Trying to figure something out. Are there many younger folks doing actual mechanical work on their bikes? Not just bolting on an LED thingie or wrapping the pipes, but serious mechanical work.
It just seems that serious puttering as a pastime is fading away. We have a generation of kids who grew up without shop classes in school. Maybe no-one to mentor them. Reliable cars and bikes that don't require constant routine maintenance.
Just wondering. Plenty of graybeards doing it, but not many kids.
Now with all the nice new retro bikes, the kids are buying them instead of clapped out 70's Hondas.
Feedback?
thanks,
-Armen

There are very few youngsters who even understand how to use tools any more, much less wrench on anything mechanical. Someone at work told one of the youngsters (early 20's) one day that he had a low tire and that he should air it up before leaving. He ended up getting someone else to check the pressure for him and air it up because he had never used a tire pressure gauge or put air in a tire before.

Those of us who still know how to maintain/repair/modify anything are becoming a vanishing breed like the dinosaurs.

I am currently 63, and I grew up in farming community and folks didn't often buy stuff new.....they repaired the old or bought used.  Everyone fixed their broken stuff and made it work again.  Every farm had a workshop with drill presses, welders, and tool boxes.  My high school had shop class, and the boys that were in the FFA (Future Farmers of America) got to learn to weld and they welded up a hydraulic press as their shop project.

I was lucky enough to be able to schedule my classes early and get out of school at 1:30 - and I worked at a shop that sold Simplicity and Toro mowers, and Poulan chain saws.  The owner was a great mechanic and teacher.....I learned a lot from him, and it wasn't until 1990 that I got my first "new" car - the previous 18 year of driving had all been in cars that were well worn by the time I got them.  The cars could all be repaired with common tools......something that doesn't really apply to today's cars/trucks/motorcycles.  (I also worked at a couple of motorcycle shops in the early 70's and I would  take new bikes out of crates and put them together).

Most kids would not get hired by the motorcycle, car or mower shops - they probably have to be "certified" and full time in order for the dealer to be properly insured.

got a nephew who's heavy into m/c's offroad mostly.  he works on his own stuff.  and it's growing into a mechanics career, he's working with a group that hops up 4x4 trucks.

yes, reliable cars have diminished the opportunities to expose youngin's to the inner workings of the mechanical beings we live with.

Michael Jackson had Never- Never Land. A place where all thoughts were happy, and no one could harm him.  I have that same place. It's called my garage, where I work on my bikes. It's my heaven on earth.  Sad that most kids won't have that joy.

All of my family is mechanically inclined. Dad raced dirt track and super speedway cars most of my childhood and built houses. I learned to wrench on my bicycle as a kid as did my siblings..  I’m 45 and always worked on my vehicles and motorcycles, mowers, chainsaws, weed eaters, tillers... etc. One brother is a industrial electrical foreman and still involved in speedway racing part time with some big name teams, younger brother who is 22 is an A&P aircraft mechanic and has worked on vehicles since he was very young. Little sister is handy with carpentry and some shop things, and middle sister changes her oil, fixes plumbing and electrical problems at her house, does tile work...not much she won’t do or try.  

I attribute most of this to dad showing us how things worked, what different tools are for and what they do, and most importantly to never be afraid to try something and don’t be upset if you fail at it the first time. No one is keeping score!

Kids these days only know how to call for help because sadly it is what most of their couch potato parents are teaching them.

RYes, it is sad to see so many young folks with absolutely no basic mechanical knowledge and skills.  I wish I had learned more from my dad and grandpa when growing up, but I did learn a lot.  My grandpa Eslick owned peach orchards and often almond and walnut also, and since my earliest days I loved being in the orchards.  He and my dad were always fixing, rebuilding and operating an assortment of equipment, tractors, trucks and an old Jeep.  Any of our cars or trucks that needed maintenance or rebuilding an engine was accomplished in our garage.  Dad did everything.  He helped me rebuild my first engine.  Knowing and understanding the use of tools, what needs to be done and how to do it is so very important.  
I am thankful.
I taught my son and 2 daughters how to maintain a house and fix things, the basics of Car maintenance and repair, and what to look for when you do need professional help.  
And, they were all trained to handle firearms and to shoot correctly.  They are quite proficient.

I am thankful for what God has provided.

 When I go to a mechanic, and I rotate my mechanics regularly, it is not as if every place I go to has a bunch of guys near retirement working there.

 Same for service centers like Wal-Mart, Jiffy-Lube etc. that provide basic services.  I see plenty of 20 year old's working on vehicles.  the difference is that its at a company, not a driveway.

 Also someone here mentioned how youth are very competent in things related to digital tech.  One thing I have been looking at lately is augmented reality systems where a mechanic, and a customer wear a headset that digitally projects the repair process onto the physical machine the customer is looking at.  This system works, and it works well.

 This is what youth are interested in.  That doesn't discount the value of traditional mechanic skills, but saying we should maintain a shop/welding/mechanics class in middle and high school as it has been done in the 80's - 2000's is like saying we need to have typing classes like they had in the 80's - 2000's.  

 Are we really going to bring back the typewriter someday?  The full-size keyboard?  The driveway mechanic?