I would guess that most of the people that say they don't use one have quite a bit of experience in taking bikes to pieces because with that experience comes the ability to judge how tight a bolt should be.
Apart from a few mission critical bolts (big ends, cylinder head etc) getting it tight enough to stay in place without getting it so tight as to damage the threads comes with the ability to feel whats going on. That's not "cutting corners" and I'd much rather use a mechanic with the experience to feel how a bolt is running as he tightens it than someone who just dials up the number and cranks till it clicks.
The trouble is that there's many a strip twixt cup and lip. Until you've mangled a few hundred bolts, or had them fall out, knowing how tight a bolt should be is guesswork and the torque wrench is the safer option. I've seen people snap 6mm bolts because they just assumed you do them up as tight as you can. If you've got past that stage the torque wrench may be optional, but if you take one treat it like it's made of glass - they're precision bits of kit and worse than not using one if they're out of calibration.
|