My Pilgrimage To SRK Cycles.

Today my daughter and I wanted to make a simple road trip. Time to enjoy the open air, windows down, and watching farmland rolling by. An idea that crossed my mind, head out to Lancaster, Pa. Then the idea started to snowball.

Pick a destination in the area and the first place that came to mind?

SRK Cycles. SRK Cycles has a YouTube Channel called Bikes and Beards. As a new motorcyclist, I followed the Beards and Bikes YouTube video even before I was even licensed. Let me tell you about our road trip.

Who Is SRK Cycles?

No expert here, still a new follower of theirs, but SRK Cycles appear to use their YouTube channel for advertising their motorcycle inventory. Sean, the boss, produces videos reviewing their newly acquired motorcycles(and even weird 3 & 4 wheeled vehicles). Much of the episodes are entertaining, a real reason I subscribed, and very informative.

How Did I Find The Beards and Bikes Channel?

I searched for cheap Chinese dual sports, and Bikes and Beards had several videos about buying and reviewing cheap motorcycles they bought off Amazon. The bike review videos I watched closely were about the Hawk 250.

The reviews had certain realistic information: acceleration tests, two-up tests, top speed tests, and handling. Soon after the basic reviews and trials, they covered the essential review items; they stepped up their game.

They Did What To A Motorcycle?

Bikes and Beards have an unorthodox method of testing some motorcycles. The cheap Chinese motorcycle was tested in extraordinary ways. There were jump tests into a pond and even a test of how durable a motorcycle was after being buried alive. These were weird, but they were very entertaining.

Was The Hawk 250 Review Effective?

Well, I bought its cousin, the Chinese-made TaoTao TBR7 Dual-Sport Motorcycle. So it might have affected me.

Planning My SRK Cycles Pilgrimage.

So, Bikes And Beards Location For Filming? 

A quick search would find where SRK Cycles is located, but then I wasn’t inspired to make a pilgrimage to any motorcycle channel location, and I picked Bikes and Beards.  

What Made Me Figure I Would Visit?

Location, Location, Location.

So, Where Is Bikes And Beards Located?

On the Bikes and Beards YT channel, Sean frequently mentions Pennsylvania roads and our laws. I, too, live in Pennsylvania. So I figured he was a neighbor, and who doesn’t recall the old Pa license plate tag line: “You’ve Got A Friend In…” Pa. 😀

So living in Pa, and Bikes and Beards is filmed in Pa, I was motivated to visit the actual filming site.

Bikes and Beards is a YT channel name, but their second channel, SRK Cycles, is named after the dealership. A quick search of SRK Cycles dealership location showed that they are located in farm country, and I love driving through farm country. Now with an actual location, time to plan the ride.

I Need A Road-trip Partner!

Not to brag, but my daughter likes road trips. So having her come along was a great idea. So she had time, and off we went. On to SRK Cycles!

How Was The Pilgrimage?

The drive out to the shop was incredible. My daughter is in her teenage years, and having a listening ear is very helpful for her to reduce her “teen-angst” levels. Anyone who has raised a daughter has warned me and would understand her issues with being a teenager. It was nice to have her have quiet moments where she just watched the green farm fields roll by and occasionally call out “cow” or “horses” to get my attention. The drive there and back was filled with farmland/open space views.

How Was SRK Cycles Setup?

The shop looks like some corporate office annex where they keep HR or payroll hidden from the outside. The only indication there is a motorcycle business is that one door has a motorcycle picture and the company name on it.

Once inside, SRK motorcycles open to a warehouse floor area. The place looks smaller than on the Bikes and Beards channel. Space is crowded with motorcycles and fun, exciting other vehicles. My favorite is the rock-crawler, and I found myself laughing at how that YouTube episode went.

Did I Only Go There to Gawk?

No, once I figured the daughter and I were taking a road trip to SRK Cycles, I looked at their Website: SRK Cycles (3/18/2024 Broken?), and reviewed their inventory. One item stood out, a yellow 2018 Ducati Scrambler Icon. I recalled seeing the episode with that motorcycle and can’t figure why it was still there.

