Arguably, at least half the reason that motorcycle people find ourselves drawn to bikes is their stories. If a bike has a good story, chances are excellent that we want to hear it. And if it's a vintage bike, maybe some small-to-large part of us longs to make ourselves a part of that story, too.
"I can fix him," you might think to yourself. And maybe, just maybe, you'll even be right about that. It's probably even more likely if you're someone like the Bearded Mechanic, who clearly has that magic combination of things you need to really sink your teeth into project bikes like the two in this video.
Craig, as TBM's friends call him, is no stranger to breathing new life into 1970s Japanese iron. That made him the perfect person to get a phone call from a lady who was looking to part with two beautiful, early 1970s Yamahas.
One was her husband's, who used to race it; the other was his buddy's, who used to race with him. There's even a point in this video where we get to see the husband's racing gear, including a vintage Yamaha jersey, Bell helmet, and sweet '70s leather MX pants. Please excuse me, I have something in my eye.
In the end, a DT250 and an MX250 with plenty of stories to tell both went home with Craig and his buddy, with plans to recommission both and get them back out and ripping. The good news is, even though they'd been sitting unridden for a couple of decades, it appears that they sat indoors, in a shed. That's definitely a lot more promising than languishing away in a disused heap outdoors, especially in the heart of icy Midwestern winters (which is the fate of the region in which they've been living).
Now, while it's certainly true that nostalgia can make you see things in a more positive, can-do light than might necessarily be warranted on the merits, Craig has done a lot more with bikes in a lot worse condition over the years. If you want proof, just take a little poke back through some other videos on his YouTube channel. Compared to some moto nightmares, these two are just as sweet as sweet can be.
Does that mean they'll run? At least one of them does by the end of this video, but I'll let you watch it to see which one (and hear it, of course).
