I’ve experienced the opposite situation lots of times.
Just because I ride a bike does not mean I am a mechanic or fix stuff myself. Far from it, I leave that to a professional. Most people seem to think all men tinker on their bikes.
I wouldn’t say tinker, but if you have a bike, I kinda expect you know how to change the oil, lube+tension the chain, change the plugs, battery, tire maybe, just stuff you have to do frequently anyway that you can do in the tine it takes to get to the shop.
The alternative is spending a ton of time and money.
Also they’re much easier to work on than cars, especially if there’s no cowling.
I’ve never removed any cowling or plastic fenders and ended up with the same number of unbroken plastic pieces afterwards.
And as far as time is concerned, I can’t really think of anything on a car that’s worth doing. I changed my snow tires, so that’s a thing. Other than that, can I? Sure. Is that how I want to spend my time, just fucking pissed off? No.
I’m guilty of this to varying degrees. All motorcyclists and any bicyclists that are doing it as a hobby. I get it for cars where, in my entire continent, they are pretty much a requirement. You have to have a car (let’s not do a car-free digression right now).
But motorcycling? Or trail biking? Those are electives. I have bias because I’m mechanical and the people I get along with tend to also be mechanical. Both hobbies are ones where mechanical issues are frequent enough that you’d rather not be stranded for something basic - or, at least, that’s my thought process. With a bicycle, there’s not a whole lot to it (to me) so why not have the pocket multi tool that could disassemble the whole bike and why not know how to use it? With motorcycles, they have some flukes and tows are so tricky/pricey that I’d like to exhaust all my diagnostic options first. I guess I do have the same view on car drivers as well, but in limited ways. Namely, how to change a flat. I charitably change about 3 a year randomly on the road.
That’s my thought process. It matches my initial facial expression. I try to not put it out verbally though and just help if I can.
I’ve experienced the opposite situation lots of times.
Just because I ride a bike does not mean I am a mechanic or fix stuff myself. Far from it, I leave that to a professional. Most people seem to think all men tinker on their bikes.
I wouldn’t say tinker, but if you have a bike, I kinda expect you know how to change the oil, lube+tension the chain, change the plugs, battery, tire maybe, just stuff you have to do frequently anyway that you can do in the tine it takes to get to the shop.
The alternative is spending a ton of time and money.
Also they’re much easier to work on than cars, especially if there’s no cowling.
I’ve never removed any cowling or plastic fenders and ended up with the same number of unbroken plastic pieces afterwards.
And as far as time is concerned, I can’t really think of anything on a car that’s worth doing. I changed my snow tires, so that’s a thing. Other than that, can I? Sure. Is that how I want to spend my time, just fucking pissed off? No.
I’m guilty of this to varying degrees. All motorcyclists and any bicyclists that are doing it as a hobby. I get it for cars where, in my entire continent, they are pretty much a requirement. You have to have a car (let’s not do a car-free digression right now).
But motorcycling? Or trail biking? Those are electives. I have bias because I’m mechanical and the people I get along with tend to also be mechanical. Both hobbies are ones where mechanical issues are frequent enough that you’d rather not be stranded for something basic - or, at least, that’s my thought process. With a bicycle, there’s not a whole lot to it (to me) so why not have the pocket multi tool that could disassemble the whole bike and why not know how to use it? With motorcycles, they have some flukes and tows are so tricky/pricey that I’d like to exhaust all my diagnostic options first. I guess I do have the same view on car drivers as well, but in limited ways. Namely, how to change a flat. I charitably change about 3 a year randomly on the road.
That’s my thought process. It matches my initial facial expression. I try to not put it out verbally though and just help if I can.