Bikes.

[Digit]

I recently joined a biker's forum and particularly find the 'workshop' section fascinating.
One chap, when answering what he obviously thought was a simple problem, blasted the OP as a 'mechanical muppet'.
A little unfair as we all start knowing nothing, but what has impressed me is the fear some bikers seem to show about doing any servicing or repairs themselves.
Is it my imagination or does there seem to be a theme here as I read 'tother day that most under 35s are incapable of even rewiring a plug!

Roy.

 

[Walter Hall]

[rant]A number of factors in society conspire to encourage this trend, including increasing complexity in machinery, reluctance to accept any form of risk, declining standards of education and sheer bloody idleness.[/rant]

 

[Digit]

Increasing complexity is a real problem, when I started biking a lot could be done with a large hammer, but no so now, but the list is of jobs that some posters seem to think is beyond them is considerable.
Routine maintenance should not be beyond anyone IMO.

Roy.

 

[cutting42]

Is it my imagination or does there seem to be a theme here as I read 'tother day that most under 35s are incapable of even rewiring a plug!

Roy.

That is probably down to all new appliances having a moulded plug fitted from new by law for the past few years, no one needs to wire a plug any more. Probably a good thing as handling/wiring 240vac is not advisable to the uninitiated, I am sure a few lives have been saved by this legislation.

However I do agree that there is a theme of increased reluctance to do anything vaguely technical these days. In fact I have friends who wear their incompetence with anything technical as a sort of badge of honour.

 

[Digit]

I've seen the same thing, I think it sad as they lose the sense of satisfaction that goes wih a job well done.

Roy.

 

[t8hants]

I go for the complexity issue, there isn't a thing I haven't tackled on my Morris Minor van.

Lift the bonnet on my Pug 406, I can't even work out what it does let alone fix it. Neither have I got the computerized diagnostic equipment to tell why the thing won't go in the first place.

Gareth

 

[Digit]

Yep! I run a Fiat diesel Punto and a Honda CB400 Superdream.
The under bonnet space of the Fiat is so crowded that a spanner dropped doesn't even hit the deck and the Honda can be serviced with a box of spanners.
But the report I read applied to such things as wall papering and even calling in a gardener, or more frequently, parents! The report concluded that these people were so clueless and so unwilling to learn that they were building up problems for their future when they had no one to rely on.

Roy.

 

[loz]

Yep,

Not many folk would know what to do with a Brinkley Stick - thats for Sure !!!

 

[Peter T]

Yep,

Not many folk would know what to do with a Brinkley Stick - thats for Sure !!!

I've used this device many times while working on laser power supplies, but I never knew it was called a Brinkley Stick!

You live and learn!!

 

[loz]

Might be Forces lingo,

I used them to make safe powered down transmitters for servicing.

( Ex RAF Techie )

 

[newt]

I use an car forum and you would be surprised at the number of folk that can not or will not check oil level using the dip stick. One guy said when the low oil light came on I continued up the motorway, then called out the AA did not have any oil and would not know where to put it if I had some. They should design cars not to use oil. :twisted:

 

[bugbear]

However I do agree that there is a theme of increased reluctance to do anything vaguely technical these days. In fact I have friends who wear their incompetence with anything technical as a sort of badge of honour.

There are any number of arty/creative types who regard knowledge of science and/or maths as some kind of contamination of their souls.

BugBear

 

[TRANSPORTER]

Well I reckon you should take away a vast chunk of their disposable income so they have to learn how to fix things themselves, when you havnt got the cash to pay some one you have to learn how it works whats wromg with it and how to fix it.
I never take my cars or bike to a main stealers for any work, the bike a honda xr250r enduro has been raced off road and used as a daily commute for the past 9 years, and only once in that time did I make the mistake of taking it to a dealers, huge bill for little work done, My two cars honda accord and vw polo have all their servicing done by myself, including brakes and cam belts, none of the jobs are beyond anyone with some common sense, anyway thats my opinion on the subject.

