Stellan Egeland’s BMW HP2 Based Slugger

>Sweden’s Stellan Egeland is one of the world’s most innovative custom motorcycle builders. Egeland is prepared to push the limits of styling and use as much modern technology as possible. His approach resulted in a podium finish at the 2009 European Championship Of Custom Bike Building—with the remarkable hub-steered Harrier—and his BMW HP2-based ‘Slugger’ is the follow-up.

“When the Harrier was sold, I missed it so much that I decided to build a simpler version of it to have as my personal ride,’ says Egeland. ‘A friend of mine had a turbocharged Honda VTR in the 200 hp range that worked really well, so I decided to turbocharge the BMW HP2 engine.” Things then got a bit out of hand, but the Slugger is still a daily rider rather than a showbike.

An intercooler doesn’t usually look good on a bike, so Egeland has put it where the fuel tank usually sits, directing the airflow via a carbon fiber scoop. All the carbon fiber parts on this bike were originally prototyped in 2mm aluminum, and then molds were made to shape the carbon parts.

The original swingarm on the HP2 Sport has a pretty severe problem with wheelhop when downshifting hard,’ says Egeland. ‘So I made a new swingarm with a better geometry for the suspension.’ Apart from the carbon fiber, the milled parts and the wheels and drivetrain, everything on Slugger was made by Egeland in the SE Service workshop. ‘All the work was done at night and at weekends. It took five months—854 hours—but I got me one hell of a fun bike to ride!’