is anyone aware of any bike maintenance/repair courses ideally in the North West? I know next to nothing about bikes except for how to ride them and would really like to learn. I’m from an engineering background so should be able to pick it up but I don’t have the confidence to teach myself and then take the bike out across the Pennines without thinking it’s gonna fall apart Any help would be greatly appreciated
I'd just get a Haynes manual and start from there. If you can take the fairings and bodywork off, do an oil change, take wheels off and maybe change the brake pads when needed, you shouldn't need to do much more than that. After that I'd be more inclined to let the professionals do any major work. But if you're more capable than me......a Haynes manual should be able to help dismantle the whole bike and put it back together again if that's your bag!
I agree with Paulo. With an engineering background, you should have no issue understanding the Haynes manual.
Depends what you want to do to your bike - take it apart for the sake of it ? or repair things like the chain and sprockets as they require replacement ? Having somewhere to work is the most important thing, so that you can build and keep a collection of tools and do jobs that may take you longer than a day to complete. Then you can get stuck in to something, with the help of a manual, Youtube and questions on forums. Mechanical engineering seems to me to be a state of mind. Some of these engineering types - it is a job to stop them taking things apart ! Maybe get somewhere to work and get a small project to work on which will build your knowledge.
I think you’re right guys. I’m going to make a list of stuff to do starting with basic checks then work my way through it onto more serious stuff. I will make a start by shifting some of the crap in my garage. I might even treat myself to a cheap bike to work on
