What Kind Of Guy Fixes Everyone Else's Bike At a Bike Build Off?

When you hear the words "bike build off," what goes through your mind? Do you instantly picture lots of sparks (both figurative and literal) flying, as machinists and fabricators do their thing and create crazy, one-off parts to fit to their machines? Maybe a few loving, extreme closeups of wrenches tightening or loosening hardware on achingly shiny engine cases, or slow-mo shots of staples going into the bottom side of seats as their covers are affixed in place?

Whether you said yes to any of the above probably doesn't matter, because I'll tell you one thing you probably don't expect: One of the competitors steadily working behind the scenes to make sure all the bikes in the competition are ready and rideable for the show. 

Yet, that's exactly what happened to close out the Orange County Choppers/Bikes and Beards/Bearded Mechanic bike build off. If you're familiar with any of the folks involved, you've probably already guessed that Craig (the Bearded Mechanic) is the guy who did all this. And you'd be right.

Unsurprisingly, Sean (Bikes and Beards) and his burnt-out Triumph were a bit of a mess. That was always going to be the case, and he never really tried to claim otherwise. To his credit, he's never claimed to be a builder, and while he could have enlisted the help of the guys he has working for him to build the bike, he tried to do as much of it himself as he could. That counts for something.

Paul Sr knows how to fabricate and build bikes, but the Yamaha V-Star he worked on was well out of his comfort zone. So the fact that both Sean and Paul turned to Craig to help them work out some mechanical gremlins from each of their machines, in light of their combined levels of experience with these bikes, isn't really all that surprising. Equally, it's not terribly surprising that Craig did his best to help. 

I mean, I don't know the guy, but unless everything on his YouTube channel is a big show, it seems like being helpful is a big part of his personality. He also loves mechanical problem-solving; it is, in fact, a big part of what makes his channel worth watching, for the same reason people enjoy detective novels and TV shows. Only with more wrenches and pilot jets.

In any case, if you're at all curious to see all three bikes together, as well as which one wins the competition, you'll need to watch this video. But I think you already know who the real winner was here, right?

The Road That Leads To This

Let The Paul Sr Vs Bearded Mechanic Vs Bikes & Beards Build-Off Begin!

Paul Sr Squashes Pretend Beef, Collabs With YouTubers Who Called OCC Bikes Trash