# Why so few motorhomes like short coaches?



## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Why aren't there more motorhomes based on something like this?









http://www.bmc-uk.net/docs/midilux-datasheet-v3.pdf

Bog standard coach, just 7.3m long, decent wheelbase, twin real wheels, air suspension (great for levelling), air brakes, loads of external (pass-through) storage.

Now I know its GVW is above the car licence weight, but it does allow for 28 passengers and 873kg of baggage.

I followed the slightly larger 8.8m BMC Karisma/Probus on the motorway today and it makes a great short diesel pusher:










Dave


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

Fuel consumption for one reason.
And 28 people camping in it --no way :wink: :wink:


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## thieawin (Jun 7, 2006)

simples cost

the chassis and basic body £150,000 up, I am told, then the conversion cost on top


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## carprus (Jun 22, 2008)

Totally impractical!


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Lovely but costly..!!!!!!!

Ray.


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

carprus said:


> Totally impractical!


I've passed your comment on to the 3 million Americans who own RVs like this, so they can consider a better alternative. Thanks. 

Dougie.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Great*

Great Idea, very practical.

But 4 cylinders 4460cc very low revving and only 186ps.

But slow I think


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## KeithChesterfield (Mar 12, 2010)

What I'd like - and what I can afford!

Guess which!


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## tubbytuba (Mar 21, 2007)

Mmmmmm if it's good enough for 3 million Americans........

I'll give it a miss :wink:


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## carprus (Jun 22, 2008)

Yeah me to , besides the roads are nowhere as big .


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## CliveMott (Mar 10, 2008)

Up market yankee RV,s are built on coach chassis and with an engine at the back its a "Pusher". Cheaper RV,s are on lorry chassis. 

I did a conversion on a 13 year old coach back in 1985, Bedford Duple Vista short wheel base 29 seater. Lovely job, 5.6 litre (330 cubic inches) 90 BHP and grotty brakes that scared the hell out of me. The wife loved it but the best was 14 MPG and top speed was medium speed. The best style feature was a cast aluminum plack from an old tipper lorry which said "Maximum capacity 6 cubic yards". I fitted this in the loo facing the seat.

C.


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## dealgan (Jun 26, 2006)

4 cylinders, 4.4L ? 

Is that right ? thats pretty big cc per cylinder !


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

thieawin said:


> simples cost
> 
> the chassis and basic body £150,000 up, I am told, then the conversion cost on top


Most references I see are for £69k. Though with 27 Grammer leather recliner seats I have seen a price of £104k. When you look at some of the rubbish vans you still have to pay £75k+ for, it makes you wonder what a decent conversion would cost.
http://pdfs.findtheneedle.co.uk/107778-790.pdf

Not that I'm thinking of one, just wondering why, as I say, more motorhomes on base vehicles LIKE this, are not offered.

Then again, thinking of Clive, I wouldn't want a conversion that fell to bits on Portuguese roads ;-)

Dave


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Just on the RV/ size comparison/ too big comments, this vehicle is under 24ft.

BUT, it's a nice box shape to maximise volume for its moderate length, plenty of space below the deck, and with a sensible overhang to wheelbase ratio.

Dave


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## thieawin (Jun 7, 2006)

2nd hand ones 4 and 5 years old with seats are going at £65k to £80k. max speed, downhill with a following wind, is 95kph ie 60mph


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

tubbytuba said:


> Mmmmmm if it's good enough for 3 million Americans........
> 
> I'll give it a miss :wink:


Maybe they need the space/payload


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

thieawin said:


> 2nd hand ones 4 and 5 years old with seats are going at £65k to £80k. max speed, downhill with a following wind, is 95kph ie 60mph


Correct on speed - unless you cheat and disengage the clutch!


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

thieawin said:


> 2nd hand ones 4 and 5 years old with seats are going at £65k to £80k. max speed, downhill with a following wind, is 95kph ie 60mph


What superb gentle depreciation then!  Current new price with 27 superflous (for me) leather recliners:
http://www.trucksales.me.uk/page/bmc_buses

62mph level (as supplied coach has tacho and presumably limiter):
http://webservices.sitebuilder.cust...ocs/t/tr/trucksales.me.uk/BMC Nifty Coach.pdf

Are you trying to be negative or constructive? I am making a simple point/ query and most replies are knocking and off message. I do sometimes wonder why I bother with MHF.

Dave


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

DABurleigh said:


> BUT, it's a nice box shape to maximise volume for its moderate length, plenty of space below the deck, and with a sensible overhang to wheelbase ratio.
> 
> Dave


Speak to RS Dave!

peedee


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

peedee,

Haha! Think I care more for my blood pressure. Can't get technical data or an informative 2-way conversation.

