Motorhome bike makes Portland appearance
Posted by Jonathan Maus
[*Welcome Treehugger readers: Don’t miss this follow-up story about Brian’s motorhome bike.]
———————-
BikePortland.org reader Bob Crispin sent in these photos after seeing this wayward pedaler on the streets of Northeast Portland.
Amazingly, the guy claims to have ridden this contraption all over the U.S. and down to Mexico.
According to Bob,
“He said his design was inspired by the moon rovers and the moon landing vehicle, the super structure and the shiny panels. The interior was sweet too, looked comfy, and had a map holder and lots of neat nooks and crannies to store stuff.”
This thing just blows me away. Bob says the guy talked like a serious engineer, had been on the road for several years and that the bike was very well built, and even “appeared to be light given what it was.”
The craziest thing is that despite days of torrential rain, Bob said it was dry inside the cabin. Here are more photos (click image to enlarge):
Wow. You just never know what you’ll come across out there.
E-mail This Post
November 10th, 2006 09:51
I’ve seen this rig several times near Citybikes over the past few weeks and was just thinking yesterday that you should write an article about it. I really should stop and check it out a bit more. I saw him riding one day and he had a huge grin. Looks like fun!
November 10th, 2006 09:56
I lived in Davis, CA about two years ago and saw him there. He would come through town about every six months or so. He seemed like a very friendly guy and I was amazed at how well the bike performed and its reliability. I probably saw him four or five years in a row and he was always cruising around on it with a big smile.
November 10th, 2006 09:58
Dude. I saw that on the side of the road when we road down the coast over the summer. We weren’t sure if it was truly mobile or not. Or for that matter if it existed or not… it was a hot day. :-)
November 10th, 2006 10:03
seen here a few months ago:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/biketourist/170159661/
November 10th, 2006 11:05
I met and talked with this guy several year back in Corvallis. Cool machine he has. It looks like he has made some improvements over the years.
November 10th, 2006 12:08
Friggin’ awesome. If he put a solar panel on the roof, he could get that thing totally wired!
November 10th, 2006 14:33
More like an RV than a “motor” home.
Cool machine, nonetheless!
November 10th, 2006 16:47
This man and his mobile home were featured on the cover of the now-defunct Car Free Times about 9 or 10 years ago. When he stopped by the shop I recognized him immediately.
According to that article, the inventor has had little more than a high school education and taught himself what he needed to know about engineering through tiral and error, and a knack for understanding how things work. It’s an ingenious design and shows his talent immediately. He did tell me that it weighs “a whole lot” and it apparently takes quite a lot of push to get the forward momentum going! Brilliant.
November 10th, 2006 17:05
wow…Dr. Seuss’s greatest hits… what an imagination this guy must have!
November 10th, 2006 17:23
What’s his name?
November 10th, 2006 18:29
I met this wonderful man too and took some pics of his machine. He has a flywheel in the back that helps rev up the speed of this monster when he’s cruising on the highway.
November 10th, 2006 22:41
saw him years ago in Ashland, he was around a while.
November 11th, 2006 03:08
I passed by it late on Friday… there were soft lights in a back window. Candles? I was thinking how cozy it must be and how awesome to have a pedal-powered house. Someday…
November 11th, 2006 07:01
Something new for Burleigh to make!
November 11th, 2006 08:07
organic brian,
lets try to build a couple of them based on his inspiration?
we might get ticketed by the cops, but I would rent that for a weekend around town!!
November 11th, 2006 11:39
Pretty dang cool !!
Reminds me of me an oversized velomobile. Velomobiles are kind of like oversized trikes, with storage capacity, a brief, nonspecific explanation for the unfamiliar. I’m been checking out the Lightfoot Velomobile, Stormy Weather, that will start being produced early next year by Lightfoot Cycles, a company in Montana (I don’t work for them) Expensive but a year round vehicle like “John Does” beast.
November 11th, 2006 17:05
OK Adam, we’ll recruit Aaron for the drafting capability. I learned the living space is made w/ insulation sheets taped w/ metal tape. Looks great for having gone around the country for several years.
I live about five blocks from where the contraption has been parked lately, oughtta take some time to check out the engineeering.
