Why?

Forgive me for coming across a bit arrogant, but could someone tell me why this whole forum seems to be full of people who don't know how to repair/maintain their own bikes?

Is it because most of you own fairly modern bikes and have never come across these problems before, or are most of you fairly new to biking?

Obviously I mean no disrespect to anyone, IF YOU DON'T KNOW ASK, is always a sensible thing to do, but some threads ask for advice on how to do things I taught myself to do, there was hardly any mobile phones and virtually no one had internet when I started biking, and I've never had a bike less than 10 years old, so things not working and/or leaking, falling of or generally being a nuisance is something I consider to be part of biking!

Also why, when someone does ask for help, the first reply is usually the most complicated and expensive fix, why not check the simple things first

Is it just me being a grumpy old fart or has anyone else noticed this?

[Dave-the-rave]

Nah. Grumpy old farts started biking long before mobiles or broadband had been invented. You're just grumpy.

[DJ123]

it's you being grumpy. A lot of people have never had experience with mechanical parts, how they work, why blah blah. Most simply do what those around them do when something goes wrong, pay someone else to fix it.
The forums not full of them, most people simply repeat threads without searching and are new to biking as a whole. TBH, this is the best, most helpful & friendly forum i have ever been on. Brilliant tech help, no fee, lots of input and people who will come around and help!

oh, and you're just being a grumpy old man

No idea, but I for one have more money than ability so I pay others to keep my bike on the road.

You don't repair your phone line, I don't fix my bike. Thus we have an economy.

Ok but my point still stands, if someone on here asks for help they immediately get a thousand replies that need to be deciphered by NASA, for example the other day someone posted "my bike won't start", he got loads of usefull advice like get a multimeter, check this, check that, why not tell him check the solenoid turn ignition on put a screwdriver between the points if the bike starts there is your problem, couple of quid for a new one and a screwdriver to do the diagnostics, free and effective fault finding!

If that didn't work that is when the poor bloke needs to go more in depth, not dive in head first miss the problem and spend hours searching for a fault that's not there, if in doubt that this happens, anyone remember Fallouts front end shenanigans, always check the simple stuff!

Originally Posted by Spank86

No idea, but I for one have more money than ability so I pay others to keep my bike on the road.

You don't repair your phone line, I don't fix my bike. Thus we have an economy.

Exactly my point Ad you don't ask for help coz you don't intend to fix it yourself! But if you did you wouldn't want the first nugget of advice to be the most expensive and complicated one!

[DJ123]

generally, it's because you assume they ahve done the basics first. Many don't explain what they have tried already. Plus, what you've said in comparison to the replies could much be read as the same NASA language to the OP if he's not electrically/mechanically knowledgable.

That's the problem never assume anything, consider everyone to be an idiot until they prove otherwise

Originally Posted by Thunderace

Exactly my point Ad you don't ask for help coz you don't intend to fix it yourself! But if you did you wouldn't want the first nugget of advice to be the most expensive and complicated one!

No, but then I actually would fix an electrical problem, multimeters I have in abundance. It's buggering about with the mechanicals I worry about, I'd rather know it was done by a professional and is safe than save some money and accidentally do damage or kill myself.

But yes it does make sense to go for the quick easy fixes but most people who know about repairing tend to skip over them because they assume people would already have done it, or they've owned the test equipment for ages and expect everyone to have ready access to it.

[DJ123]

yes, they might not know where to hit and potentially could end up breaking something. They could use a sledge hammer to 'tap' it with rather than a 4 pounder. At least the repleis are useful, if not a bit in depth at 1st