Harley-Davidson and Computers

I don't know *why* this came to mind this morning...maybe it's an "old guy" thing, damn if I know... Anyway, I live in this little beach town, and friends of mine, kids (to me), come to me regularly w/computer problems, silly stuff, usually, I'm to embarassed to post it, really. And a little while back, one comes w/malware, and I spend a couple of days by myself, not getting anywhere, finally somebody tells me about MajorGeeks, chaslang saves me, all is well...word gets out, same thing happens, back I come, Tim saves me, same thing...

And it so reminded me of my wild youth, when I was just out of army and had a '63 panhead Harley, and then a '47 Knucklehead--long before electronic ignition or push-button starts--and they were simple but *high* maintenance, and you absolutely *had* to learn to work on them, and of course, if you knew even a *little* everybody thought you were a "wrench" and would come and want help...and since their were always pretty girls around, it was kind of cool...but every once in a while, things would get *really* screwed up, and then a *serious* mechanic would come along, who actually understood internal combustion engines, electrical circuits, and would save the day, the rest of us feeling like total pompous idiots....

Or worse, back when a car would break, and the hood would come up, there'd always be four or five guys immediately stick their heads under the hood, out-doing each other in "diagnosing" the problem...until a real mechanic would come along and fix the damn thing...

Obvious why this place reminds me of that time...:-D

 

That's a good comparison.
My first bikes were a '64 BSA Gold Star and a '70 Gold Star..
Mechanically, they were sound, but needed some wrenching due to being big 4-stroke single-cylinder engines.
It was those basic skills I learned that made me become an Engineman and then get a double MOS as GM Diesel Tech, In the USN.
And it was also that that kept me busy on shore helping my friends keep their bikes running.

I guess it was those years of helping friends that caused me to take up helping here. I noticed a niche that needed help and did a lot of research in order to be able to help others get back a very necessary part of their PC's.
We do have "wrenches" here, although some specialize in certain areas, and stay out of the way of those in others. We even call in help from the other wrenches, when we get baffled.

We have guessers. too, which just complicates things at times, but then an educated guess can solve a problem.

 

Not that the occasional SWAG isn't right on the money either.

The best part about here, is like the big meets, if one of us hasn't heard of it, or seen it, there's probably someone here who has or knows who might have. Thats why I try to give help when I can, to return the favor for those that helped me when I needed it.

 

Yep: I like the way this place is set up, w/the malware seperate, as that would cause chaos, w/everybody piling in telling how to remove malware, and the rest of it people just say what they know: i've been helped in all kinds of areas, and every once in a while thro my two bits in too...good set-up, it works....lotta nice people on here too...

 

Huh. My first bike was a huffy

 

lol duckfeet I remember slightly unscrewing the carburettor pilot jet because i thought it was a power valve on the first bike when I was about sixteen,Live and learn:-D

When I saw this thread title I thought it would be a post about newer Harley Davidsons having computer engine management,I don't know if they do or not its an American bike after all :-D and it got me thinking,Wouldn't it be funny seeing a Hells Angel plugging a laptop into his bike to diagnose the the engine problem?:-D

I suppose it would for my generation who knew Hells angels before laptops,would it seem funny for the new generation where laptops are connected to everything?

I think this line of thought needs a new thread :-D

 

I laugh now: we used to be such a scruffy, lowrent, bunch, and you *always* had lots of tools, anywhere you went, and if you didn't know yer pushrods and clutch plates, and pistons, and every damn thing, to where you could put it together in someone's yard, u didn't last long...yeah, I live in an old HA town, and they all tell me stories, but I wasn't here then, was way out in Louisiana...and I used to carry a wrench just to whack my carburator, when the float would get stuck, and gas would start pouring out, and I didn't even have a shut-off valve

But yeah--I reminded myself of that today, on some other forum here, I think I spoke a little above my pay grade, and got humbled a bit...always funny, in a way, and getting pompous--as I was doing--always gets tweaked...knowlege is sort of transient, and what took so long to learn then...doesn't much apply anymore...really funny, is my stepdad's 94, WWII vet, and he is kind of into computers, and we got him a little laptop, for him and my mom today, and it's kind of funny, watching them fiddle...never could get mom to take a ride on my harley...

Yep, no oil patch in my front drive, those days are behind me, and my computer does pretty good without chains or oil, so ... :-D

 

LOL
Yeah, my days of getting oily, busting knuckles, and swearing at a stubborn bolt are pretty much over, too. ('cept for that stubborn lawn mower of mine) :tas

Now that you have brought it up, I think that's what I'm doing with PC's now. Tweaking and playing with things to see how they work.
It's like adjusting the jets or shaving a head to get a little more out of it. Sometimes you tweaked a little too much.rolleyes
Matter of fact, I just killed my test PC, by trying to install an obscure OS, that ended up eating part of my XP.
I keep tweaking at things on that one just for the fun of finding out what works better and what doesn't.
Good thing there aren't very many apps or data on that one. :-D Just finished a reinstall to get it back up again.
The more I play, the more I learn, and the more trouble I get into. Just like when I rode.