From an old bike mechanic…speaking to bike mechanics who are dealing with e-bikes, perhaps reluctantly.
I started assembling Vista bikes at a tiny store in Jeffersontown Kentucky in 1969. That leads to the next paragraph…
I have loved my life and occupation. I hope you all do as well. I hope that it is a viable career for most of you.
But I am sure that change, big uncomfortable change, will be a constant part of that career.
The change consists of two parts: danger and opportunity.
Electric bikes are part of that change. And if you are reading this, you are adapting.
The bike business is a pretty nice place to work. The pay could be better, but the people, (customers, co-workers, friends and competitors), the product, and the positive result for our communities are all great things. The lack of a career path, retirement, benefits, and job security are problems, and the higher profits from e-bikes may help.
I have loved the simplicity and subtlety of bicycle mechanical systems for all my adult life. For me, a good day is one that is spent in my workshop.
Electric systems are a glorious enhancement to that.
But I will be frank. As a career, as a way to support a family, as a way to be respected for one’s contribution to the community…our occupation could be erased by changing times. No, that is not strong enough – our occupation, as we have known it, is in the process of going away. There are other doors opening, and this group is a way to see those doors early, and learn how to use those opportunities.
Here is an experience that taught me a lot about the necessity of adapting to changing times.
I used to own an old Jeep CJ-5. It had a carburetor. About 2008, I needed to find a guy to could fix my carb. It turned out that all the “normal” auto shops knew how to ask a computer to tell them what to do on a fuel injected, chip controlled, engine. They regarded carbs as a curious antique device.
There was one guy in my town who advertised that he could adjust and repair carburetors. I went to his shop. (I had been in 5-6 other shops, all busy with the annual flood of snow birds). He had all the right tools, rebuilt carbs offered for sale, technical manuals for, I think, every car since 1950’s that had a carb. I was in the right place!
It was so quiet there that it was depressing. I asked him about his business. He told me with pride that he was a purist, that fuel injection was a complexity that he had no need to fool with.
My old jeep, and the $65.00 bill he collected from me, was the only business I think he had that few days. (And this was in a town that where every other garage has a 60’s muscle car under a dusty tarp, and an old guy living there who is planning to get that car running again – someday. If that purist had been in another town, I think he would have left the business long ago.) He was not doing well.
See any parallels?
We do, really and truly, face a bright future, if we can adapt. And that is both wonderful and frightening.
The LEVA Technicians Training is a doorway into that future.
And here is What We Will Cover In Two Days…
Safety
Role of LEV Techs
Types of LEVs
Tools
Market notes
Nomenclature
Electrical theory
Batteries
Chargers
Motors
Controllers
Connectors
User Interface
Diagnostics
Diagnostic tools
Proprietary Systems
Test for certificate
Programmable controllers
Software for e-bikes
Telematics
Phone interconnectivity
Bluetooth
Ed Benjamin