I think fear probably plays a significant role on both ends. On the consumer side of thing, there is a fear of loss. A lot of people don't want to even mess with their own oil, headlights, etc. for fear of messing up their cars. A lot of people don't have the luxury of extra cash lying around to pay to fix any of their mistakes nor a second car to tool around in when their first car gets messed up. As a result, they opt for better safe than sorry. I know similarly, for computers, my first foray into Linux was on a busted ass computer that was so janky, even if I did fuck something up, I wasn't at a loss because the computer was practically a paperweight as it was. I was already looking at buying another computer dead in the face so I didn't really have anything to lose at that point. It wasn't until I had nothing to be afraid of that I tried to do something new. As for designers and engineers, I think they're afraid that if they make their products too easy to work with, they're risking their company's assets. "Hey ho. If we make this cell phone easy to jail break, Apple could lose revenue and I could lose my job for not making a more locked down system. Better safe than sorry, let's put this shit behind a brick wall."
Had a friend ask me about "carbureted bikes" the other day. Everything he'd ever owned was fuel-injected and he was worried he'd be incapable of keeping a carbureted Ducati running. Then he asked about valve lash. Apparently he'd put a combined 100k on no less than 4 Japanese crotch rockets without ever once adjusting valve lash. I guess he rode them until they weren't as zippy as they used to be, sold them and bought another. He was legitimately considering a Harley because he was afraid of the responsibility of learning to do his own valve lash.
Well, I don't know much about bikes, but I do know that carbureted engines for cars do need a little more care to keep them running smoothly, especially if you're running a multi-carb setup. If I had to guess, I'd say the same is probably true for bikes. That said, while the task of setting valve lash is relatively straightforward, I can understand why he'd be uncomfortable doing it. I'm gonna confess something here. Know why I own an FR-S? I mean, besides the fact that it's fun. I don't have to do jack shit with it. I just drive it, take it to the dealer for its scheduled maintenance, and stay worry free. The lack of worry really adds to my enjoyment of the car and I'm confident enough in it that it's my daily driver. When I had my El Camino on the other hand, that thing broke down every single month. It sat not running more often than not. Either I knew how to fix it and didn't have the money, or I had the money but didn't know what to do. Even though it wasn't my DD and I loved the hell out of that car, it was a frustrating experience. Now that I'm a bit older, and have money to spare, I'm willing to look at another GM G-Body again when I have space for one. It kind of circles back to the whole fear thing we talked about. For those interested in Valve Lash, Summit Racing has a great tutorial on how to adjust for it . . .
Bike carbs are a whole 'nuther animal. Variable venturi, auto-compensating for pressure. Fewer parts, less adjustability... and then you get to balance 'em. But hey- you have to balance fuel injection, too. On the plus side, everything else you can plug it into the 'puter. Bike valve lash is a whole 'nuther animal too. no rocker arms. Here's a great guide for the KLR not because you'll ever have one, but because it introduced me to the phrase "abyss towels."
I lawled a little. I'll be damned though, if that's not an intimidating number of steps there.This is a part of the procedure where you can't be careful enough. A wrong move here that allows a cap locator or screw to fall down into the engine has made men go crazy, women faint, and children cry. (Undocumented information.)