So, I'll soon be fulfilling a lifelong ambition and getting a motorhome. Simply cant wait to get travelling with the bike on the back.
To keep my excitement levels up, lets have a look at your setups!
Not my van, but the promo video for the setup I've got:
We will have had ours 4 years in July. Best impulse buy we ever made. We have done 34000 miles in it mostly to biking destinations and to watch Abigale compete. Been all over the UK and Europe and ridden some amazing trails. Use it all year round. We can get 4 fully built 29ers in the garage which was a must for us. Already planning this years European biking trips.
Got a 150w solar panel, charge controller and 100Ah leisure battery if anyone is interested. £75 collected
718EB Welcome. We lowered the aerial on ours since the last pic to get below 3m for the French toll roads.
We have a Scudo camper which is brilliant. Small enough to still get into a tesco parking bay but big enough for my wife & I & dog for the weekend.
It's the same setup as this one for sale, except we have a roof rack with roofbox and canoe on ours...
Puffer last year in the post bus.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjVhPp8hV7T/
Where the bikes live.
Not fancy. Not posh but i don't cry when I take it to muddy events and stuff it in a ditch
Dammit Tracey, I thought I had it down to two, but that looks bloody lovely. Might have to add it to the list.
Mid 90s Toyota Hi-Ace Reimo High Top.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/danclairelees/291825323
Without jinxing it, it refuses to die.
Did six months in Europe in it with the wife over a decade ago.
Gets used as a day or weekend away van now rather than full weeks now that we have the kids.
Two bikes on the back, one goes inside if I'm taking both of my son's riding.
Bed folds down from the rear seats and is super comfy.
2 ring burner for pasta and brews.
Big cargo space above cab for gear, 3 cupboards (one of which is really tall) and drawers in the back for "stuff.
Camp table and chairs can be stashed behind front seats.
Fridge died in Chamonix after 5 months of constant usage, tried to replace it but can't seem to find one that fits, just use a chilly bin these days for weekends away.
Leisure battery needs replacing (doesn't really matter these days with battery packs that will charge phones 4 times), driver's side door is a bit wonky after high winds in North Wales tried to rip it off it's hinges.
Autossleeper Nuevo ek, 5.71m, plus 2 bike rack, the smallest we could find with everything er indoors thought we needed...... inner and outer western isles, orkney, Shetland and the entire west coast backroads, London, Edinburgh etc etc etc tick
I quite fancy a drop down bed to save the evening bed build stage (we add a memory foam topper to the repositioned seat cushions)but have been told they jam quite a lot and the idea of a large garage appeals, apart from that pretty pleased with all facilities - handy things like the window screens being just about midge proof, microwave handy on sites, external gas point so we take a cadac bbq, plenty of storage space with some externally accessible and pretty driveable (ambulance size) just the odd bridge, width, height restriction
Tracey, with regards to solar panel etc, where do you live?
I have just noticed Tracey's (or Abigail's) personalised number plate. Sweet
We love our home made trafic....
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[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4457/36827999743_4e3201d41d.jpg [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/Y7n8fP ]DSC03149.jpg" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4457/36827999743_4e3201d41d.jpg [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/Y7n8fP ]DSC03149.jpg"/> [/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/ewanpanter/ ]Ewan[/url], on Flickr
I'm just converting a 2009 swb vivaro although I've fallen out with it this week as the battery keeps going flat.
No pics online. We changed from a caravan to an Autocruise Starburst later last year and are absolutely loving it.
I’m in it now in fact!
I’m too tall for most fixed beds and the Mrs hated the idea of clambering off an over can or drop down so we’ve got parallel sofas that can other be a huge double or two singles.
Diesel heating and solar panels so good for off grid trips.
Outside shower point has proved great for rinsing the dogs off (& my bike!) but we’ve not been away in warm enough weather to make use of the bbq point or awning.
It’s a shade over 6m long and without the over cab bed pretty low profile. Just like driving a big van and way easier than the caravan was.
Based in South Yorkshire. The panel is for the roof and the controller is to split the charge between the van battery and the leisure one
Here's mine, up in the Picos last year. The motorbike and folders usually live in the garage.
We've had it since 2010 but recently set it up for long term use - solar panels, increased battery capacity, LPG gas system etc. Did a 2 month trip last year but came back when I was offered a job I couldn't refuse - but I'm only ever 5 minutes away from resigning and heading off for a year or two!
LWB Transit, big piece of foam from work, porta potti, dog, perfect!
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Motorhome? That's probably a bit of a grand title for mine, its a land rover that I sleep in. Bikes go in the back, which can get a bit cramped.
If I'm feeling like going even more slowly and spending even more money on fuel, there's also option 2 - the DAFt. It too isn't really a motorhome, but it motors and I sleep in it so...
Loving the landrover, my first buy with a lotto win would be one of the 130 land rover ambulances.
Another Amdro Angel owner here
Whoop! They are chuffing brilliant, properly well thought practical layout, without all the fancy pants T5 camper ****ery.
@IHN - ooh, be careful the VW crowd will be baying for blood now you've said that
We've got a Westfalia LWB hi-roof Transit but no photos to post unless someone can tell me how to post from Google Photos
there’s also option 2 – the DAFt. It too isn’t really a motorhome, but it motors and I sleep in it so…
What on the flat bed or in the cab ?
Another Amdro Angel owner here too! We converted a LWB T6, making an internal bike garage in the back and leaving enough space for the Angel in the middle. It’s amazing and I wouldn’t change a thing!
Only thing I'd change on ours would be to move the parcel shelf up so we could fit the bikes in the back. When we built it we didn't have such nice bikes, but I would like to get the current bikes inside.
Not going to change this one though, I think in a couple of years we'll get a bigger van and move this interior in to it with a permanent bed at the back.
It perfectly fitted our criteria of not too bling to be afraid to use it, practical and tons of storage.
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[url= https://i.ibb.co/4YmTVXQ/IMG-20170907-102815486.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.ibb.co/4YmTVXQ/IMG-20170907-102815486.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
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This was our old, minimal (no built in water, no built in cooking, just electric hookup and bed) set up. Bike went in a bag under the seat/bed.
But I wrote it off in December. Currently got this sat on the drive awaiting conversion.
Going for a full on conversion this time (would love to get an Angel and modify it to fit, but Zoe wants the full-on camper thing. Something like this but with more yellow. Hopefully sorted in time for a summer road trip through Wales and the South West.
<stealth>If anyone wants a full width rock and roll bed or a double passenger seat swivel base for a TVP...</stealth>
What is it that Zoe wants that isn’t in the Angel? Or is it a bigger van you’re going for?
wallop
What is it that Zoe wants that isn’t in the Angel? Or is it a bigger van you’re going for?
Bigger? Nah, still an SWB. She likes the more 'conventional' setup, with the 'white goods' ranged along one side and the bed next to the door.
I like the clever use of space in the Angel design, but not enough to argue the point too much...
Colournoise - just messaged you!
Phil5556 - yours looks a bit different to ours, ours didn't come with the parcel shelf (although I added one myself) and we don't have the cubby hole bit in the top left of your first pic. I assume it's above the fridge?
I fitted our kit in 2010, I assume the design has been tweaked since then.
He sells them with parcel shelf now, I think originally it was sold as a kids bunk? It's where we keep clothes and bedding.
The cubby hole bit is a cupboard that we designed and asked Iwan to make, handy for chucking various junk in.
Pics before doors added
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I like the clever use of space in the Angel design, but not enough to argue the point too much…
We find it's much cosier with the facing seats and the boot is great. Bit more awkward to move about in to get the bed out, but much easier to get to sink and cooker sitting down. I used to have to kneel Infront of the kitchen in the old van. Obviously no issue if you face a pop top.
Thanks for all the interest in the solar kit. It has now found a new home.
Mid 90s Toyota Hi-Ace Reimo High Top.
I lived in a 30 year old Hiace for months in Australia! It's the perfect size of van, I wish they had imported them here properly. They just keep going and going if they don't rust, oz is full of 30 year old hiaces that have done hundreds of thousands of miles.
Where is the best place to look for these kinds of campers for sale? As in normal vans not ****y pricey T5s? I have an urge to drive around europe with the bike this summer...
Tracey & epicsteve, message sent!
We bought this new over ten years ago and I can honestly say it's got to be the best purchase I ever made. Apart from routine servicing and tyres very little has gone wrong apart from the shower tray that started to fall apart.
Seatbelts & beds for six but really only comfortable for four. Full fuel, water, two adults, two kids, bikes and kayaks puts it right at the limit of its weight capacity. There's space for four bikes in the garage & enough storage in the external lockers for all the seats, table & barbecue etc.
Ace :o)
The van is crying out for a conversion, will be popular with the young kids I reckon :
Already converted, might not take bikes so well :
[url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/837/41473447350_ea63a69530_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/837/41473447350_ea63a69530_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/26bSfZ5 ]36774232_10156649356386474_2563630300689072128_n[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr
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T25 (aka T3) and glawning.
Horse and horse box not always in attendance.
Friend of mine does this if anyone is interested in conversions of any scale: https://www.huntersporthomes.co.uk
I'm especially interested to see any SWB setups, I think we've got a trannie on the way this year, and will be looking at basically doing a day van with bed option.
Andy_K
I’m especially interested to see any SWB setups, I think we’ve got a trannie on the way this year, and will be looking at basically doing a day van with bed option.
Our Vivaro earlier in the thread was SWB with exactly that kind of setup.
Having issues with image posting, sorry about the mess.
Pics from ImgBB appear to post as cropped unclickable thumbnails for some reason n eff knows how to post from Google images.
Pics here anyway.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/jsTZJ8BSkYNCaK3m6