Finding Your YouTube Niche With Help From AI

I’ve been riding around lately with something on my mind, and it’s not the road. A few weeks back, a comment from Ben over at Bikes, Beards, and Brews kind of cracked me open. He said that the moto channels that disappear usually do so because they tried to copy someone else, got frustrated when it didn’t work, and walked away. No unique angle, no reason to stick around.

That hit me harder than I expected, because if I’m being straight with you, I wasn’t sure I was doing it any differently.

So I did what made sense to me at the time. I sat down with AI and started a real conversation about finding your YouTube niche, where mine was, and where it needed to go.

The AI Conversation That Actually Pushed Back

The first thing I figured out pretty quick is that AI will agree with whatever you say if you let it. You ask it something, it’ll validate you and send you on your way. That’s not useful.

So I told it upfront: treat me like a good friend who has my best interest in mind and isn’t afraid to tell me I’m wrong.

Once I did that, the conversation got a lot more honest.

I gave it the basics about the channel, what I liked doing, what I didn’t, and then I had it basically interview me to figure out what I actually cared about. From that, it landed on something that made a lot of sense. Focus on the rides I naturally enjoy, backcountry roads, local destinations, and film with purpose rather than just sticking a camera on my helmet and talking.

That’s where the micro-adventure series came from. The covered bridges, the Daniel Boone Homestead, the group ride stops. I genuinely had fun making those videos and I thought we were onto something.

Then the Data Showed Up

I decided I wanted to do a proper channel audit. I built out a spreadsheet, pulled everything from WaltInPA.com and YouTube analytics, and fed it into AI. Video titles, views, watch time, likes, average duration. All of it.

Then I said: re-evaluate everything you told me about finding your YouTube niche based on what’s actually performing.

The first pass came back pretty encouraging. The moto vlogs and destination rides were pulling in small subscriber bumps. Stay the course.

But I kept going. I kept adding older stats, kept feeding it back in, and eventually I got to the video I knew was going to change the conversation.

The Number That Changed Everything

My 8,000-mile review of the Yamaha MT-09 SP has over 100,000 views. I knew the second I plugged that in, the AI was going to flag it. And it did, immediately.

It pointed out that one video had pulled more views than every other piece of content on my channel combined. And rather than just saying “go make more review videos,” it pushed back on my knee-jerk response that I couldn’t afford to just go buy bikes to review.

It said the point isn’t to go out and buy a new motorcycle. The point is to build off what’s already working. That video is still pulling views today. The people who subscribed from it want more of that kind of content. The moto vlogs are fine, but that’s not why they’re here.

Then it kept going.

The first impressions video on the MT-09 SP pulled around 80,000 views. The Kawasaki Ninja 400 thousand-mile review hit around 45,000. A one-day review of a borrowed 2017 Honda CBR300R brought in about 26,000. A Bagster comfort seat review for the MT-09 got around 16,000.

The AI basically said: people see you as a legit source for honest opinion. All the other stuff is just noise.

That stung a little, I’m not going to lie. I like the moto vlogs. I like the aimless riding around and talking to the camera. But the numbers don’t really care about that.

So What Does the Channel Look Like Going Forward

Here’s where I landed, and honestly it feels right.

The moto vlogs aren’t going anywhere. I’ve got a bunch recorded already and I enjoy making them. They keep the channel consistent and they keep me motivated. AI agreed on that too. It said keep producing them, they serve a purpose, just don’t mistake them for your growth engine.

What I’m adding on top of that is more intentional, evergreen content built around the bikes I already own. I’m not going out to buy anything. I’ve already paid for the MT-09 SP and the Ninja 400. The goal is to produce honest, useful content around those bikes that people will keep finding when they search.

Not a content farm. Not chasing every possible search term. Just genuine, useful stuff for the people who are actually looking for it.

And the destination rides stay too. They’re searchable from a Pennsylvania motorcyclist perspective, they give me an excuse to ride somewhere interesting, and they’re a little bit of both worlds.

It took a few weeks of back and forth, a spreadsheet, and an AI that I had to basically teach to disagree with me. But I feel like I’ve got a clearer picture of finding your YouTube niche than I’ve had in a while.

Ride With Me

If you want to see how this plays out, come hang out on YouTube. I’d appreciate the subscribe.

Got a friend who’s running a moto channel and spinning their wheels? Send them this post. Might save them some frustration.

And if you want to talk riding, content, gear, or anything else, the WaltInPA Discord is always open.