Hey Ward, welcome to the site.
The thing about carberators, if they stop working, it's probably dirt or fuel residue(the last happens after long storage with no prep).
The fix then, is to take apart and clean various parts from the gas tank to the carb jets. This takes only time, not money.
If fuel injection stops working, it's probably a sensor or other electronic part that cannot be fixed, only replaced($$$$$)
Chains are easy to care for, and allow for gearing changes.
This is just a WAG, but I would say about 15% of our members have changed their gearing.
Sorry to hear about your ground-sky-ground thing, but your idea of going to a training course is an excellent one.
I would also recommend reading
all of the posts in the
Riding Technique section.
There's a lot of accumulated wisdom in there.
So buy the Triumph already! 
Steve McQueen would want you to.
