Author Topic: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?  (Read 33304 times)

Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #25 on: 18 May, 2017, 07:38:06 am »
I'm not a fan of the so-called wild camping bit that many motorhomers indulge in.   

Cycling through the day with your fully laden tourer you reach the little spot where you can stealthily pitch, enjoy the evening, wake early and depart leaving not a trace except that seared into your memory.  You get there to find some bloody great sardine tin filled with produce bought 500 miles away in Waitrose parked right across the best spot for tents with a slathering hound and the main stage at Tea in the Park.   Freeranging oiks shouting about their phone not getting a signal and throwing the pit bull's toy 8nto your tent all drowned out by the coarse and drunken drawl of Wayne and Waynetra getting bladdered on Boddingtons and antifreeze.

On departure a torn black bin bag or three full of landfill is dumped beside the small rubbish bin along with items too large to fit such as broken folding chairs bought at some petrol station, burst footballs and a pile of 'disposable' bbqs as well as a hundredweight of empty alcohol bottles and cans.  Lastly, large piles of stinking hound crap strewn randomly across this otherwise 'untiuched' rural idyll.

"Should get a 'van' mate advises Wayne  hanging out of the driver's side window as they depart.

Why didn't they just sleazyjet to Magal-oaf?

Bloody 'wild' campers.   ::-)   ;D


Gattopardo

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Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #26 on: 18 May, 2017, 07:55:42 am »
The boxy VW campers are generally known as "wedges" and have a proper engine, not an asthmatic and raucous air-cooled thing that isn't really powerful enough to move a Beetle, let alone your home on wheels.  The first generation are "splitties" because of the split windscreen, and the second generation are "bay windows".

I used to sit next to a VW camper nerd in work.

There are a few types or bay and splitty. 

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #27 on: 18 May, 2017, 07:56:44 am »
I reckon the question is not whether you're too young but whether you're ready to admit to being an old fart in the making.  :demon:
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Gattopardo

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Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #28 on: 18 May, 2017, 07:56:58 am »
Ok, I'll be honest. Quite apart from all the family fun stuff, when I look at photos of motorhomes what I am seeing is a massive mobile mancave.

Buy a mobile library..job jobbed

Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #29 on: 18 May, 2017, 08:03:21 am »
Mazda Bongo AFT . ( elevating roof ) . Big enough for two six footers to sleep in , small enough to use as a second car .With windows all round  ( with blinds and curtains up  ) reverse camera and good mirrors its easy to put in to super market car parks spaces . we have an unconverted one and use it with a blow up awning when the four or five of us go camping . It is very easy to detach  the awning and go touring for the day .  my wife   often  uses the bongo to explore new places to cycle just slide the middle seat forward from limo mode chuck the bike in the back and away you go .     
Its More Fun With Three .

Jaded

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Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #30 on: 18 May, 2017, 08:17:11 am »
I'm not a fan of the so-called wild camping bit that many motorhomers indulge in.   

Cycling through the day with your fully laden tourer you reach the little spot where you can stealthily pitch, enjoy the evening, wake early and depart leaving not a trace except that seared into your memory.  You get there to find some bloody great sardine tin filled with produce bought 500 miles away in Waitrose parked right across the best spot for tents with a slathering hound and the main stage at Tea in the Park.   Freeranging oiks shouting about their phone not getting a signal and throwing the pit bull's toy 8nto your tent all drowned out by the coarse and drunken drawl of Wayne and Waynetra getting bladdered on Boddingtons and antifreeze.

On departure a torn black bin bag or three full of landfill is dumped beside the small rubbish bin along with items too large to fit such as broken folding chairs bought at some petrol station, burst footballs and a pile of 'disposable' bbqs as well as a hundredweight of empty alcohol bottles and cans.  Lastly, large piles of stinking hound crap strewn randomly across this otherwise 'untiuched' rural idyll.

"Should get a 'van mate" advises Wayne  hanging out of the driver's side window as they depart.

Why didn't they just sleazyjet to Magal-oaf?

Bloody 'wild' campers.   ::-)   ;D

I didn't know you'd met Flatus and his family!

It is simpler than it looks.

Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #31 on: 18 May, 2017, 08:54:32 am »
I know a couple who spent £50k on one (Hymer? with all mod cons and extras) from the Camping Motorshow in Birmingham. They only used it a handful of times and eventually sold it at a £15k loss in order to just get rid.

Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #32 on: 18 May, 2017, 09:00:57 am »
We had one based on a Leyland something back in the 90s - we would transport kids, bikes and stuff in the van, and have a trailer, containing a humongous (for the time) tent. We'd set the tent up, sleep in it, but cook, sit and argue in the van. It was a good solution for us.
The van cost me £500, I replaced the fridge, and when the hole in the floor got too big for the MOT after several years, I sold it for £500.
Too many angry people - breathe & relax.

Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #33 on: 18 May, 2017, 10:43:29 am »
Sean Graff in Cheltenham (Cotswold Corker) is trying to get rid of his at present. It's a biggish one, not VW-size.

clarion

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Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #34 on: 18 May, 2017, 10:57:35 am »
I do hanker for a Mazda Bongo Friendee Auto-Freetop.

Partly, I confess, for the name. ;)
Getting there...

Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #35 on: 18 May, 2017, 11:02:52 am »
Can't answer the 'am I too young?' question as I 'm not young anymore (physically anyway) but we tried tenting for a number of years on tandem club rallies and so on but after a very wet week in North Wales decided that a caravan was the way to go.  As we drive a small/mid sized car (and had no desire to upsize) we had to go for a small caravan.  So we got one of these:



Small and light enough to tow easily but big enough inside for two.  Facilities are basic but enough for us.

We didn't want the additional expense of a second vehicle and also the high cost of campervans ruled them out.

Wowbagger

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Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #36 on: 18 May, 2017, 02:31:16 pm »
I haven't seen it recently but there was a guy living locally who drove a Swift motorhome. He had stuck the following message on the back:

Quote
I would never buy another Swift motorhome. Ask driver why.
Quote from: Dez
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Kim

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Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #37 on: 18 May, 2017, 03:07:02 pm »
I'm not a fan of the so-called wild camping bit that many motorhomers indulge in.   

[...]

That's more of an inconsiderate arsehole thing than a motorhome thing.  You get plenty of people (probably more, on account of the lower barriers to ownership) doing much the same with tents, and proper campsites aren't immune either.

I think the best solution is for them to have their own campsites.  Some sort of labelling system is needed.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #38 on: 18 May, 2017, 03:16:35 pm »
Some sort of labelling system is needed.
Ah yeah, I reckon that tour needs reviving. With one obvious alteration.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #39 on: 18 May, 2017, 03:18:50 pm »
Back to motorhomes v caravans: whichever you get – unless you have a small motorhome which you use as a large car, like a bloke in my street does (think it's a VW of some sort) – you're only going to use it a few weeks a year. A motorhome is a lot of cash to tie up in that; surely a caravan would do the same and be cheaper? OTOH if you have the money anyway, why not use it?
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #40 on: 18 May, 2017, 03:34:17 pm »
We don't use our car awfully much during the week, so essentially it is a camping-mobile/bike transport.  I could see swapping for a motorhome to do the same job, if there were one cheap or convenient enough.

I would still prefer to camp in a tent, though the 'sitting inside with a brew' aspect, as demonstrated so excellently at Long Itch by the lovely Melbourne12s and their caravan, is not to be sniffed at.

This also applies to stops at service stations, where a mash can be had without emptying one's wallet in favour of Starbucks or McDonalds or whoever.

I don't think a caravan is a good idea, for all sorts of reasons, though the Things' teardrop van (and my dad's) and cute little Eribas etc all appeal in a way.
Getting there...

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #41 on: 18 May, 2017, 04:03:17 pm »
Yebbut your "car" (unless you've got a new one since last summer) is almost a motorhome anyway!

But another advantage of a motorhome is that you could drive it to start of audaxes etc for easy bike transport, rest at finish, etc. Caravan would be too much for that. But a large van-bus thing would be ideal.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Gattopardo

  • Lord of the sith
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Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #42 on: 18 May, 2017, 04:05:05 pm »
I do hanker for a Mazda Bongo Friendee Auto-Freetop.

Partly, I confess, for the name. ;)

Me too.

Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #43 on: 18 May, 2017, 04:18:07 pm »
Demountable campers make a lot of sense and are popular in countries like the US, Australia, etc, where 4x4  'utes' are common.
Don't see many in this country though.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=demountable+camper&client=tablet-android-sonymobile&prmd=sivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwit9bzC3fnTAhUMLcAKHZBkC5YQ_AUICigC&biw=1280&bih=800

LEE

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Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #44 on: 18 May, 2017, 04:37:31 pm »
You're only going to use it a few weeks a year. A motorhome is a lot of cash to tie up in that; surely a caravan would do the same and be cheaper? OTOH if you have the money anyway, why not use it?

How much you use it is entirely up to the owner.  When you get one you are always looking for an excuse to go away.  DIY on my house came to an abrupt end when we got ours,
Used Motorhomes hardly depreciate once they get to around £20K.

I'm an old fart ..with a Motorhome, but I wanted one long before I was this old.  We bought our first one last August and have done 55 nights away in it so far.  Work gets in the way but that's still a lot of use I think.  3 weeks in France coming up with Bikes on the bike-rack.

