How long should things last?

N

nobbie48

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Forum Sponsor
In the 1950 / 60's cars would have perforation rusting in a few years and be junkers in 6-7 years. Today a decent make shouldn't need anything except lubes, gas, tires and wiper blades for five years, a few minor repairs in the next five and degrade as it goes through the next decade.

Electronics? Are you old enough to remember the TV repair man with his suitcase full of tubes. Our big screen is over 10 years old and still lighting up the rec room.

What I wonder about is how long houses will last considering the amount of glue in them. Glue breaks down over time so all the particle board reverts to sawdust at some point. Will all those stapled together townhouses crumple some day?

Has anyone actually worn out a motorcycle in Canada? Tires and other rubber bits will dry and crack but 20 year old bikes can look and run like they were new. Out of style but still bringing fun..

Battery powered tools are largely limited by the battery, 5-7 years. The power cord on my plug in is good for 30-40 years and can be replaced.

Our beer fridge is ancient but quiet as is our freezer, bought used 45 years ago.
 
Last edited:
Your odds of wearing out a motorcycle are thin
A bike is much more likely to have its life cut short in an accident than wear and tear.
Especially in a place like canada where we only get to ride half the year, if that.
 
I have worn out a couple of motorcycles. The last was in 2014, it was a 94 Suzuki TS200R Dualsport -- it had 80K on the clock - not bad for a 2 stroke thumper. It needed just about every wear part replaced -- swing arm bushings, head bearings, rotor, valves, and the engine and transmission needed overhauling. Basically worn out. I have purchased a few worn out bikes that needed restoring.
 
bigpoppa said:
Your odds of wearing out a motorcycle are thin
A bike is much more likely to have its life cut short in an accident than wear and tear.
Especially in a place like canada where we only get to ride half the year, if that.
Click to expand...

Depends on what you mean by wearing out.

You can keep repairing and replacing every part on a motorcycle so it'll never "wear" out. But at a certain point, the cost to maintain the bike will far exceed the cost of just buying a newer model. The old one may not have physically "worn out", but financially, it has.
 
Lightcycle said:
Depends on what you mean by wearing out.

You can keep repairing and replacing every part on a motorcycle so it'll never "wear" out. But at a certain point, the cost to maintain the bike will far exceed the cost of just buying a newer model. The old one may not have physically "worn out", but financially, it has.
Click to expand...
Beyond economical repair is what I think has shifted over time. In the past, objects cost a relative fortune in time or money and were repairable by skilled people. Now, many things are not made to be repairable (either lack of schematics, lack of parts availability or high parts cost) so most of the time we just throw it out and start again.

My parents five year old TV keeps going black and is being replaced. Odds are, a few caps have failed so it can be fixed for a few dollars and a few hours work but if you have to pay someone, they would very likely be replacing driver boards and the cost would exceed a newer better TV.
 
GreyGhost said:
Beyond economical repair is what I think has shifted over time. In the past, objects cost a relative fortune in time or money and were repairable by skilled people. Now, many things are not made to be repairable (either lack of schematics, lack of parts availability or high parts cost) so most of the time we just throw it out and start again.

My parents five year old TV keeps going black and is being replaced. Odds are, a few caps have failed so it can be fixed for a few dollars and a few hours work but if you have to pay someone, they would very likely be replacing driver boards and the cost would exceed a newer better TV.
Click to expand...
That's true. I have a few motorcycles that have been spared from being parted out. They are worth more than they were new, but less that it cost me to revitalize them. Bikes run out of economic viability quickly with few exceptions (HD mostly). My low mileage unmolested bikes from the 60's 70's and 80s that are as fit today as they were new - I'd be lucky to get $2000 a piece.
 
nobbie48 said:
Electronics? Are you old enough to remember the TV repair man with his suitcase full of tubes.
Click to expand...

I'm old enough to remember going to the hardware store with the old boy and watching him test tubes out of the TV on their self serve tube tester.

img.axd


Mad Mike said:
I have worn out a couple of motorcycles. The last was in 2014, it was a 94 Suzuki TS200R Dualsport -- it had 80K on the clock - not bad for a 2 stroke thumper. It needed just about every wear part replaced -- swing arm bushings, head bearings, rotor, valves, and the engine and transmission needed overhauling. Basically worn out.
Click to expand...

