This thread is full of many of things that have gone through my head over the years. I'm 35 with a formal grad education in molecular biology (nowadays a keyboarder as you'd call it getting paid to think and type), but I was raised in a blue collar trades home. Every man in my family on both sides in the trades. This gave me a great appreciation for knowing how to fix things (and many examples of how the 'book' was not fit for real life). I may have chose a path in life that puts me at the desk conceptualizing the metaphorical motorcycle, but it is not lost on me the art of actually physically building it, the QC, fixing/maintaining it, and the appreciation of that side of the job and career choice. It takes both kinds of people. Unfortunately, the modern world prioritizes the former group over the latter these days and you get short-lived, planned obsolesce in today's products. In kind, you get a generation of people who don't value learning to fix something that breaks and goes away too quickly. It's better to have broad user knowledge and be adaptable then it is to have deep understanding (or have time in the saddle teaching you know things work).
To me, it is far more satisfying to return something to its former glory to see it live again; to spend my most precious resource (time) maintaining something out of love and personal joy (knowing it will always need this despite my best efforts) then it is to buy it new. I view much of my life this way. It's a love what you got situation (CSNY was also right about the relationship side of this as well).
I agree with many of the comments made in this thread, however; I would like to add my 2 cents being of the millennial generation (which is no longer truly young, but somehow stays in the news as the avocado toast generation):
I see the same pockets of younger kids who appreciate the old just as this forum does (and most likely is of the same stock as you old geezers in the younger shell. Hell I know I am. Old man trapped in a younger man's body. Yes, I know my time will come!). However, younger people are not always incentivized to choose the path that will lead them here. A case of "they don't know what they don't know." Fixing old stuff is still fun. Living by those hard earned principles required to fix old stuff is not as widespread as it once was. It's the equivalent of the last true cowboy in some respects. It's not that those skills are not appreciated (or even desired), but scratching out an existence is harder (and requires one to truly believe/live those hard principles gained) despite what you see successful everyday in the world. I think there will be a shift back in the future. All is cyclical. (steps off pedestal).
Anyway, my point is that this is a great forum and a wonderful source of information regarding not just old bikes, but life. Just want to express my appreciation for this. You old guys may not be teaching younger guys in the old ways you were once use to, but you are still having a significant impact though a more modern approach (the good old keyboard you may or may not hate).