 

[Digit]

I must confess that my relationship with garages has not always been a happy one either, including collecting my son's land Rover only to find that one wheel had not had the studs done up and no braking what so ever!

Roy.

 

[Chris_belgium]

I bet you that a couple of decades ago the 'seniors' were saying the same thing about them darn youngsters

I'm 31 and try and fix everything myself and so do most of my friends. I also have some friends who have got two left hands (is that even a saying in English?) and would rather use their brains,... to earn the money to pay somebody to do the work for them, nothing wrong with that IMO.

I am from Belgium but work a lot in the UK and have noticed that the UK is turning into a nanny state more and more, last job I was on, you couldn't use a disc grinder without following a course!! When I changed a four pin plug to a five pin plug they nearly crusified me because I wasn't a certified electrician, we couldn't use our own cherry picker, we had to hire someone certified who after looking around the machine for fifteen minutes had to ask us how to get the bloody thing started and was bloody useless operating it, on the verge of being dangerous,... have got endless stories like this. Anyway what I'm trying to get at is that on the workplace (at least what I worked in, in the UK maritime construction) improvising and fixing things yourself is almost forbidden and this probably also demotivates people into fixing their own stuff at home!

Worst part is, the hse bollocks are starting in Belgium also, they even have us wearing these stupid hard hats nowadays!!

Plus trying to fix everything can get very expensive very very quickly! Forgot to install a 50c circlips wich holds the piston pin in place wich resulted in this Me thinks if I brought it to a professional in the first place it would've been a lot cheaper, but then again working on a bike is half the fun for me!

 

[Digit]

Yes, we have a similar saying, and yes some HSE supporters would have us all staying in bed all day, the idea of a 'risk', as defined by them, would cause them to break out into a sweat.
Yes, people can spend their money as they wish, but as one poster commented we are seeing more and more people who are horrified at the idea of their doing anything but paid work, the idea of getting their hands dirty seems to offend.
One of my neighbours sat up from the early hours mopping up water from a ruptured DHW tank till I was about then came to me.
I asked him why he didn't turn the mains water off, he looked blank!
This computer I'm sat at cost me two pounds from the recyling centre, complete with blown plug fuse!
My car cost one hundred pounds 'cos some twit failed to put anti freeze in it, head machining cost twenty six pounds, plus head gasket, (and some anti freeze).

Roy.

 

[Dibs-h]

...but as one poster commented we are seeing more and more people who are horrified at the idea of their doing anything but paid work, the idea of getting their hands dirty seems to offend.

Yes I experienced that too! In an office type workplace when folk ask on a Friday what your plans are for the weekend, I don't say much now. I once said something like "Replacing the pads and discs on the car, servicing the wife's car and then cracking on with the roof on the workshop". From the look I got - you'd think anyone who does those sorts of things is deranged!:shock:

Dibs

 

[Digit]

Which leads me to ask, 'what do these people so with their time?'
Though judging by the cart loads of beer that are wheeled out of local Tesco's I think I could make a pretty good guess! :lol:

Roy.

 

[Dibs-h]

Which leads me to ask, 'what do these people so with their time?'
Though judging by the cart loads of beer that are wheeled out of local Tesco's I think I could make a pretty good guess! :lol:

Roy.

And a surprising nbr of them aren't all that flush (££) towards the end of the month either!

So must be doing something with it - oh yeah getting fleeced at the main dealers for front light bulbs and stuff! :lol: :lol:

 

[Shane]

I've always considered myself a fairly practical person, if someone else can do it why can't I? So it doesn't bother me if lots of people don't want to get their hands dirty, more paid work for me.

I've got mates with bikes that don't have either the knowledge, mechanical sympathy or facilities to do routine maintainance or more involved custom work, so I consider my abilities/time to have a monetory value now that I'm self employed. It may appear a little mercenery but I've spent a lot of time and money putting together my bike workshop, and building up my bike knowledge over the last 17 years.