Please tell what it is.......I've never seen one....

Ok I have two ideas....

One, you put the front half on the passenger pegs, the other in, strapped to, or remove the bag on that side and use the bag support to strap too....

Two, hang a hitch on the back of the bike, strap the lower half to the hitch and the high half to the sissy bar..... Thinking about doing this for my golf clubs....

No suggestions on carrying it.

My first guess was some variation on a sitar. It seems to have enough tuning keys for drone strings, although I don't see them. I don't understand what appear to be tuning keys along the side of the fretboard, unless perhaps the frets can be adjusted too.

Yes Verslagen and AL it is a nyckelharpa. Wow! I'm impressed! It stumped the FBI/Secret Service guys so I thought perhaps only the Minnesotans might know since there are so many Swedes up there.

I's been every where but not since I got the motorcycle. I gave up the concert harp 2 years ago, sold it and decided after almost 30 years I didn't want to play Pachelbel's Canon for any more weddings. So I could sell the car. To keep it to occasionally haul the harpa around was nuts.

Now the problem. I'll try strapping it down the way Jack suggested tonight and take a short spin to see if I'm OK with it. Even putting it on the way he does the trombone is going to be odd since it's longer than a trombone case.

Charon wrote on 08/06/08 at 19:52:59:


It has 4 main playable strings and then 12 resonant strings under the main strings. All the tuners are in the head stock. Since it is a 'key fiddle' you don't physically put your fingers on the strings to fret them. The keys on the side of the body are for that. Press in a key and it pushes a little piece of wood against the string. The bows are very short since the harpa sits across your body.

It's related to the hurdy gurdy but is not annoying. Deep rich tone between the sound of a viola and a cello.

bugsville wrote on 08/06/08 at 19:56:25:


Great thought! And for $10 it's well worth a try. A soft gig bag to fit it from Sweden would cost me $450 which is crazy.

Two ideas:
1) Find a wire basket that the end of the case will fit in.  Attached/clamp it to left side passenger peg (or make setup to replace peg altogether).  Get a bar/rod and attach to sissy bar horizontally,  right to left, sticking out on the left side.  Case would sit in basket, then get strapped down to the rod/bar on the sissy bar.    Optional: put a bend in the bar ( rigth angle) so that the case would not slide off.

2) Find a luggage rack like mine (old Honda Universal rack).  have it fitted on the bike (can be hard to find.....).   Lay case on rack and strap down (wide left to right, but laying flat).  Optional,  make aux brake & blinker light to attach to the case (velcro / elastic ??) with connetctor, so people can see you better.  Or... 2B) remove sissy bar and then lay case front to back sticking out the back and supported by the luggage rack & passenger seat..

Get a passenger on the back to hold it for you!  

True story.  Went to Uganda a few years ago.  They have thousands of these old Honda 90's and 125's running around the place mostly as taxis and delivery vehicles.  We saw some very interesting stuff being carried on these things. One time we're sitting at an intersection and we see one of these little scooter-like motorcycles go by.  On the back is a passenger balancing what had to be about a 10 foot long pipe on his head.  If ya gotta getr done...ya'll find a way...