brian campbell motorhome bike

Builder Brian Campbell has a bike trailer-home for you

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Brian Campbell is selling this trailer home.
(A weather-proof siding is yet to be added).
-Slideshow below-
(Photos © J. Maus)

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.

Brian Campbell and his motor-less home.
(Photos © J. Maus)

This morning I looked our office window and saw a familiar bike pedaling by. It was Brian Campbell and his massive motorhome/camper bike. A few minutes later he had swung around and parked for a quick chat.

It’s been almost three years since I first shared a Portland sighting of Brian Campbell and his amazing camper bike. Then, back in August 2007, I shared the sad news that his home had been destroyed. Initially reported as the work of vandals, it turned out Brian did it himself in a bout with depression and frustration. Years of living on the street had caught up to him.

Brian
(Photos by Jonathan Maus)

Like most of you who read the story about how the famous motorhome-bike was destroyed Wednesday night, I instantly assumed it was the work of vandals.

But as the day wore on, evidence mounted that the bike’s creator, Brian, might have done it himself: a commenter who has spent time with him said he’d been wanting to “trash it and start from scratch”; Ayleen Crotty reported that he needed help with repairs; and Jonathon Severdia, who wrote an article about Brian for WorldChanging called to tell me he wouldn’t be surprised if Brian did it.

Brian and his motorhome-bike
before vandals destroyed it (see below).
(Photo: Bob Crispin)

Last November, I shared photos and the story of an amazing character making his home on the streets of Portland.

His name is Brian and he lives in a bicycle that he expertly engineered into a human-powered bicycle Winnebago. According to reports, he has been pedaling this unique vehicle all over the world for over three decades.

Who will ever forget this guy? Not me. After my post a few weeks ago, I was amazed at how many people remembered seeing him. Readers chimed in from all over the country to say how impressed they were with the moxie and ingenuity behind this man and machine.

[*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.

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