Meet the 'Slugger' - turbo boxer extraordinaire

(Photos: Bike Sverige)

Just imagine... over 200 horsepower at the rear wheel and a higher torque figure than the formidable six-cylinder K 1600 GT. This is no ordinary boxer - it's a turbo-charged special known as the 'Slugger', created by Swedish custom bike builder Stellan Egeland.

In a discipline traditionally dominated by American V-twin motorcycles, Stellan came to the attention of many custom fans - including those in the BMW community - several years ago when he created a project bike known as the 'Harrier', loosely based on the BMW R 1200 S. This bike took second place in the European bike building championship and went on to enter the world championship of custom bike building in Sturgis, USA.

The Harrier was sold to an enthusiast in California and is now in a showroom in Beverly Hills, but Stellan missed riding it so much, he decided to start building a simpler version of the Harrier. But, as is often the case with custom bike builders, he got carried away and an even more radical project started taking shape. Finding spare time is not easy for a guy who works from 7am to 11pm most days, but after five months and a total of 854 hours of painstakingly detailed work in his spare time, the 'Slugger' was finished. It looks like no other motorcycle. Stellan chooses BMWs to customise in the first place purely because he likes the look of the boxer engine. He makes no design sketches as he is able to visualise exactly what the finished product will be. The Slugger looks huge, but a lot of care has been taken to keep the weight down, such as grinding away any excess material from the turbo and using titanium wherever possible, like on the exhaust. As such, the Slugger only weighs 173 kg dry, or 190 kg with a full tank of fuel.

When he sits on the bike, the weight distribution is exactly 50/50 front to rear. The fuel tank is located under the seat and a pressure pipe from the turbo (in the form of an oval aluminium tube) can now be seen where the tank used to sit. There is a carbon-fibre scoop used to direct air to the intercooler, which is located just in front of the seat, under the scoop. All the milled parts are supplied by Swedish performance parts specialists ISR, who have made the special hub steering system and all the brake parts. Another Swedish company - Őhlins - has supplied the suspension. As is usually the case in the bike building world, hardly anything has been left standard - just the rear wheel and transmission in this case!

For Stellan, this high-tech, futuristic machine is designed to be ridden, not just looked at: "My intention with the Slugger was primarily power, but I also like the look of technology and tubing all over the place, so the turbo got to be a big part of the design. As for performance, we've seen 202 hp at the rear wheel at 7,050 rpm, but even more useful is the torque. From 5,000 to 8,000 rpm, we get around 200Nm at the rear wheel, and that is really fun to use when you ride it. The acceleration is impressive and it pulls extremely hard, no matter what speed you are running at. I don't know what the top speed of the Slugger is, but I guess that it wouldn't take too long before you hit the rev limit, or blow off the back of the bike, since it is naked!"

Despite all the trick components, its base is still an HP2 Sport, and as anyone who has ever ridden BMW Motorrad's finest ever sports boxer will testify, handling and road-holding are everything - something which is important to Stellan too.

"The Slugger was always built to be my personal ride, rather than a show-bike, and it was important that it had all the qualities I like in road bikes. Considering that it is still a 1200cc motorcycle, it is really quick in the steering (18 degrees of steering angle and 70mm trail), and no matter where you are in the rpm band, the power is enormous. I cannot think of any other bike that would be as much fun to ride as the Slugger and I've had a lot of different responses to it - everything from the 'ugliest thing I've ever seen' to 'the best custom bike I've seen yet'."

Stellan hadn't any plans to enter this bike in any bike building championships; he just wanted something that he could use every day. However, after riding the Slugger to the Norrtälje Custombike show and winning the Scandinavian Championship, he received automatic qualification to the 2011 World Championship of Custom Bike Building, which takes place from 7-10 August, in Sturgis, USA. After making up his mind to go there, Stellan's plans received a major setback while riding The Slugger.

"I was riding in my neighbourhood when a car suddenly stopped in front of me. Its driver then reversed into the Slugger and there was a lot of damage, so I decided not to participate at Sturgis. However, two weeks after that Ola Stenegärd (fellow Scandinavian and a top designer at BMW Motorrad in Germany) called me after having talked to his colleagues, and they had decided to help me finance the trip to Sturgis, so I got some new 'fuel' to fix it in time! The bike was finished and shipped, and will probably stay in the US for a while so that it can go to some shows, including a big one in December in Long Beach, with BMW."

At present, Stellan has no plans to put the Slugger up for sale, but if somebody really wants it and is prepared to pay for it, then it will probably go the same way as the Harrier. This will help him fund some of the other projects he is working on for various customers. Privately though, his wish is quite simple. He has an old wooden boat that he'd love to restore, but he just can't find the time...

For more information on Stellan and his bike building business, visit his www.seservice.se website, which is available in Swedish and English languages.