The kiwi can-do attitude. Is it dead?

[Nade]

Im by no means an 'old' bugger...im only 33...still quite young.....but I have of late been asking myself whats happened to the 'can do' attitude of kiwi's? Is it just that the technology of todays 'boys toys' (no offence to the chickys) has out growen the ability of the average kiwi male/ female? or have people just gotten lazy...or growen too complacent and the 'she'll be right theres a mechanic down the road who can fix it' etc etc??
When I was growing up in country NZ if you broke it you tried to fix it or if it was really buggered then you took it to someone to fix......alot of guys I grew up with learned skills from their fathers...grandfathers..uncles etc and were able to fix most things. Making gaskets....rebuilding engines...welding...even simple things like fixing a punture or changing the oil and doing a service. Im personally amazed at the people who pay someone else to change a filter..the oil...the plugs (although sometimes not having the tools can be a bastard) and paying a premium for labour. Admitidly cars today require computers to diagnose problems etc but still an oil change and a new set of plugs should NOT be a problem for a budding bike enthusiast.
Im no mechanic...and I am reasonably mechanically minded so I have the ability to pull something apart and rebuild it (with the help of a manual in most cases)....but what I see of late is the 'younger' generation paying to have their toys rebuilt...modified..serviced etc and paying huge prices. I started out with cars before moving to bikes and if I wanted to increase the horsepower I went out and bought a set of new pistions/ cam/ carbs/ injection/ blower etc and spent time doing the work myself with a bit of help and few questions to those in the know. Same with bikes....the more I rode the more I learned as to how to service and repair. Is the kiwi 'can do' culture coming to an end? Is it moving to something new? im presuming its just the evolution works but im saddened at the loss of skills that the average kiwi male seems to be exibiting of late...or is it just me?????

[rudolph]

It seems cheeper and easyer to just throw it away now

[PirateJafa]

Wall of Text

Evidently you're never been to a SMC Friday Fix-it Night.

[sefer]

When I was growing up in country NZ if you broke it you tried to fix it broke something else on it that was fine, tried to fix that too, got pissed off with it, or if it was really buggered then you took it to someone to fix......

I added in a couple of steps you forgot

Personally I do most things myself, but there are some things that once I've finished them I realise that in the end I would have rather paid the $100 or so dollars for the labour and not worried with the hassle and time it took. So I can't really find fault with someone just dropping their car/bike off and getting it all done for them.

[Swoop]

It seems cheeper and easyer to just throw it away now

That is very close to the DMNTD school of motorcycle maintenance.
"Tyres look a bit flat. Shall I check the pressure or just sell the bike? Where did I leave the keys and the ownership parers?"

[jrandom]

I bill more per hour for contract work than I pay professional mechanics per hour to work on my bike.

Taking it to the shop when something needs doing is therefore a no-brainer.

If economics dictated it, I'd learn what I needed to know and do the work myself.

Of course, motorcycles are interesting, so I'd learn more about fixing them if I had the time, but I don't have the time.

Maybe one day.

[Nade]

I added in a couple of steps you forgot

Personally I do most things myself, but there are some things that once I've finished them I realise that in the end I would have rather paid the $100 or so dollars for the labour and not worried with the hassle and time it took. So I can't really find fault with someone just dropping their car/bike off and getting it all done for them.

so your saying your time is too valuable??? or its easier to pay them to do it and save the hassel and be $100 out of pocket???? no offence just interested in peoples views. Im just trying to gauge peoples mentallity....i am aware of the fact that people would rather pay to have something done than 'waste' their own time doing it them selves.....I mean agreed doing it yourself can take longer than paying for it to be done..........

[MaxB]

Talked about this very same thing yesterday to a mate who is into HSV's.(sad but true). He reckons the employment contracts acts has stuffed NZ. Longer hours for the same pay means no time to fix anything or learn how. If you need family time you have got to pay someone to do the vehicle stuff for you. Plus the dads don't spend as much time with their kids, so no role models. Throw in a record divorce rate and a handout society and you have heaps of leaderless kids.

My mate pays for his HSVs by doing the work himself but sadly he sold his last bike this month. No time for both.

I reckon the DIY culture is slowly dying piece by piece.