The pre-requisite seems to be a factory visit and a commitment to purchase.

Dave


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

I can't see a problem with stripping out the interior and doing a self-build with the bodywork more or less as is.

It would certainly be light and airy, and any superfluous windows could be blanked off fairly easily.

I wonder if someone like Wildax would take one on??

Dave


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

Bet MCL wouild

Dick


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Having stayed at MCL they don't get out of bed unless a quarter of a million is on the table.

Though that apart, they do share common attributes with RS regarding information, blood and stone.

Dave


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## thieawin (Jun 7, 2006)

DABurleigh said:


> thieawin said:
> 
> 
> > 2nd hand ones 4 and 5 years old with seats are going at £65k to £80k. max speed, downhill with a following wind, is 95kph ie 60mph
> ...


I am trying to be practical Dave. Are the nifty and midilux the same? They certainly look identical

They won't be double skinned with insulation, no mention of limiter, the various BMC sites quote different speeds, but the maxspeed quotes are consistently for "level ground".

I agree it looks good. Are the firm in Sneyd Green parallel importers? maybe that is why the price differential.

£87,000 plus VAT = £104,400 before conversion costs for the nifty. As for depreciation they would be expected to have a life of 20+ years and I quoted VAT inc asking prices

What would the cost be of converting to 12v electrics, insulating and installing an interior, with heating, water and waste tanks etc?

This is about the same size and cost as a N&B Flair 7000, fully kitted, just for the chassis/body


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## CliveMott (Mar 10, 2008)

Wot zee talking about??

No, it was a 5.6 litre 6 cylinder Bedford TK engine and manual crash gearbox. Yes the screws that held the aluminum body panels to the frame were steel and so rusty that they fell apart on Portuguese roads, well remembered Dave. The panels were hanging from their top fixings when we stopped in the evening. I carried a box of screws and a powerdriver to use each evening. The present tardis is total bliss especially as it carries two motorbikes in the garage for me and er indoors. And power steering, unlike the Bedford bus! (That was a real killer of the shoulders and chest)

C.


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

" I carried a box of screws and a powerdriver to use each evening."

I recall it as a drill and pop-rivet gun 

Dave


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

DABurleigh said:


> The pre-requisite seems to be a factory visit and a commitment to purchase.
> 
> Dave


Certainly the former, I think this is the case with all the suppliers of bespoke motorhomes. RS and MCL are not unique in this respect.

peedee


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

We had a Leyland leopard ex works bus which we converted at the diving club to take 24 of us diving, we turned the seats round so they were facing each other and that way with an infill piece we could sleep 16.
It had a kitchen in the back, storage for all the dive gear and outboard under the floor, a let down inflatable boat on the roof, a locker for the compressor to fill the bottles, a 50 gallon water tank.

The only thing was, it it an outside loo :lol: :lol: :lol: 

And the fastest it ever went was well off the clock which went to 80mph, that was down death valley on the M62 the bit that goes down hill from the highest part of the motorway into Lancashire.. Obviously free wheeling, the bus was swerving all over the place at the crazy speed, and it would have taken the same stopping distance of an ocean liner... Everybody was cheering and egging the driver, (anybody in the club could drive it if they were put on the insurance if they had a full licence, you didn't need a PSV licence just a car licence) to go faster, When we came to a flat bit you just waited for the speed to get to normal cruising speed of about 55 mph then the gear would just slip in and you were on your way.. You have no sense of danger when you are young!..

We went all over the UK in that bus.. Oh and the cost.. The bus cost us £300.00 quid and the conversion cost using a lot of the original fittings and a donated second hand kitchen, about £ 30.00 for fixings, obviously plenty of labour all free.. We had it for a good ten years and sold it to another dive club for 2K..Well we are thrifty up in Yorkshire. :wink: 

I bet we had more fun together in that rickety old bus than anybody who has a 100k motor home, with all the clocks whistles and dials..

ray.


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## Easyriders (May 16, 2011)

One parked next to us in Cordoba, took them 40 minutes to park. Expecting hordes of kids to appear - one French couple.

Mad!


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## VanFlair (Nov 21, 2009)

Where does the garage go if it's a "pusher" ?

Martin


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

That's part of the trade. The 7.3m coach is not a pusher; the 8.8m one is, btw.

A pusher has massive right-through underfloor storage with no prop shaft for chassis to avoid, etc. But you won't get a scooter in it. 

Dave


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