Brian Cambell bike trailer homes and amazing RV bike

[MitchJi]

Hi,

http://bikeportland.org/2009/11/25/builder-brian-campbell-has-a-bike-trailer-home-for-you/

Brian Campbell is selling this trailer home.
(A weather-proof siding is yet to be added)

Builder Brian Campbell has a bike trailer-home for you

Posted by Jonathan Maus (Editor-in-Chief) on November 25th, 2009 at 12:48 pm

The Thanksgiving holiday is all about home for many people. For Brian Campbell, home has been a bicycle for over thirty years.

Brian is the man known far and wide for his amazing RV bike:

He’s traveled with it throughout the country, over mountain passes and at speeds of up to 70 mph (thanks to an ingenious flywheel apparatus he has invented).

We first reported about Brian landing in Portland three years ago.

Since then he’s struggled with depression brought on by frustration with life on the street (among other things). After he destroyed his bike, we (the community) raised money so he could rebuild it.

Now, not only has Brian rebuilt his own bike-home, he’s also started making them for others. But, Brian’s business is far from being stable. He needs help to keep building them and he’s looking for customers. I recently stopped by Brian’s current home/workspace (a vacant lot near SE Stephens and 9th) to see the newly built trailer he has for sale.

Unlike his bike, which is nothing short of a pedal-powered motorhome, the one he has for sale currently is a pull-behind trailer. Brian has perfected the fabrication of an all-weather enclosure that is light, insulated, very stable, and road worthy. This model is 8′ x 4′ and weighs only 80 pounds. It has a spacious interior that fits a sleeping adult (or two?), has many interior shelves, and is priced to sell (he’s asking $1,950 but says he’ll take offers). He can modify the hitch custom for any bicycle.

Brian also says his trailers would be perfect as food cart or mobile bike businesses. Check out the slideshow below for more photos. If you are interested in learning more about Brian’s work, or if you’d like to buy this trailer, get in touch with us and we’ll connect you with him (he doesn’t have a cell phone or email address, but he stops by our office regularly).

Slideshow is here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikeportland/tags/briancampbellstrailerforsale/show/

A little more info here:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/bike-trailer-homes.php

 

[dequinox]

I was out on my HI-V the other day and actually ran into this dude! We talked a while and I snapped a few photos. He claims over 100,000 miles of travel on the thing...but I think some of his stats may be a bit inflated (get up to 90mph, supercharged flywheel power 700hp!!) :wink:

He's really friendly though and his mechanical aptitude is not to be underestimated, the whole structure of his mobile bike home is a work of absolute art! Drilled out aluminum beams, something like 123 gears, and the thing has an ice-box and a whole lot of other neat amenities.

Here another link to an old article about him:

http://tinyhouseblog.com/tiny-house/brians-bike-motorhome/

I think these would be a really neat step-up when combined with something like justin's trans-continental... plenty of room for batteries! Currently it seems to me as though he uses some sort of flywheel tech. to help smooth out the power transitions of shifting...or something. Whatever the case the man seems to be in great shape and is riding a several-hundred-pound rig.