| Author | Message | ||
     Rav962 |
Interesting Video.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdNEJAFfFLA Do your kids know the difference? | ||
| Danger_dave |
Amazing. Next thing you know Taxi drivers will be telling us what's wrong with the planet. My boy is a better mechanic than me. Like all his pals - he understands Subarus and Mitsubishis and all the turbos full noise. No interest in bikes though. | ||
| Birdy |
He has a point. Kids these days know computers like the back of their hand BUT give them a carb or a set of points and they'll just look at you like you are a screaming nut case. The 1 your old kid down the street can remap a ECU like there's no tomorrow. He can't change the plugs but he write maps. I do think a lot can be put on the way they teach kids in schools now. Last high school I visited didn't even HAVE a shop much less a shop class. Someone could get hurt you know. Sad | ||
| Greg_e |
No one wants to work with their hands anymore, they just want to make lots of money doing something that pays you to do nothing at all. So not only is it a safety issue, but it is also a lack on interest issue. And generally all the kids know how to do is surf the web and text on their phones and play games, their computer knowledge is really remarkably low. | ||
| Froggy |
Carburators should be illegal anyway. Good thing for the most part they are! | ||
| Danger_dave |
I guess Bike workshops have changed a lot in the last 20 years too. The Dark dungeons have got brighter and better ventilated. Part of it around here is that performance cars are more affordable for kids than they were when I was 18. 12 sec bikes were much cheaper then. | ||
| Danger_dave |
Give me a set of carbs and I'm a nut case. Actually...... The next generation is going to need better electric motor mechanics anyways. | ||
| Birdy |
FROGGY!!! Go to your room!  Dave you say that like it's a bad thing!  | ||
| Danger_dave |
Electric you mean? Ooh no. privileged to have ridden some and looking forward to the next generation of e-bikes a lot. | ||
| Blackm2 |
Froggy, it's carburEtors. If you don't have one though, I guess you wouldn't have a need to spell it right  | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I love this. I can't stop watching these etsy videos. They are like crack! | ||
| Froggy |
My Blast has one, and up till the other day spent 6 months in a coma due to carb issues. I already sourced a throttle body and injectors, once I get an XB9 wiring harness, I'll be switching it over to fuel injection to get rid of any reliability issues. Also, I tried several ways to spell it, couldn't get it to pass the spell checker, so I said screw it, close enough  | ||
| Guell |
reliability issues? You just have to know what your doing. As i recall, at mb5, the only bike in the group i rode up in that had issues was a xb, my old carbed tuber started up just fine, it doesnt foul plugs... | ||
| Froggy |
March Badness 5?  MJ goes under the knife! My XB and 1125's start every time assuming the battery isn't flat, my Blast can't say the same. I often spend 5 or 10 minutes cranking with the headlight fuse pulled trying to get it to start. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, then once it does start, I wonder if I will even make it home. I've never had any of this voodoo with any fuel injected vehicle, they just simply work. | ||
| Rudy |
I don't completely agree with his premise that all of today's youth are inept and unmotivated when it comes to mechanical items. I know a number of young people (I'm 23) that can't change a light bulb on their car, much less do an oil change, but I also know a number of young people that bought broken down cars and rebuilt the engine or swapped a transmission for their first car. I'm by no means the most mechanically competent person around, but I can read instructions and turn a wrench (my service manual sure has come in handy). When that fails, I look to my father or the internet for people with more experience than I. It's worked out well so far. I think it all comes down to where you were raised or what you participated in as a kid. I grew up on a small farm and spent a lot of time with my father in the shop doing routine maintenance on a variety of machinery. (I didn't stay on the farm, I'm pursuing a career in Chemistry). Anyways, I took a couple of shop classes in high school and wish that I would've taken a bunch more. I would really like to know how to weld, or how to do more complex woodworking. Maybe when I'm older and have some cash I'll have a nice shop to do those things in. Also, the kids who I know that can rebuild motors / transmissions / etc. all learned it from their fathers, too. | ||
| Guell |
i would say something is wrong with that blast if it takes that long with a headlight fuse out. | ||
| Rav962 |
"Also, the kids who I know that can rebuild motors / transmissions / etc. all learned it from their fathers, too." Seems like there are a lot of mechanically inclined people on this site. I wonder how much of that knowledge is being passed on? I know plenty of guys my age (46) that don't know how to open the hood on their cars. Us motorcycle types seem to be more comfortable with tools and not afraid to get dirty/cut/scratched/burned while using them. | ||
| Froggy |
Nothing wrong with the Blast, every carb bike I've every carbed vehicle I've touched was like that, including my fathers hand built supercharged S&S custom, and his 73 Firebird. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
"Seems like there are a lot of mechanically inclined people on this site. I wonder how much of that knowledge is being passed on?" We know a bunch of people that ride with their kids through boy scouts. Most of those riders are tinker-ers, and that knowledge is definitely passed down. Our biggest challenge is getting our son to want to be away from his virtual reality (computer)long enough to get his hands dirty! He's getting to spend a couple days with grandpa over spring break doing projects around their house, hoping he enjoys it. | ||
| Guell |
My dad taught me some and I dove in head first with anything else. I do all my own work from simple brakes to engine rebuilds A carbed bike shouldn't take that long to start, something isn't right with it, my m2 starts up everyday time within seconds | ||
| Cataract2 |
My wife and I have decided that when/if kids come along the computer games will be off limits with a very limited time on them (supervised). They will be outside or learning things. (ie: come on out here kids to the shop. Dad's (or mom (if I let her in the man castle  )) going to teach you some things.) | ||