Unless you want some luxuries then I'd get myself a Transit Van, stick a sliding window and roof-light in (conversion kits a re cheap), some insulation and a Portaloo.    Insulation, light and ventilation are the 3 essentials.  A Futon and a camping stove can be thrown in the back.  You'll be invisible in a Transit Van.

Here's ours...Our plan is to sell the house and go full-time for a year or so..as soon as financially practical. 
>>>>HERE<<<<

You can't beat them for the ability to just head off at a moment's notice.  We just need to put fresh water in the tanks and some booze in the fridge.  Everything else in on board, including tins of food.

I feel the need to say that I have cycle-camped and done every sort of tent camping, from 1-man lightweight tents, through frame tents, right up to 1,000kg "Folding Campers".   I've had great times in every type and wouldn't trade the experiences (especially the way they've provided such unbeatable family holidays as my kids grew up). 

Motorhomes were a natural progression for us and we needed one capable of taking us around Europe for months on end.

They are always a compromise though.  If you want one small enough to drive and park like a car then you compromise on internal space.  If you want every convenience then you end up driving something akin to a Removals van.  Ours has the biggest "lounge" for the length of vehicle I could find.  I need to slob out on hols.  Sitting bolt-upright around a little table wasn't an option.
Some people say I'm self-obsessed but that's enough about them.

Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #45 on: 18 May, 2017, 05:04:39 pm »
Have you contemplated a trailer tent? Not far away from a caravan in comfort stakes but easier to stow when not in use and easier on the car when towing.

My cousin used to have a LWB Transit which with a couple of camp beds inside was useful for festivals and short breaks if you're not too fussed about comfort.
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Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #46 on: 18 May, 2017, 05:49:23 pm »
......Wedge (T25) The only engine worth having is the diesel. 50bhp on a good day. The youngest is now nearly 30 years old. Obsolete, underpowered and dirty. Petrol engines were stretched flat fours with watercooled barrels. You will become your local VW specialist's best friend.

I've been quietly hankering after a (LPG) T25 for a few years, but I needed this little dose of realism. It'll be a money pit. Prices seem to be creeping up too and 'sorted' ones are getting expensive so I'm guessing they're becoming collectible. I really should knock that idea on the head. (Another idea that I can't shake off though is to have someone like Rourkey build me a lovely steel bike frame with S&S couplers, and get a big traillie motorbike with a beefed up subframe/rack-mounts on which to mount the bike-inna-case on one side and camping kit on the other.)

A hippyish chap i hung out with in Spain a few years ago used his carpet-fitting van (A LWB VW Transporter) to tour with his girlfriend around Europe for six months every year. It was more discreet than a white camper/motorhome neaning they could tuck away in some very picturesque spots without getting too much attention. Pretty much all that was inside was a raised mattress and a little fridge, with clothes, kit and a cooker stored underneath -  a bit like LEE's idea.  (It had a sliding side-door to so rigging up an awning provided outside space.) So campervanning can be done on a shoestring if you're organised like they were. A couple of the tyre fitters at my local Watlings have converted LWB diesel Transits (initial cost £1500) into pretty nifty-looking campers themselves using knowledge from forums and spending no more than a grand too.


'Something....something.... Something about racing bicycles, but really a profound metaphor about life itself.'  Tim Krabbé. Possibly

Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #47 on: 18 May, 2017, 06:39:28 pm »
We have just acquired a caravan (as in we've had one weekend away in it so far).
We did consider a motorhome, but apart from all the other considerations people have mentioned, you do need to move your accommodation every time you want to go somewhere. Fine if you're touring, but a pain if you just want a relaxed holiday sightseeing.
We do historical re-enacting so have a lot of weekends away but have the need to move clobber on and off site which usually means using the car. The one couple in our group who have a motorhome admit it's a pain for that (they have to have a motorhome as opposed to a caravan as they need to tow the cannon).
We did have a trailer tent for two seasons, but it took ages to get up and down and more importantly was physically hard work to do so which would have been less practical over the next few years.
Other friends have a trailer tent which is much more like a caravan which does not have the same issues, but is much smaller for a similar sized trailer.
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Kim

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Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #48 on: 18 May, 2017, 06:42:44 pm »
they have to have a motorhome as opposed to a caravan as they need to tow the cannon

Best reason ever!

Chris S

Re: Motorhomes. Am I too you young?
« Reply #49 on: 18 May, 2017, 06:50:32 pm »
I'm more than qualified, age-wise - but ISTM, no matter how much you spend, you still end up having to piss in a bucket - which you then have to empty yourself. Fuck that.

Same goes for boats and caravans.

I've watched the leathery brown Frenchmen at the Semaine Federale, dutifully swilling out their van's bilges in the area provided. It doesn't seem to bother them - getting up close and personal with their family's flushings - but it would definitely bother me.