SE-Service Esox Lucius

This one-and-only Championship custom motorcycle is for sale. Current World Champion of Custom Bike Building, Stellan Egeland, of SE-Service in Sweden, is offering up for sale his 2006 contender “Esox Lucius”.

After meeting Stellan and his wife at the 2007 World Championship in Sturgis, where he took first place for his Hulster 8-Valve, we became fast friends through the universal language of motorcycles. Stellan is a great guy with an interesting sense of humor. His shop’s mechanical creations, however, are completely serious and showcase impeccable craftsmanship and ingenuity. I hope to make the trip to Sweden some day to visit his “state-of-the-art” shop, as he calls it. I’ll try to describe some of the details he told me about the “Esox Lucius”.

This one of a kind motorcycle was SE-Service’ first bike built with the intention of being a show bike. The project started as a build for a daily driver but then, he said, things got a little bit out of hand. He used a rebuilt 1943 80ci UL Flat Head Harley engine, with the VL cylinders to clear the single down tube. The name “Esox Lucius” is Latin for the Northern Pike game fish: the fish with the most attitude in the lake.

Working from an original sketch by his friend Michael Hallgren, Stellan and colleague, Drusse Månson, worked every night and weekend for four months (792 hours) to get the bike built in time for the championship. Stellan told me that when they were building it they took a lot of inspiration from early hot rods, old machinery and Japanese bike builders. The down tube of the frame is made to look like an I-beam front axle from early hot rod cars. The magnesium wheels are a pair of vintage 12-spoke American Racing wheels that used to sit in front of old drag race cars. They’re wrapped with Hoosier front runner tires (drag racing front tires for cars) that have been turned down on a tire lathe to make them more suitable for bike use.

The “rear fender” is a copy of a hood ornament from an unknown 1940’s car that he found in a wrecking yard where he also found the SU carbs (from a 1951 Aston Martin). The kickstand was a clutch pedal from a ‘38 ford, and the shift stick is from the same car. The mechanical fuel level gauge in the gas tank is from a 1930 Model-A Ford. The petcocks and oil level sight glass are from model steam engines and the oil tank is a Scot blower case.

Though it may seem that the American custom bike culture has peaked here in the States, I believe that the rest of the world still has a fascination with American-made stuff. It’s almost as if non-Americans capture the essence of what’s American better than we Americans do.
Now that he has to defend his championship ring, it’s likely Stellan will use the proceeds from this sale to fund his next project bike. Serious buyers can contact Stellan directly at “info (at) seservice.se”. More photos and a video of the bike can be seen at his shop’s website.

Awards :
Second Place at European Championship of Custom Bike Building 2006.
Third Place at World Championship of Custom Bike Building 2006.
Winner Old Custom Elmia 2006
Winner Best Engine Elmia 2006
Second Place at Custom Bike Hot Rod & Rock Show 2007
Winner Custom Mcdagarna 2007
Winner Guldbågen Mcdagarna 2007
Winner US Custom/Chopper Strängnäs Bike Show 2007

Link: SE-Service