November 12th, 2006 08:36
I also saw this cyclist and RVbike in Davis, Ca Oct 2005. Spoke to him. He had lots of road stories, said he had just come up from Mexico.
November 12th, 2006 20:37
http://flickr.com/photos/yussef/41034507/in/set-900687/
It was interesting because my touring buddy had actually seen him down in san diego. Then when we were riding up thru Big Sur, CA, we caught him one morning and spoke for a bit.
His rig definitely put ours to shame. I tried to get on him about releasing design schematics. It sounded like he had surely considered it, but I’m not sure how jazzed he was on that. Seems like it could be a good way to financially support extended road living, but maybe its just not how he wants to do it…
November 13th, 2006 13:13
Ditto Fred and William’s comment about seeing him in Davis, CA. I lived there for 6 years and saw him often–usually parked on the street by the Co-Op. Looks like the rig has some recent modifications.
November 13th, 2006 15:28
Motorhome? More like a pedal-home. Needs a solar-panel and a Stoke Monkey.
November 13th, 2006 16:08
I’ve got a nice picture of Brian here (flickr.com/photos/vj_pdx/248728505/) and a couple other here (flickr.com/photos/vj_pdx/tags/briancampbell/).
I ran into him in North Bend, on the coast, over Labor Day Weekend.
November 14th, 2006 15:31
He was parked across the street from CityBikes at SE 20th and Ankeny yesterday.
November 15th, 2006 17:39
hahahah, that guy is cool. last night after i locked up my bike next to plaid pantry on 19th and ankeny he poped his head out of that bike and asked me for something.
November 17th, 2006 20:18
Yeh, he’s got a good gig. Saw him in Big Sur and Cambria. Tries to come off as a Rasta dude but seems like a back east NY hustler.
November 21st, 2006 16:53
I just saw the rig and the man in front of city bikes. He was talking with a friend (his) and I mentioned that I saw the bikeportland article - he must have been having a shit day because he sort’a grunted back - “great another damn magazine I am in and get no money from!” He then asked for a donation saying he was broke and hungry - I said “lets head to food not bombs, it should be happening soon.” He said he couldn’t afford food not bombs. Each time I tried to mention something like “bike portland is a local website site… food not bombs is free…” he just retreated into his rv and uttered angry words.
not a good day I suppose.
November 21st, 2006 16:58
if you (or anyone else) see this guy again tell him I’d be happy to buy him lunch and a drink or two.
He can call me at (503) 706-8804.
November 21st, 2006 17:40
re: 25
I think he’s from Canada. But now that I say that, I’m not sure why, maybe something he told me…or his accent…
December 1st, 2006 14:43
My hero! A pedal trailer is my plan B if ever I should loose my home, or just want to take to the road. There is another guy, Steven Roberts, who pedals around on two wheels, with a high tech equipped recumbent. Been doing it for some years too. http://microship.com/
Very inspiring. If anyone should see him, please let him know the link, I am sure he would be very interested in seeing what another road brother is doing.
December 9th, 2006 18:58
I like this guy! Hey, I started a pedal powered motorhome as well…
http://www.atomiczombie.com/gallery/bradgraham/camper/camper.htm
Cheers to Brian!
Brad
February 17th, 2007 04:01
[…] Im Zusammenhang mit der Ausstellung von Andreas Slominski in Frankfurts Museum für Moderne Kunst haben wir vor einigen Wochen bereits einmal über das Fahrrad als Wohnung berichtet. Brians Fahrrad ist eine richtige Wohnung, er schläft auch im Fahrrad. Das Rad ist im Design den Mondlandefahrzeugen der sechziger Jahre nachempfunden. Mit seinem Rad reist Brian seit etlichen Jahren durch die USA bis herunter nach Mexiko. Cruiserking hat Recht, es wundert einen, dass die Industrie diese Idee noch nicht aufgegriffen und eine Fahrradwohnung auf den Markt gebracht hat, gewissermaßen als holländische Variante der chromglitzenden Mobil-Heime, die man auf amerikanischen Straßen sieht. bikeportland.org Photo: Bob Crispin […]
February 17th, 2007 08:07
uh english is a little easier for me to read. Guess I need to work on my foreign language skills. Is that German?