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Stellan Egeland’s BMW Harrier in Action

by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" on 6/3/2009

in Custom motorcycles, Motorcycle Builders

Stellan Egeland on his Harrier

Stellan Egeland on his Harrier

Stellan Egeland builds some very cool customs, but they're not just for show, his are functional. This new video shows his Harrier out and about, plus, who knew, it's a 2 up cruiser?

Stellan tells me he also had a tracktest with Öhlins that turned out great! Their best test rider rode the Harrier and had only good things to say except for the hard seat.

Stellan says: "I dragged the valvecovers on the track (52 degrees before they touch), and they look great with the scratches!" Hmm ... guess this bike isn't just for posing. Cool. Thanks, Stellan!

Video below:

Link: SE Service

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{ 28 comments… add yours below ... }

akbar biberkopf 06.03.09 at 3:16 pm

My wife is going to kill me, but as soon as my soon is tall enough to reach the pegs, the Duc becomes school transport

JC 06.03.09 at 3:23 pm

I like the brake light!

His website is worth checking out as well, a few other really cool bikes on it as well.

Mel Beaty 06.03.09 at 4:24 pm

The bikes very cool but I do have one complaint. Since I don’t think the bike really sounds llike the soundtrack, knock it off and just let me listen to the bike.

parkingpuckguy 06.03.09 at 4:35 pm

Cool looking bike. Kinda Terminatorish….
One complaint though….why would he let his kid climb on the back without the proper gear?!? That spoiled the whole thing for me.

FREEMAN 06.03.09 at 5:06 pm

Very interesting design and style. This bike reminds me of a Porsche Boxter. It kinda looks the same from the front or the rear.

The Ogre 06.03.09 at 5:32 pm

Love it.
Everything aside from the front light – that bit doesn’t look practical enough (what? don’t look at me that way – dang thing is meant to be ridden).

C.P.T.L. 06.03.09 at 6:33 pm

Wow, with the right editing and orchestration, sweeping the porch can be made to seem dramatic.

parkingpuckguy is right on about the child.

As for the machine, a hearty congratulations to Mr. Egeland.

kneeslider 06.03.09 at 7:29 pm

Guys, give him a break about the child on the back, it’s a lighthearted video, you’re missing the point, concentrate on the craftsmanship of the build. Stellan does some really excellent work.

Thiago 06.03.09 at 8:13 pm

Plus, the child got a helmet and some pink pants…that´s what I wear in the summer anyway…

Plus, the bike is really nice, reminds me of the FYM-Sachs 110…except it´s actually a motorcycle.

I wonder if it´s possible to fit a regular front fork…just for maneuvering in tight spaces.

cragfiend 06.03.09 at 9:52 pm

Way cooool! C’mon, you know he just rolled off frame and then dropped the kid off. But he has captured the essence of a motorcycle. Two wheels, engine and and the open wind. I bet when he is riding, he doesn’t even see the bike beneath him, just feels as if he is flying through the air. Plus, the guy has a wicked sense of humor and his builds (check out the others if you haven’t already) are truly unique and have their own beauty.
Massive rep!

PUSkunk 06.03.09 at 11:50 pm

I want this so badly. This is the essence to me of what a modern standard should be. Just a frame hung around an engine, with some really cool industrial style touches and an alternative front end.

Desperate 06.04.09 at 3:37 am

For me the Bike is the front fork – and the seat and there is not much else – which is the whole point. It looks pretty maneuverable to me. The scope and diversity of the designs produced by Mr. Egeland are really to be admired. I particularly like this one.

I would like to propose a question…….

If price were no object (i.e. if enough were produced to make it’s cost of manufacture competitive) and there were enough of this type of bike on the road so that they were not interesting due to their rarity, would they still appeal to the same people.

I am asking because when I see something like this I become almost alarmingly obsessed with the bike as an object. I don’t necessarily feel like I need to own one because I know I can’t afford it but I find myself thinking about one aspect of the design whilst in the supermarket buying washing detergent. Do I feel this way just because I can’t have what I want or is there something deeper in the design of the bike.

Please help…. Desperate.

Carlos Beltran 06.04.09 at 11:07 am

Good work!!

It´s the Center Hub Steering rebirth! We´re not alone! It´s great to see another classic BMW engine in a radical new bike. Not just a beauty bike, a piece of engineering.

You’ll have soon more news about the Demonstener D1200R

Any sponsor for an alternative BMW race???? ;-)

Carlos Beltran
D1200R Project Manager

hoyt 06.04.09 at 11:33 am

This front-end mated to an opposed-twin cylinder motor? That is taking riding to a higher level.

Carlos – great idea, although the race would not be only for hub steer, right? i.e. would other al’turn’atives be allowed?

Jim 06.04.09 at 1:11 pm

Crazier front end than even on a factory beemer. In the last couple of years there have been a number of BMW customs, I wonder if BMW isn’t assisting in some way.

marc 06.04.09 at 1:13 pm

oen word…SICK!!