Trigger's Broom.

 
Mad Mike said:
I have worn out a couple of motorcycles. The last was in 2014, it was a 94 Suzuki TS200R Dualsport -- it had 80K on the clock - not bad for a 2 stroke thumper. It needed just about every wear part replaced -- swing arm bushings, head bearings, rotor, valves, and the engine and transmission needed overhauling. Basically worn out. I have purchased a few worn out bikes that needed restoring.
Click to expand...

Your two stroke thumper needed valves?
 
It was a culture shock coming to canada back when I was a wee lad

Back home everything from the remote control, to the 'swamp coolers' were repaired, was strange to see people throw everything away and just replace it with the new, till we learned it was just cheaper to do it that way in Canada.
 
bigpoppa said:
It was a culture shock coming to canada back when I was a wee lad

Back home everything from the remote control, to the 'swamp coolers' were repaired, was strange to see people throw everything away and just replace it with the new, till we learned it was just cheaper to do it that way in Canada.
Click to expand...
Yeah. It's amazing what can be done economically around the world that just doesn't work here.

I needed a spring made in south korea so I went to a hardware store, picked a coil off the wall (one of thousands) and they cut it to length, ground the ends flat and handed it to me. I think the best I could do here is pick something out of a catalogue and get it tomorrow (and pay a small fortune).

My uncle need a hole dug in Nairobi (~3m x 5m x 3m dp). The soil there is horrendous, with a full swing a pick-axe penetrates <2". IIRC, it was a full time job for three people for a few months to make the hole. Sure you could have rented one of the two excavators in the city and had it done in a day but that would cost you many many thousands. For hand digging, it was <$200. Same economics applies to windows. The vast majority of their windows are small glass planes leaded together as large sheets of glass are expensive and labor is cheap. In Canada, I have no idea how much it would cost to get a window without fake mullions but it would be a fortune.
 
bitzz said:
Your two stroke thumper needed valves?
Click to expand...
Sure thing, replaced every 20K. Some modern 2 strokes use power valves to stretch and squeeze the exhaust ports, adds torque at the low end and hp at the high end.

40720
 
FLSTC said:
This was back in the days when you had to get up and walk over to the TV to change the channel.
Click to expand...

LOL. I was the remote. I learned quickly not to be in the room unless there was something on I actually wanted to watch. Then the future arrived. Bliss.

Push_button_cable_box.jpg
 
TV's were also a ton more money back then so repairing them made more sense than buying another. I wouldn't consider new TV's any more or less reliable (not including the projection tv phase where the "guns" always needed to be re-aligned although usually it could be done by the owner)
 
GreyGhost said:
Beyond economical repair is what I think has shifted over time. In the past, objects cost a relative fortune in time or money and were repairable by skilled people. Now, many things are not made to be repairable (either lack of schematics, lack of parts availability or high parts cost) so most of the time we just throw it out and start again.

My parents five year old TV keeps going black and is being replaced. Odds are, a few caps have failed so it can be fixed for a few dollars and a few hours work but if you have to pay someone, they would very likely be replacing driver boards and the cost would exceed a newer better TV.
Click to expand...

I can buy a new toaster for $23. If a part fails there is no way it can be fixed for less if I had to pay someone to do it, if they can get parts. Then I have an old toaster.

The local hardware store used to fix screens, small appliances etc. Try that at Home Depot and you get a blank stare.

Electronics are built with pick and place systems which require either very specialized equipment to replace or a board is replaced. One can always build a board from capacitors and resistors but circuit chips are a different matter.
 
I've been to the drug store to check and replace tubes before. I know someone that builds tube amps now. In any case we went from a 12" black and white that sat on top of an old dresser, to a big console with one of these:
Zenith_200_1952.jpg

The springs for it cost a fortune, so you had to be very careful with it, or so I was told by my dad. It was a lot of work to go from channel six Toronto to channel three Barrie, and channel eleven Hamilton.
 
Guess what part of your car or motorcycle has the longest parts warranty coverage, as prescribed by law?
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom