I’m thinking of treating myself (in quite a big way) to a motorhome, probably a Rollerteam Zefiro 690….once i can get my head around blowing the sort of money involved. I was looking at caravans but to buy one that is sufficent for the missus would mean buying a mahoosive car as well, so we’ve agreed on a motorhome instead. So i’m needing inspiration…show me what the STW collective has – all types welcome.

hire one first and go on a trip to the sort of place youll take yours to… I did this and decided a coach built really wasnt for me on the narrow roads i wanted to travel in scotland due to the fact they were between .75 and 1.5feet wider on each side.

if you dont have family and dont really need all that space consider looking at something under 6m as ferrys and even pitches on some sites become much cheaper (i have a 7m van because it was cheap and i wanted my bikes inside at all times + fixed bed and I’m paying the price for Calmac now….. )

I suppose technically this is a motorcaravan (as per V5) rather than a motorhome 😀

Went down to the NEC show in 2014 and ordered one on impulse, best thing we have ever bought and should have had one years ago when the girls were little.

Picked it up in July 2015, first journey was into the Alps for a month, its been a god send for when our daughter races, should have been up at Gisburn this weekend but the Enduro has been cancelled.

Done 22,000 miles in it so far and only had one weekend when we didnt take the bikes, we can get four bikes in the garage without taking wheels off.

oh yeah that – go and view as many layouts as possible if your spending that kind of money – said shows being a good place to do it , if not a used MH lot is also good.

on design layouts dont always transfer to a nice to use van.

Not sure I’d want a flag on top of mine, must get annoying on the motorway, And you realise there’s a chubby fella trying to break in?

Left the fella and the flag back in Wales, he did the hand over in 10 mins telling two novices, we hadnt had a van before, everything about how his van worked and nothing about how ours worked. We would have been better off just getting the keys and leaving as most of the stuff he said was wrong.

If we were to do it again we would make sure it was been bought from somewhere local and not believe everything the salesman said about dealer networks

We had a 4 berth Autosleeper originally but with 2 adults, 2 kids and a dog just wasn’t big enough, but was a great van to get an idea of what we wanted. We had it for 2 years and looked around in the last 6 months as to what would be good to upgrade to.  It’s great going and looking at layouts etc but until you come to use it you wont really know what you need or where you want it.

There are so many layouts to look at and each manufacturer has slightly different versions with slightly different kit, size of fridge, cooker, hob, sink etc

We’ve now got a 6 berth with 2 fixed beds which is the ideal layout for us. Also has a massive garage so all the kit, bikes etc can go in there.

Look at some vans, look at some more, then look at some more etc…

The Rollerteam Zefiro 690 is the updated version of the motorhome I have I think – mine is an Autoroller 600G. This is ours:

We’ve had ours since 2010 (it’s our 2nd motorhome) and still enjoy it. We mostly just use it with the 2 of us now, so it has masses of storage. The garage is great – we now carry 2 proper road bikes as well as a couple of folders in there and there is plenty of room.

I had a VW California that I sold after one too many wet weeks in Scotland with the family shouting at each other in it !

We have been renting a few times – having a toilet and room to swing a cat is transformational. My wife even ASKED to go away in one ! We’ve been renting a Swift which has a drop down bed and bunks in the back. We lift the bottom one and can get 4 bikes in there – daughter loves it upstairs. Genuinely transformational and if I had somewhere to park it would buy one !

And you realise there’s a chubby fella trying to break in?

He looks like that trackstand pump bloke that keeps popping up on threads every now and then.

We had a really cool VW T25/3 hightop Westy for 12months and it was great but very limited.

Sold that and bought a LHD Hobby – That was 9 years ago and we’ve done nearly 70k miles in it since.  Mostly mainland Europe but some of the UK too – Last year I drove to my office in Germany then cruised to Milan to meet my wife from the airport – we then hung out in Italy for a week and cruised home via Eurobike to go to the trade show.

Check out https://www.searchforsites.co.uk/

This is a really useful website for UK based stopovers all over the country – Pub stops mainly which are ace, had a weekend around the borders stopping at pubs for ‘free’ by having a drink and something to eat in the pub over New Year

Ours is like this – Garage in the back for upto 4 bikes or a moped and 2!

@NZCol – have a look for local caravan storage places? The advantage of keeping it away from home is that there’s not a great big marker that says ‘We’re away in the van’.

We keep ours in a local storage site – just far enough to either run or cycle over to collect and costs about £1 a day.

However, we don’t have room at home for the van so it has to go somewhere but even if we did have room I think we would keep it in storage anyway.

The space of the 690 is the big thing for us – there are only 4 of us anyway, and our eldest wont entertain a motorhome – he’s off to Uni in a few months anyway. The mahoosive garage section is a big bonus for the multitude of bikes and associated crap. We have hired motorhomes on numerous occasions – some friends of ours hire a fleet of them, and we’ve done trips to the Alps, Ireland, Northern France, and also rented in NZ, so we’re well versed in them, just never been in a position to buy one ourselves. VW campers looks the bees knees, but theyre simply too small…travelling light is not our way! Storage isnt an issue, there are at least 4 big storage places within about 5 miles of us.

Seems like a done deal then , you already know the lifestyle and what you want.

for such a big van that zafiro actually has an impressive mass in running order at 2900kg same as my van :O

Last van i hired that was 6 berth had a 200kg payload…..

but space is brilliant – as much as i refer to buying a smaller van to save on ferries i will say i love having the space.

alanf – yeah that is one option. Is yours undercover ?

I was toying with replacing our Autoroller 600G this year but it’s quite a tough act to follow without spending a lot more cash – loads of space, massive payload (850kg I think), huge garage, decent pace and the 2.4D Transit it’s based on is quite pleasant to drive.The only downside is fuel economy which is not great (low to mid 20’s if I’m not in a hurry, down into the teens if I am) so I have looked at low-profiles given there are only two of us now (my kids sometimes join us for a day or two if we’re somewhere interesting but very unlikely to come for a full trip now they’re 22 and 26) – but I’d have to spend another £20K+ for anything that’d be any kind of improvement so think I’m just going to stick with what I have for a bit longer.

Prior to this one we had a Carioca 656 with bunk beds in the back and that was great when the kids were younger. Even with the lower bunk folded the garage was a lot smaller than the current van though.

That Rollerteam Zafiro 690 is similar to our current van but seems to have a smaller but more powerful engine and the chassis is a 3500kg one, not the twin-wheel 3800kg that our one is. Payroll seems ok though, and it’s also a bit shorter although the layout looks the same. It still looks great value given the size and spec.

@smogmonster – motorhome shows are a great place for ideas but more importantly having a mooch in lots of different vans will probably tell you what you don’t want.

Another thing to consider is how long your trips are going to be. We’ve got a LWB high roof Transit conversion which is a posh campervan or a basic motorhome, depending on your viewpoint. Although we do 3 week trips in it each year I wouldn’t want to a 3 month trip in it. It’s a bit automotive in style and furnishing, so not that comfy for extended periods of sitting out crappy weather. It’s great though and works for us.

I’d also strongly consider LHD if most of your trips are abroad.

If you end up buying new get all your extras bought then too, bike rack, blinds, solar etc. etc.

Swift Basecamp with optional awning? Caravan that can be pulled by a normal car…cheaper than a motor home.

My brother has a motorhome, I’ve no idea which  one, but the stories he tells me of alpine descents scares the pants off me.

If heading that way , get one that’s light and with massive brakes.

Roller Team 707 owner, bought ex-hire at a year old with 6k on the clock and all the extras fitted. We have 4 grandkids we take away as often as possible and son has the weekend/week away. We try and get away for a long weekend every month. As others have mentioned being so big it’s not easy to manoeuvre on narrow country roads and route choice to anywhere needs careful planning as do sites. We try and use sites close to public transport where possible

We had one of these until last year. Sold it because we needed the capital but tbh it was a little on the small side for our family of six. Problem being now to get something big enough we would need one of those twin axle 10 m long ones which start at around 90 thousand and for the amount we would use it isn’t worth it. I would go for something similar again but our two teenage sons have said they wouldn’t come with us again if we bought another one.

We usually headed to South France and Italy and never had any problems with narrow roads or campsites ( rear camera is a worthwhile investment ) The rear garage was wonderful for storage (managed to get six bikes in there) but did take a lot of living space away. 

How old are the teenage sons? 16+ and I’d be discounting them from almost all holidays so a smaller vehicle could be considered…probably just me thinking that way though.

My brother has a motorhome, I’ve no idea which  one, but the stories he tells me of alpine descents scares the pants off me.

A guy I worked with had one, a small VW type, he also had a place in Spain & often drove down in the camper. One time he came back & down some pass in France & the brakes went near the bottom. Luckily for him there was a VW garage near the bottom so he went in…

1000 euro’s later for new brakes all round.

He’d burnt the lot out.

I cooked our brakes descending the Wurzenpaß into Austria last September. Just stopped for an hour and let them cool down before getting on with the rest of the holiday.

Pattern of usage and looking at all the layout options are the key thing to think about.

We had a van with a fixed double with a garage underneath. It swallowed 2 xc and 2 dh bikes no worries and was perfect for stealth Alps trips.

Now we have 2 kids, and we have upped to a 6 berth, but simply so we dont have to dick about with cushions and stuff to sleep/eat. We still have a small garage, but that takes one of the kids bunks. Luckily they can still share (4&7) if required.

However, we don’t do overseas trips in it anymore as now that we HAVE to use a campsite, a tent is way better with2 kids. We use it for weekend or short breaks in Scotland (which is where we live). It is great for weekend ski trips.

How old are the teenage sons? 16+ and I’d be discounting them from almost all holidays so a smaller vehicle could be considered…probably just me thinking that way though.

The oldest will be 17 this year so I imagine this summer will be the last he comes with us and the other will be 14 this month. Problem being taking five in a mobile home means the same size van as six as the smaller vans will only seat four.

Dont discount your kids continuing to come away with you if you are still doing something they love. We are off to Morzine again this year and the twins are 20 and at college, but they love to come away to ride bikes.

If i said i was on a tour of Saxon churches they may be less keen, but if you are still doing that stuff they love then they will probably want to share with you.

As above, its very rare when we can get away without the girls, 21 and 19. They cant wait for the day when we put them on the insurance. Our youngest is planning her summers in the Alps once Uni is done with.

I have one.

Its Weinsberg Caraloft 550 mg, (They are a line of Knaus) fixed bed over a garage. 6m long 2.3 wide 2.9 high, there are only 2 of us. Got it last year,

Rear view camera, solar panel, TV, good shower with doors not curtain. I can get my road bike, wife’s hybrid bike and my 29er Whyte wheels off in the garage. I also got a LPG bottle & filler cap fitted

Planning 3 week trip to Croatia this June.

@NZCol – It’s outside, the local sites near us have no covered options, but to be honest we were glad to get the spot as they are in big demand and the waiting list for spaces is pretty big.

The other thing is that with a solar panel, it really needs to be outside to take advantage. We’ve had no problems with it being parked up for a while and starting the van or the leisure batteries not being fully charged when we come to it.

The only downside I can see is that if you don’t keep it fairly clean you get the green film growing on it, but regular maintenance cleans keep on top of that.

@Epicsteve – with the twin wheel tranny I assume you have the twin vehicle batteries under the drivers and leisure battery elsewhere? That’s our setup as we have the same base van.  had you added an additional leisure battery or just kept with the one from the conversion. I’m thinking of doubling up and getting an extra leisure battery for longer wild camping trips.

@Epicsteve – with the twin wheel tranny I assume you have the twin vehicle batteries under the drivers and leisure battery elsewhere? That’s our setup as we have the same base van.  had you added an additional leisure battery or just kept with the one from the conversion. I’m thinking of doubling up and getting an extra leisure battery for longer wild camping trips.

Ours has the twin vehicle batteries under the drivers seat and a single leisure battery (although a fairly big one) under the passenger seat. We’ve not added another leisure battery as we have one of the quiet Honda generators that we carry if we’re going to be doing a lot of wild camping.

We went the other way

Had a 90ah leisure battery on split charge had to either drive a fair distance every other day or go on hook up every other day

Moved to twin 115ah and a 200watt solar set up.

Never had to concern my self with power issues again. The 2 batteries are more than enough for a week and the solar even in low light fully charged them every day.

Took a Genny to the strathpuffer and even with 18hrs darkness and interior/exterior lights on +heater on  for 2 days we still had plenty battery and never had to use the Genny at all

We are at the other end of the spectrum with size, and cost. But love spending time in our little camper. Quite a few sites like this within 45 mins drive from the door!

I toyed with the idea of solar panels and an additional battery but we already had the generator, hence the reason for sticking with that. It’s a 2KW one and a major reason for going with that was because it meant my wife could use her hairdryer! We don’t find we need to use it much though – mainly it gets fired up for a few minutes in the morning so we can run the coffee maker – we take a bean-to-cup machine with us as my wife is an addict! We tend not to stay in one place all that long when wild camping so power isn’t usually an issue.

We originally bought the gennie for a trip round the western isles and it was useful having as the leisure battery failed early in the trip and we couldn’t get a replacement until Stornaway. Without that issue we’d have been ok with just the battery really, as we do tend to drive the van quite a bit.

However, we don’t do overseas trips in it anymore as now that we HAVE to use a campsite, a tent is way better with2 kids

Could you expand/explain that a bit more as I don’t understand it?

On many levels

Ta

Re older kids going away. I went away with my parents until my 20s but I had my own tent. Was perfect. Independent but still able to grab food!

When our kids were younger we had a different motorhome, with bunk beds:

We used that in Europe a lot (the picture above is in Norway) – not a chance we’d have contemplated using a tent instead! We tend to move a lot though, rarely staying more than about 3 days in one place – if you’re going to spend two weeks in the same location then I could see some benefits from using a tent or caravan.

My kids are 22 and 26 so don’t holiday with us now – unless we’re heading somewhere they view as interesting like the US or Canada. They’ll sometimes come and visit us where we’re away though – for example my son and a couple of his friends came with us for the first few days before splitting from us in Paris where they headed off inter-railing. Later on that same trip we came back to Paris (having been wandering around Germany and France) to meet up with my daughter (who took the Eurostar from London) so her and my wife could spend a couple of days at EuroDisney (you can overnight in the car park there – lots of motorhomes do).

I’ve been looking at replacing the current 70ah leisure battery with a pair of 100ah AGM batteries and upping the solar from 150 to 250.

With the twin wheel transit there is one starter battery and one aux battery. The aux battery links to the starter when starting the engine and then disconnects and  connects with the leisure battery bank. So in effect it would be the 2 100ah batteries and the aux battery as the full leisure bank.

They split charge when the ignition is running or will charge when on hookup and the solar charges the leisure side and trickle charges the starter battery.

I think that should be enough for extended wilding.

The only thing I’m wondering about now is whether to go with AGM batteries or stick with wet as the AGM will mean a mix of batteries and I’m not sure how the charging would be affected by that. Anyone have any ideas?

I would get golf cart batteries, they are real ‘deep cycle’ batteries, whereas leisure batterys are a close relation to car batteries.  I got Trojan T105 225ahr batteries, they are 6v so you need two in series to get 12v. (as they are series, the total capacity stays at 225ahr)  Also, like trailrat, until I got solar I never realised how less hassle it was having a constant trickle charge, as opposed to needing hookup, or finding reasons to go for a long drive to dump a load of amps into the batteries.

I have 200w of panels and they keep up with my 80 litre compressor fridge, which is the main consumer of power in my van.  Last summer I left it running for about two months just to see how the batteries coped with variable weather.