Name an interest, and you can probably find at least one person on YouTube that's making content in the niche you're looking for.
There are quite a few people in the motorcycle space, for example, but they're hardly a monolith. Some people are experienced or at least amateur mechanics, and some want absolutely nothing to do with turning a wrench. And that's fine; you do you, I always say.
But what happens if you're, say, a person who in no way claims to be a builder or even a mechanic, and you decide to take on the challenge of doing a custom bike build-off? Then you might be Sean from popular YouTube channel Bikes and Beards. He's owned a motorcycle shop for a long time, but he's always surrounded himself with more mechanically-minded friends because that's not his area of interest. (In fact, that's where the Bearded Mechanic came from, if that's a piece of lore you were missing.)
This Build-Off is for charity, which is cool. But it's Sean against his old pal, the Bearded Mechanic, and also Paul Sr. of Orange County Choppers. So, while Bikes and Beards may have the most YouTube subscribers, it's clear who the underdog in this fight will be.
To keep things interesting, they polled their viewers to determine which geographic region each contestant should select their base bike from. Paul Sr., who's known for building American bikes, got Japan. Craig got America, and Sean got Europe.
The ground rules for this competition include one simple fact: Each base bike that a competitor buys must cost them US $3,000 or less. Sean hit up Facebook Marketplace and started looking, and that's how he found this fire sale of a Triumph.
No, wait, sorry, it's a Triumph that had actually been through a fire. The seller said the bike itself wasn't on fire, but it had been in a fire. I mean, if the engine's not crispy, that'd make a difference, but the closer you look (and you do get to see it up pretty close in the later part of this video), the worse it gets.
Anything that wasn't metal is basically melted. From the grips, to the instrument cluster, to part of the radiator cover, to the wiring loom. It's...not good.
True; it did only cost $1,200, but at what cost to the actual ease of the build? Especially for someone who freely admits that they've never built a bike before, and don't even really do much in the way of wrenching on their bikes? Insert nervous laughter here.
It's not clear what the spending limit is for parts, but let's hope it's not whatever the difference is between the initial cost of the bike and that $3,000 mark. If it is, Sean is already in serious trouble.
What about the other two contestants? He gives them both a call in this video to see how their builds are going, since they all agreed to start on October 14. While he might be playing it up for drama (on YouTube? NEVER!), it seems like Sean has a strong idea of how much of an uphill battle he's facing.
Do you think this Triumph can be saved, or would he have done better to light his $1,200 on fire? Let us know in the comments.
