatl H.A. "NEU· NEL Phon. (213) 243·1017 GI ..dal., Ca lif. IIf. Dis tributor OL CO. INC. 2265 Sunrlse Blvd. Rancho ConIova, Calif. Phone (916) 635-6970 ... -

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