[homer]

I added in a couple of steps you forgot

Personally I do most things myself, but there are some things that once I've finished them I realise that in the end I would have rather paid the $100 or so dollars for the labour and not worried with the hassle and time it took. So I can't really find fault with someone just dropping their car/bike off and getting it all done for them.

yep your so on to it
its the time and hasstle and when you can do it.
thats the problem , most of us are so busy its easier to get someone else to do the work .

[James Deuce]

I've replaced my "can do" attitude with a "get fucked" attitude.

It keeps the noise down.

[nallac]

shit i try to do what i can,
wether its building around the house, plumbing, wireing or services on the missus car my bike.
But ya gotta draw the line on some things,like the ones that you no nothing about or if you fuckup and its going to cost twice as much to fix.

[Blackshear]

Well. I used to potter around on the NZ mountain bike forums of Vorb.co.nz, and anyone there who remembered 'Blackshear', would slap their forehead in frustration.
I buy this pushbike for 1300$. A few parts later, not installing a pedal properly cost me 200$. Fucking Aluminium. A few bottom bearings later, another 200$. Got one done by the bike store. 150$. Tried changing my front pads, rooted the piston. not skimping on crappy cheap brakes, another 200$. About 5 rims, a couple didn't fit properly, blah blah. About 3 rear hubs, and about 4 rear tyres. Close to 500$.
When I took it in for a service, they quoted me 1000$ for swingarm bearings, fork seals, chain, cassette, back brakes, bottom bearing creaking and god damn, so much more.
Money wasn't so much an issue. I liked getting my hands dirty, and to actually learn something. I know people who have actually asked 'But how do you get the tyre off the rim? It's smaller than the rim!'.
I feel good knowing it's almost the only thing I can fix without breaking something, again
But I gave up on the pushbike, hindered my REAL savings!

So I bought a motorbike. I guess it can't do 2 metre dropoffs or blat around woodhill, but from the year I had the pushbike from my 17th birthday, may 22nd, till now. It cost a damn fortune.

Before I actually completely rant off, time and money is relative =)
A little bit of time here and there, a bit of needless money spending here and there for the mistakes whilst learning, you do slowly build up the know-how.

I enjoyed working on mah pushy =) enjoyed riding it. Just bought the wrong one.

Cable ties, how long do you think they'll last for, in this world?
What will replace them
Blah tired, rant structure awful, can't think straight. NIGHT!

[Ixion]

My father's philosophy was simple. "If you can't fix it, you can't ride/drive/use it".

My first bike came in a number of wooden boxes. "Bike. Your's if you get it going. Don't expect any help". I did get it going. I was 10 years old at the time. (He did help a bit though)

First car "Traded in an Austin 10 for a fiver. Not going. Yours if you get it going". I did (though I would not have believed there could be so many things wrong with one car)

Was in my early twenties before I actually realised that some people DIDN'T fix their own cars/bikes/washing machines/TVs etc.

Nowdays I'll farm some stuff out, because some things (like changing tyres) are just so much easier with the special gear, and it's not cost effective to buy it. Other things like a oil change on the car because I am grown old and fat and lazy and I don't have an apprentice to abuse and set to do such basic stuff.

When I retire I will go back to doing all my own.

But you are right, it's a dying attitude.How many young men (say up to 40 years old) nowdays could erect a shed, add a room to the house, wire it up, strip and replace an engine etc. Even so basic a task as painting, or wallpapering. Even Mrs Ixion can paint and wall paper. So few people are willing to give things a go.

[terbang]

A century ago if one of your farm implements broke you had to send a letter to the motherland in Europe to order a new part. The letter took six months to get there after a weeks drive into town to post it and the part took even longer. The difficulties of living dunnunder I guess. As a result the Kiwi can do, Kiwi ingenuity and # 8 wire mentality came about. Now its an E-mail and a fast courier from China.
Yup, in some ways I suppose it is on the way out..

[Headbanger]

Lets not forget compliance, OSH, ACC.

Besides, my time is worth far more then what I'd pay a mechanic to do the job properly, I just can't take time off work, and I have a family I would rather spend time with.

You may not agree, I fail to care, I'm not spending my weekend making a poor job of something I could have had done for me, resulting in my free time actually being ride time.

I suppose my "Bugger" thread in the cruiser forum covers it for me, The baffle is entirely fixable, Tools aren't an issue, and if I got stuck I could get someone to do it for me in a few minutes, But I'm just going to buy a new one.

Maybe I'm just lazy (stares down at giant belly)