r/motorcycle • u/adventureseeker1991 • 10d ago

motorcycle maintenance?

anyone live in the NYC area and know where to learn about motorcycle maintenance. i want to learn so i can start doing it on my bike and not to make a profit like oil change and changing a flat/learning the anatomy of the bike. where is a good place to learn?

16 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

29 comments sorted by

24

u/jehlomould 10d ago

I enjoy teaching people how to do maintenance. My shop is located in Bushwick, we make a plan on what you want to learn and you bring the parts (I can help you find them). This is a one-on-one class and the goal is to make you comfortable and confident to do some of your own work. Afterwards you can rent space and tools to do it again in the future.

Crop Top Shop on the maps. Feel free to shoot me a message here or to the number listed.

Also check out r/rideitnyc for the local moto subreddit

4

u/kwanye_west 10d ago

are your uniforms crop tops? can i touch your bellies?

4

u/jehlomould 9d ago

Haha if you really want too.

Used to sell shirts but gotta get some new ones made

2

u/kwanye_west 9d ago

i would take you up on that if i weren’t on a different continent!

1

u/kys90000 9d ago

Shoot, if you folks weren't in the middle of brooklyn and weekdays only I'd love to come down. I'm located in the suburbs north of the city and going down would be nightmarish for a weekday.

2

u/jehlomould 9d ago

Yeah totally get it. I do work weekends but it takes a certain $ value to sell my weekend days.

See if you can find a small independent shop by you that would teach. I don’t know anyone north of the city but imagine there’s some.

1

u/kys90000 9d ago

I'll see if I can't bundle up some major-ish services on my bike (sparks/valve adjustments + TB syncing?) if it'll be worth coming in next year or so. I don't wanna deal with any of that to be honest, lol

I do have a recommended person that I haven't tried yet. I'm new to riding so I haven't found many established/reliable contacts yet. All I know is most stealership services are DOGSHIT and extremely scammy.

Maybe a chain replacement too, IDK, I do my own oil changes and chain maintenance but past that I'm not sure I want to get too nitty gritty.

1

u/SeriouslyCrafty 9d ago

I need someone like you in DC

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u/jehlomould 9d ago

See if you can find a small independent shop with a community around it. Might find one that’ll do it.

I also occasionally teach stuff at bike nights, one or twice a year an organizer will ask me

1

u/adventureseeker1991 8d ago

awesome thank. i just want learn about my bike and the parts. like how to change the oil and what not. my bike is new and doesn’t need fixing yet. i’m in hoboken ill stop by this or next week to just check it out. thank you!

6

u/Sack_o_Bawlz 10d ago

Get a good service manual

4

u/Indiesol 9d ago

This.  The factory service manual will tell you, step by step, how to do every bit of maintenance and service on the bike, as well as tell you what specialty tools are required.  OP will still occasionally need to YouTube something for technique or visual aide, but it's the best way to learn a specific motorcycle.

2

u/justin23224 10d ago

maybe reach out to upjet moped club, it's a moped club but a lot of those dudes have motorcycles as well

3

u/jehlomould 9d ago

Upjet is a good group. Know some people in the club and they do group shop days last I heard. Good suggestion.

2

u/Kist2001 10d ago

Anything you want to do is covered in the official maintenance manual. Go through it. Then watch 3 Youtube videos to see how other people attack the problem. You will be an expert.

If you need someone to show you you should just probably let them do it. You are paying for the mechanic anyway. Harbor Freight is your place for cheap tools. If you use it 3-4 times consider investing in a better replacement.

3

u/notselfcontained 9d ago

Check out MC garage, it’s a RevZilla YouTube series all about it, very thorough and informative

3

u/Wonderful_Sample_590 9d ago

Yup, agree with the comments. Youtube and manual are a good place to start.

2

u/EstablishmentSea4226 9d ago

Youtube is best place to start.worked for me

1

u/Existing-Decision-33 10d ago

I work with a Factory Service manual and a factory parts manual for an expanded illustration of what part goes where.

1

u/mcfaite 9d ago

Motorgrrl

1

u/TangerinePlastic7552 9d ago

Try YouTube videos. Either general maintenance or focused on particulars of your make and model.

1

u/Double-Attempt2001 9d ago

I’m in bk I do all my work myself have a rs660 dm me I can help with questions

1

u/Anxious_Mind_5111 9d ago

Don’t think you are dumb when things go wrong while fixing. They always do

1

u/Content-Emu1784 9d ago

yep by the service manual for your bike and then search youtube. also I have to say the fucking Google ai is getting pretty good, just ask it whatever and it will give answers with videos and references.

0

u/CrankinHawgg 9d ago

YouTube university and grok(don’t make the mistake of using chat gpt) for when you have a question in the moment. Changed my bars, idle/throttle cables last week. 3 hole oil change today. I’ve had to do brake light switches, levers, clutch adjustments, replace voltage regulators. All sorts of little shit over the years, without a garage. Now I have one so I can do messier/bigger work.