The life of a factory team mechanic might seem glamorous as they travel the country, work with the best racers and are immersed in the sport we love, but there’s a whole lot that goes on behind the scenes that no-one sees.

MotoOnline.com.au caught up with 21-year-old Motorex KTM mechanic Ryan Deckert to find out what it’s really like working for a factory race team.

Motorex KTM mechanic Ryan Deckert. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

First up, Ryan, what does your job entail on a day-to-day basis?

I’m a full-time mechanic with Motorex KTM, but what we do each week depends on the racing calendar. After a race meeting the truck will arrive back at the workshop in Emu Plains on either Monday or Tuesday, and we pull everything out and clean it. That includes the awning, crowd barriers, inside the truck, everything.

After that we strip the bikes down to the frame, inspect every nut and bolt, clean everything so its spotless, then regrease, LocTite and reassemble the bike, replace all the plastics, graphics and whatever parts that are required.

During the motocross we also re-spray the bottom of the frames, as they can get a bit scratched up from the ruts and roost. The bike strip-down and rebuild takes two or three days, then we service the engine, replace the clutch, oil filter, check the valve clearances and that sort of thing.

If the riders’ practice bikes come back to the workshop we’ll give them a bit of a birthday with a top-end rebuild, strip and regrease. Practice bikes are turned over every 30 hours to keep them fresh, and all parts that we replace on the race bikes are transferred to the practice bikes.

People see those bikes as much as the race bikes, so it’s important to keep them looking good.

I guess in the lead-up to a season there’s a whole lot of testing and different processes being carried out as well.

Yeah that’s right. This year was a bit different because we started with a brand-new team, but Todd took a bone-stock 450SX-F and rode it for four weeks, then once we received the 52mm factory suspension and engine parts from KTM in Austria, we built the bike and tweaked it to how Todd likes it before we moved into motor testing.

This year we also had a new truck that needed to be kitted out, so that was a big job too.

For sure. You were with the JDR KTM team last year, which was effectively reclaimed by the Motorex KTM team in 2013. How was that change? Was it an easy transition?

It was, actually. I finished up with JDR in October, and they were in the same building that the KTM workshop now is. We didn’t have to move or anything! JDR had their semi truck and parts, and when their deal finished up it was a matter of packing everything up, completely cleaning the workshop and starting afresh. It was more like a big spring clean than anything.

Obviously, there’s a slightly different feel to the team now though. JDR was like a big family that had up to 20 personnel running around on a weekend. This year the KTM team is a tight crew of Rob [Tywerould], Danny [Apro], Kyle [Blunden] and myself.

We’ve got a smaller truck, which makes a huge difference when it comes to packing up and cleaning everything, and everything runs really smoothly.

You wrenched for Todd Waters until the end of the MX Nationals and would’ve got to know him pretty well. What’s he like to work for?

He was really cruisy. Nothing was ever an issue and he was always happy. He’s like a good mate and you can hang with him outside of racing and he’s exactly the same off the bike as he is on it.

This year was flat-out though, we raced four rounds of the NZ Motocross Championships, Woodville, 10 rounds of the MX Nationals and a couple of Sunny States as well. Todd’s injuries certainly made things a bit of a challenge, but he’s strong at keeping his head up. He has this knack of seeing them as another bump in the road and can laugh about it and move on.

I’m now looking after Dan McCoy for the supercross, and he’s also been really great to work with. He knows what he wants and is really good at pinpointing things that he wants changed and knows exactly how those changes will affect the bike. Both he and Todd are great like that, which makes my life a bit easier.

Deckert (centre) was instrumental in Todd Waters’ success during 2013. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

With Todd racing in Europe next year, what’s in store for you? Will you remain at Motorex KTM in 2014?

At the moment I’m actually in talks with the Ice One Red Bull Husqvarna team to work as Todd’s mechanic over there. We were based under their awning at the Motocross of Nations, so I met all the team and they could watch me strip down and rebuild Todd’s bike.

They’ve seen what I can do and Todd’s put the good word in for me, so hopefully it all works out and I can join them next year.

Nice work, mate! Fingers crossed it comes off. Now, if you had to pick one bloke in the world you’d love to be a mechanic for, who would it be?

Ah… I’ve never thought about it! Probably Antonio Carioli.

What advice would you give any would-be mechanics out there wanting a gig on a factory motocross team?

The big thing is to realise that it’s not a 9 to 5 job. On weekends where we have back-to-back races you put in 14-15 hour days, then work all weekend on top of that too.

My best advice is to make sure you get to the races, meet the team managers, show yourself off face-to-face, and keep pestering. I got into the sport because my cousin worked for Kevin Crutcher’s air conditioning business and that opened the door for me to work for Cool Air Kawasaki as a 17-year-old in 2009.

There are only a handful of positions every year, so you need to put yourself out there, then prove you have what it takes.

Awesome. Thanks for that, mate. All the best for the rest of the supercross season.

Thanks, buddy.