I want to see this Ducati Scrambler and possibly test ride it. As a second motorcycle, it would be great. Power to grow into, and small enough to manage as a new motorcyclist, or those were my thoughts…

Did I Ever Talk With SRK Cycles Before The Road Trip?

Yes! Before started our road trip, I used SRK Cycle’s website to send a message with my cellphone information. I was asking about the Yellow Ducati Scrambler. To confirm, SRK Cycle’s was open and possibly test riding the motorcycle. I received pretty quick responses, and in the time it took to drive to SRK Cycles, I had confirmation that the shop open and the bike was available for test riding.

What Did I Do At SRK Cycles?

I walked around and talked with my daughter about many motorcycles and did gawk at the rock-crawler. I met Chris, who was very friendly and busy showing motorcycles. He was very approachable and answered my questions to satisfaction.

Did I See The Ducati Scrambler?

Yes, and I got to test-ride it. I did bring my jacket, gloves, helmet, etc., just in case I could. Chris verified I was licensed, and had protective equipment, and got the Ducati Scrambler outside. I was given directions to highway speed areas and left. I plan to cover my quick road test in a later post.

Did I Crash On The Ducati Test-Ride?

No. The Ducati was brought back in one piece.

I Met Another SRK Cycle Staff member.

I met Celeb, found he was responding to my web inquiry about the Ducati and chatting with me via text messages. It was nice to see a face to the helpful communications I received.

Celeb was a numbers man. He quickly told me the ‘out-the-door price on the Ducati Scrambler. No pressure and he did take extra time explaining the process should I want to plan further in purchasing the bike. It was beneficial information.

Did I Buy The Ducati Scrambler?

No. 🙁

I drove out to SRK Cycles in my car with my daughter, and it’s a 90-minute trip each way. This commute was not ideal for buying a motorcycle right there and then. I was given enough information to digest, and Celeb even offered solutions to getting the motorcycle home if today’s conditions didn’t allow me to ride it home. Again, he was accommodating with information about buying the motorcycle.

Left SRK Cycles Emptied Handed?

Well yes. Hands were empty; the Ducati Scrambler is still there. However, the mind was filled with good information, and the heart was happy with riding another motorcycle.

The ride home was fun and scenic. I did gain a new appreciation for the Bike and Beards guys(and one gal I recall seeing). They are working with many motorcycles, and in a tiny space, with limited storefront advertisement. The idea of having a YouTube channel to promote their company and inventory is fantastic. Sean’s view of bible verses at the start of each test ride has a ‘accept me as I am or move on attitude.

Anything I Learned New About SRK Cycles?

SRK Cycles is in the business of buying and selling motorcycles. They are dealing with machinery that is often dropped, neglected, and lied about by their owners. SRK Cycles has even purchased motorcycles at auction, and no back history of the bike and made it reliable and sell-able to the public. It’s an exciting business model with lots of room for error. However, SRK Cycle’s public image is ‘clean.’ I never heard of anyone being done dirty by them. If a machine failed, SRK Cycles helped remedy the situation.

Now my opinions are based all on internet rumors and reading web reviews. I have no experience to recommend them personally, but I would buy a motorcycle from them. Of course, doing my due diligence on a motorcycle condition, the staff was very friendly to volunteer information about the only bike I was interested in in the short period. I didn’t feel they were hiding anything.

I appreciated that.

Thanks for stopping by and reading about my visit to SRK Cycles.

Ride Safe, Ride Fun!

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Update About My Most Recent SRK Cycle Post

As you know, I’ve been following SRK Cycle’s for a while now on YouTube with their Bikes and Beards channel. So like many, I have been concerned about the future of SRK Cycles with the recent videos.

I posted a follow-up about what everyone has asked about:

What is going on with SRK Cycles?
Why are there no more SRK Motorcycles?
Did SRK Cycles Close?

Keep Up To Date From The Bikes and Beards YouTube Channel.

Rather than rehash what I already posted here, go check out the post:

What Happened To SRK Cycles?