David 06.04.09 at 2:13 pm

The Stig has a child, who knew

Duffey 06.04.09 at 2:43 pm

I have to say, that’s the coolest custom I have ever seen. ‘Love it!’ is an understatement…
That said, I’d change the lights- I ride at night, and need more candles!

kip 06.04.09 at 3:20 pm

Bike: awesome
Commerical: awesome
Bring your bikes to the US!

PS– The problem with the vid in the US is no one knows who the Stig is outside of car nuts who watch Top Gear, by far the best car show ever. It’s basically like Batman having a kid only a real life Batman who drives cars to their max
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CRV6xDpkZo.

JC 06.04.09 at 5:47 pm

“PS– The problem with the vid in the US is no one knows who the Stig is outside of car nuts who watch Top Gear”

Can’t believe I missed that tip of the hat!

I’ve been accused of being the Stig due to wearing too much black gear (not safe, I know!)

If it were done proper, the kid should have been dressed in all gear and helmet while playing! :)

Kenny 06.05.09 at 3:43 am

Hey JC, I think your accusers have got their facts wrong, they might be thinking of the ghost rider team who wear all black and listen to weird CD’s on the stereo….;).
Love the last two slides of the video, nearly split my sides laughing when the pic of stellan came up. Massive respect to the man.
I would have thought that the BMW R series chassis’ would be ideally suited to the hub-centre steering concept since they already have the second set of mounting points above the engine, all thats left is to fabricate the swingarm mounts….thats a pretty big “all”. Would love to se a documentary on it just to see how Egeland went about designing this, let alone fabricating it!
And Desperate, if Elf Honda proved anything it’s that the hub-centre steering is viable but it wouldn’t come to it’s full potential until it became mainstream, the hub center design apparently just feels too different to people who grew up on tele forks

Stellan 06.05.09 at 6:32 am

Kenny, We didnt use that mounting point for the frontend, we used it to mount the upper frame that holds the handle bar. We mad a completely new frontcover for the engine that holds the front end and shock.

Kip, The Harrier will be at the WC in Sturgis.

Jim, i wish they had been assisting me but i havnt got a dime from those guys.

We have made a small video of the build but youtube took the sound away from it, it can be seen if you search for my name at: http://www.vimeo.com

Best regards
Stellan

Kenny 06.05.09 at 8:38 am

Stellan,
Gonna ask an obvious question, but what does it feel like to ride? Have you ever ridden any of other HCS bikes to compare it to, like a Yamaha GTS1000 or a Tesi/Vyrus, etc.

Nicolas 06.05.09 at 11:45 pm

Holy Sh%t !!!

P. T. Anderson 06.07.09 at 2:39 pm

I love the part where the cows look up in unison as if to say, what the heck was that?!?! It seemed as though even they recognized the difference between this bike and all the rest. Where I come from it takes a lot to get the cows to look up from munching let alone to get them to do it in a synchronized manner.
I’ve been following along with the rest of the class patiently watching the development of a variety of alternative front suspension designs for over 25 years now hoping something more than the Yamaha GTS would make it to us regular folks. I think a lot of us wouldn’t even mind if that meant a kit or even a set of plans. One of my favorites is from Mike Tryphonos ( http://www.tryphonos.com ) but it’s been a while since anything has happened the other is James Parker ( http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/features/122_0801_gsx_radd_p3/photo_08.html and http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/features/122_0801_gsx_radd_p3/photo_12.html ), also been a while since anything has happened. I sincerely hope that this won’t just be another one off or some kind of $100,000 “production” motorcycle. If I just had the plans I might be able to put this together, or even the kit. I think I have the ability but probably not the money to do it….
Beautiful bike, Mr. Stellan you are an artist-engineer thanks for putting this together and letting the rest of us see what you dreamed.

Stellan 06.08.09 at 6:36 am

Kenny,
The testrider from Öhlins (Anders Anderson, former WC-rider) and i cant feel any bad things comared to a fork. I was afraid that the feedback from the handlebar would be poor for a racedriver, but when i asked him about that he said that he got all the information he needed. He had tested some other hubsteering bikes with poor feedback. The only difference i can feel is that i doesnt dive att all the way its setup right now(even with really soft springs)and its extremely stable even with 76mm trail. We dont have a steering damper cause we dont need it. I will test the Tesi later this summer.

P T Andeson,
Im afraid these bikes will also be expensive “one offs”.

P. T. Anderson 06.12.09 at 3:41 pm

Bummer about it being a one off. How about a kit, even a partial one, or plans? Gaaaaaaaa….. waiting for real progress in the motorcycle world just kills me sometimes. Having said that I’d hesitate to let any of the big manufactures buy the design for the Harrier. More than likely they’d dilute it beyond recognition or turn it into a touring rig. Oh well……

stellan 06.14.09 at 2:40 pm

The hubsteering will be available from ISR very soon and the frontcover to mount it in if you would like to build it on a boxer as on the Harrier.

So, ... what do YOU think?

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