Centennial Maintenance Course | GTAMotorcycle.com

Centennial Maintenance Course

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RexdaleDave

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Hey everyone,

has anyone taken the basic maintenance course at Centennial (Ashtonbee Campus)?
its only $177 but i noticed its only like 5 classes, and was wondering what to expect to learn in 5 three hour classes once you factor in student questions and breaks.

Any advice or feedback would be great. I have very little hands on experience other then changing oil. My goal is to follow up the first course they offer with the second and third course they offer, i believe they are called ENGINE 1 and ENGINE 2
 
You can find basic maintenance videos online. The engine courses are far more useful. You may not walk out knowing how to rebuild a motor but you'll understand how it works. I've taken both courses.
 
Took all six with a couple other guys. Learned a lot and got to take apart stuff with no worry of screwing anything up when putting it back together. By no means are you close to being a mechanic at the end but for interest sake it's pretty good. Usually classes were like an hour in the class and then two in the shop. There was only one break and it was ten minutes but classes did end early if we figured stuff out fast. As an added bonus you'll meet more riding buddies and the only mechanic I take my bike to now is one of the teachers. Electrics 1 was mostly classroom and Electrics 2 was mostly in the shop, the teacher would booby trap a bike before we all got there and then we had to figure out what was wrong.
 
Josh P said:
Took all six with a couple other guys. Learned a lot and got to take apart stuff with no worry of screwing anything up when putting it back together. By no means are you close to being a mechanic at the end but for interest sake it's pretty good. Usually classes were like an hour in the class and then two in the shop. There was only one break and it was ten minutes but classes did end early if we figured stuff out fast. As an added bonus you'll meet more riding buddies and the only mechanic I take my bike to now is one of the teachers. Electrics 1 was mostly classroom and Electrics 2 was mostly in the shop, the teacher would booby trap a bike before we all got there and then we had to figure out what was wrong.
Click to expand...

So how useful did you find the courses?
 
I also took the whole set of courses, Basics, Electrical 1&2, Engines 1&2 and Chassis.

The instructors tried to keep the class work to about an hour and turned us loose in the lab for two hours. The smaller classes tended to work a bit better because we had to share one set of tools. My instructor for all but Basics was a dealership mechanic who knows his stuff. My only minor complaint about the whole set of courses was the lack of consumable shop supplies, like wipes and gloves. We had to raid the bathrooms one night to clean up fork oil and I usually brought gloves from home.

On the plus side, the courses work for me because I learn better by watching a demonstration or taking something apart than by reading the service manual or tutorials. We had ample opportunities to tear things apart, figure out how they worked and put them back together again.

I found Basics and Electrical 1 very basic, but I did my own oil changes and minor maintenance years ago and I used to design electronic stuff at work. Electrical 2 was a lot of fun. Most of the class was held in the lab. We had three hours to find the electrical damage inflicted by the instructor and got to go home when the bike started.

Engines 1 and 2. I now know how my carbs are supposed to work and should be able to clean, adjust and synchronize them. We did a screw type valve adjustment and I learned how to use my Suzuki tappet depressor tool to change shims in my old GS. The first valve adjustment or carb cleaning will pay for the course.

Chassis was probably the most useful course for me, considering the state of my old bike. We did brakes (calipers, pads, master cylinder), a brake fluid change, front and rear suspension and adjusted steering head bearings.

You won't be a mechanic at the end of the courses, but you will know how to do a lot of routine maintenance. In my case, I have brake work to do this winter, so the Chassis course will pay for itself.

Jim
 
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