They have the student measure all kinds of parts: rockerarm shafts and piston pins and clutch plates. Minutia disguised as technique and great for micrometer practice but something no pro mechanic does when rebuilding an stock engine. The tech school graduate goes into his first shop thinking engine rebuilding is all about measuring seventy-five engine parts. Rebuilding is intense, but in observation and knowing what bad parts look like, not their dimensions. With notable exceptions such as pistons and valves. That measurer will be of little use to that shop until he learns the truth.

Tech schools are in trouble. They're experiencing an unprecedented steep decline. Ironic, considering that trades have somehow escaped the clutches of the reculturalists who want us to believe that the world's workers will soon all be punching a computer keyboard. The trades are again viable choices. But for the powersports industry, it isn't enough. Some believe mechanics school enrollment will come up again when the next economic downturn hits. They have observed this happening in the past. Maybe. But something is different this time. The nation's most prominant school is on life support, several others with rich histories have closed their doors, and Gen Z or whatever they're called now doesn't even know motorcycles exist. The result is the industry is clinging desperately to a ever-shrinking riding demographic, leaving most OEMs more or less one dismal sales year from bankruptcy. It's sad to watch. And it makes me look back on my own trade school experience fondly.