| Danger_dave |
A lot has to do with age and maturity of the father too. The older the dad - the more time they seem to have to explain things to their kids. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Alan, thanks for posting the link, I really enjoyed that. He's a man after my own heart. no safety guards, smoke in his gob. I really love the bit where he says he'll never sell, ever.... unless his wife tells him to. Super stuff, & very true, not just in the US either. | ||
| Fast1075 |
There isn't a carb anywhere easier to set up and tune than a CV-40...if it won't easily fire up (assuming there are no engine problems) either the start circuit isn't working (the heated wax pellet enrichener is sometimes at fault)(note I said enrichener...not "choke")(since it is not a "choke" remember if you open the throttle even the tiniest bit while cranking, it will not work)the idle circuit is too lean..put in a #48 pilot jet..pull the plug for the idle fuel adjustment screw and set it 2.75 turns out from seated.. (Message edited by fast1075 on March 21, 2011) | ||
| Doz |
Slow down there fast, that involves opening something up and having access to all those little parts and stuff. Younger generations have been dealing with sealed unit type components. I prefer the simpler stuff cause thats what I went to school for, rebuilding carbs, starters, distributors. Of course all that was obsolete as soon as I left school. But at least I know the basic principles. Ahh the days of point gaps, setting dwell, timing lights, reading spark plugs...even using stephoscopes to listen to a motors interior noises. Damn I feel old now | ||
| Fahren |
It's ok, Doz, you can still buy an old, cool car and fix 'er up! :-) Froggy, you need to re-read your post. You are in denial about the condition of your Blast. If it won't start reliably, don't say there is nothing wrong with it. That won't help fix it! Of course, it also sounds cool to switch over to FI, if you are that into it. Whatever works for you - that's cool. | ||
| Kyrocket |
I agree and disagree. These kids are the microwave generation. They want it and they want it now. Everything they've had for the most part is disposable, like Doz said, sealed components. Something goes wrong, toss it and buy a new one. Heck most of the time it's cheaper, or close to it,to buy one brand new than to try and fix the old one. I've got kids and I'm torn on the passing info. down bit. Do you MAKE them come to the garage, sit there in agony and watch while you try to show them something and they end up hating the chore or do you let them come to you in their own time and seize the moment? My father never really showed me how to do mechanical stuff but he was ALWAYS there when I needed him. He brings me stuff now to fix. His Camry was in the garage for a day and they couldn't fix it, I had it figured out in 20 minutes and sourced the part for free from the local salvage yard. I think a lot of it comes from me just being cheap too I hate to pay for labor that I can do myself. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Kids these days know computers like the back of their hand BUT give them a carb or a set of points and they'll just look at you like you are a screaming nut case. And I bet that old timer that can rebuild a Linkert in 20 minutes hasn't the slightest clue how to saddle a horse or strap a bit in its mouth. Technology changes. Who's to say one is better than the other? Pretty soon the guy that can tune a carb/points engine will be in the earth along with that old bike, and the whipper snapper will still be tuning EFI stuff on an iPhone. (Don't flame me, I like old bikes and cars, just making a point). I think this guy has a point, BUT, I look around me and it's not the just the kids that can't do anything, it's everyone, regardless of age. And also, this guy is into fixing things that were cool when he was a kid, that's why there are less young people getting into vintage bikes. Instead they'll be hung up on the 600cc machines of today in 20 years or so. | ||
| Stirz007 |
There was a time when: if you didn't know how to repair your bike (or car for that matter), you would be in a world of hurt. Froggy - If I were going to be in the boonies, I'd much rather have a carb than EFI. At least, I can take a carb apart and (hopefully) figure it out. An ECU requires special technology to troubleshoot, and often cannot be repaired - especially at the end of that dirt road, 40 miles from anywhere.. The trade is dependability - ECU's are wonderful technology, but are not necessarily mechanic-friendly. They either work, or they don't. I am amazed at how fast technology has replaced the need to understand the technology. Cars and bikes, to cite one example, are so much more dependable now - plug and play. Put gas in it, change the oil, and other than that, you don't have to pop the hood for 100,000 miles - why would you need to know how to fix it, if it hardly ever needs fixin'? Some of it is generational, some not. I'm always taken aback when I read those "generational context" emails - such as: folks entering the workforce now do not relate to landing on the moon, Watergate, etc.. One of the things that brought that home was when my 9 y.o. son (a few years ago), couldn't figure out how to roll down the window in my truck - he couldn't find the button. (hand-crank windows). He had no context of 'old-school' window opening mechanisms. Take heart - they still teach shop class in school and I understand that interest has increased with the latest generation coming through - the zen and satisfaction of working with your hands still has appeal to some... | ||
| Not_purple_s2 |
My first car was a fixer-upper. I had to pay for it, but I got a ridiculously good deal becuase it was in the family. I had to, with the help of my dad, fix it up and get it to run. I often acted a fool, it was a 67 Fairlane with a 429CJ swap, but I never took it too far or abused it. I NEVER drove drunk for the main reason that I knew that if I wrecked or got caught I'd lose my car. I worked too hard on that car to mess it up. At the time, and where I grew up, it wasn't a rare thing but it was dying out. Most kids I knew that were just handed their first car often got into wrecks and generally abused them. When you put work into something like that you learn the value of it. If I have kids they will have to work on them too. girl or boy. |
