When I was little, as I believe I've mentioned before, I was definitely always one of those kids with a million questions for the adults in my life. Most of them involved "but why?" about any number of things. Not because I was trying to be a pain in the butt, but because I genuinely wanted to know.
Why? How? Please explain how it all works; I want to understand!
Both of my grandparents, to their credit, were very DIY-minded people in their own right. My grandfather would show me certain things, like why he planted seeds in the garden a certain way, and how he fed them and when and why. My grandmother would show me other things, like how she made a pizza from scratch, or how to carefully comb and shape and spray a piece of fake fur into a fancy lady's hairstyle for a doll she was making out of an old wine bottle (and sewing a glamorous gown for on the sewing machine my grandfather had electrified for her).
For an extremely inquisitive child like me, it was great; as was their home library, which was chock full of books that I was frequently told to go look in if I had questions they couldn't answer. This is an article, not a therapy session, but I think it's not that difficult to see where some of my lifelong tendencies come from, and I'm only half joking.
But as I've gotten older, I've heard the constant moaning about how you get younger folks interested in doing things themselves, coupled with insults about how [insert insulting comment about your favorite younger generation here] doesn't know how to do X or Y anymore. Sure, some folks don't want to learn how to do certain things; just like some folks have always not wanted to learn to do certain things. There's no specific generation, young OR old, who has a monopoly on either wanting or not wanting to learn things. It's just people!
A certain snarky part of me always wants to say, "Yeah, and who didn't teach them how to do their laundry/cook their own food/learn a second language, Katie?" But a greater part of me also knows that in most cases, you don't know what you don't know. And if there's something you don't know about, then it stands to reason that you won't know why you should care.
Maybe someday the stars will align, and you will! But until that time, you and that thing are operating on completely separate paths, until and unless those paths intersect.
Take, for example, the 999Lazer guys and a 1973-ish two-stroke ancient Hodaka dirt bike they got their hands on in 2025. If you've watched any of their content before, then you'll know that they're absolutely mad for dirt and enduro bikes, and have fixed up and/or converted or customized plenty of more modern machines (both two- and four-stroke).
But just because they know their way around modern machines doesn't automatically mean they're going to know their way around this 50-year-old rarity from way back in the day. And sure enough, as soon as they start cracking into it, things are looking more than a bit weird inside. The carb is a bit strange, though at least it's somewhat decipherable since they already have general familiarity with carburetors.
But the gear selector and how it works is a complete mystery. Where even is Neutral? It's all very strange, because things were simply done a different way at that time and by that manufacturer than anything they'd previously experienced.
And so, rather than just bodge it all up and hope for the best, the 999Lazer guys did an extremely cool thing: They asked for help. Using the power of their platform, they asked if anyone who's way into Hodakas had any tips, tricks, advice, or even helpful photos to guide them on their way to getting this thing back together and saving it from the scrap heap.
Scrolling down their comments, for every instance of someone completely unhelpfully going "you should've bought a Honda Elsinore instead," there are multiple detailed comments from seasoned Hodaka enthusiasts giving a bit more insight into the peculiarities of these bikes, suggestions on where to find parts, and even suggestions on where to find even more help to solve their problems and get this thing running well again.
That, friends, is the true magic of the Internet. That's what it's capable of; building communities of like-minded nerds who can enthusiastically exchange information about our weird little interests, regardless of whether miles or kilometers or oceans or countries or borders or even languages (in some cases; that's what translation apps are for) stand between us. From prehistoric message boards to forums to YouTube comments, it's all variations on the same thing.
For every naysayer who is happy to stay in their little bubble and never learn a single new thing again, there are ten more who find out about something new to them, like an early-1970s Hodaka, and want to learn how to fix it up, just because. And if those people reach out and ask for help, the really and truly wonderful part is that there are usually some people who are happy to share their knowledge, unbounded by the constraints of geography.
I don't know about you, but that gives me hope for the future. So my advice to anyone, of any age, is twofold. One: Don't be afraid to ask questions when you don't know something! If you're lucky, you might have the chance to learn something new, and isn't that the most awesome feeling ever? Seriously.
And two: If you have specialized knowledge in your particular areas of interest, don't hoard it! Share it. That's how we keep these skills and things going. Plus, you'll feel really cool if you do; I can almost guarantee it.
