Recommendation required for a motorcycle maintenance course

[Davemc37]

Hi there,

I’m trying to find an evening class in London or Essex to learn some basic maintenance skills. Whilst it’s tempting to just have a go at home with my manual I use the bike daily for commuting so can’t really afford to cock things up. Plus I don’t have a full set of stands, all of the required gear or much space to work in at home and I don’t want my wife giving me grief about any mess.

I found one in havering but they no longer run it now due to low numbers. The only other thing I can find is proper apprenticeship style courses which are during the day and for people less than half my age.

Any recommendations would be very helpful. I work in West Kensington and live in Brentwood but would be willing to take a bit of a detour on the way home.
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born again biker with a mere 23 year gap between bikes.

[Rogerborg]

There's the Oval Motorcycle Centre DIY shoppe where you can go to use their ramps and tools and get advice aaaaaand it's gone out of business. Maybe something similar has sprung up though?
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Ste]

[davebike]

During the winter I run a part day very Basic course though London Motorcycle Riders Club

I guess I run it 4/6 times depending on take up from October until May

Search London Motorcycle Riders Club to find us
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Dave
NC750Xdct + others at work !
davebike1@gmail.com

[johnsmith222]

[adam277]

What bike do you have?

I've found the most used bikes often have loads of videos online.
Also I've often found service guides made by owners for some of the bikes I've owned. These are great as they are basically a Haynes manual without all the filler.
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Bikes: Previous Bikes: Piaggio x8 125: 2012/2013, YBR 125: 2013/2013 BMW R1150GS 2013/2017, Honda CBR600RR 2017/2017, Honda CB500 2018/2018, Suzuiki Address 110cc 2019/2020, BMW R1200GS 2021-2023
Current Bike: Honda CBF 125: current

[fatjames]

Another option would be to pick up a non runner cheap on gumtree and play with that. Or individual parts. I bought a brake caliper once to play with as I didn't understand. But it was only £5!

[Old Git Racing]

So do you think if you go on a course it will somehow give you the room to do it, get the right stands and also stop your missus winging at you?
Get a haynes manual and just have a go yourself. If your bike has a centre stand you dont need anything anyway.
Your missus will still whinge about either the cost of a course or you doing it in the kitchen, mine did.

OGR
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2022 Tiger Sport 660 2019 Street Twin 2003 K3 gixxer 1000 1998 Srad 600 track hack

[qarka]

Delboys Garage on YouTube has guides to the majority of basic maintainence tasks.
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Previous - Sinnis Apache - Honda Bros 400 - Yamaha SR500 - Honda Transalp - Kawasaki ZX-7R - Honda CB-1 - Honda 929 Fireblade - Honda NTV650 [b]Current[\b] Honda CB500

[adam277]

Tbh I'm sure it can be a laugh for a group of guys to hang out and chat shit about motorcycles under the guise of 'learning'
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Bikes: Previous Bikes: Piaggio x8 125: 2012/2013, YBR 125: 2013/2013 BMW R1150GS 2013/2017, Honda CBR600RR 2017/2017, Honda CB500 2018/2018, Suzuiki Address 110cc 2019/2020, BMW R1200GS 2021-2023
Current Bike: Honda CBF 125: current

[DirtyT]

If you can, find a forum for the specific make and model of bike you own. That's what I did in 2009 after buying a cheap CB750K non-runner. A lot of them have specific sections for basic maintenance as well as technical and performance issues. Not to mention a few other members who are willing to advise you.

These days, I can not only maintain my bikes, I can do things like graft on swingarms from different makes, rebuild carburetors and engines. There's no better way to learn than to do it yourself.
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'02 HD Dyna Wide Glide, '96 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500, '94 Honda CB1000 Big One, '83 Honda CB1100F Super Sport, '82 Honda CB750F Super Sport, '81 Honda CB750K Custom
HAD: Triumph Trophy 250, '80 Honda CB750F Super Sport, '84 Kawasaki Ninja 900

[ThatDippyTwat]