'80 type 25 aircooled 2.0l. bikes ont' back, towball rack. peeps in a tent (i prefer not to wake up smelling of old car smell). breaks down a lot; haven't used it for ages as i haven't got round to registering it in spain.

check this badboy out – Ural 4320 Russian Military Truck Motorhome Conversion

How much was the new one Epicsteve? I'm liking it!

Prices have gone up quite a bit in the last 4 years so the new one was £39K. They don't tend to depreciate that much though.

Ah right not that expensive then. 😯

WTF is that yunki?!? 😆

Not always. My previous one also had a garage but was only £25K new and could be had for perhaps £16K 2nd hand now.

<jealousyandchiponshoulder>I could have sworn £25k was a lot of money.</jealousyandchiponshoulder>

got loads of stuff on facebook, we built ours, twice now from a vw t4 mini bus. not as hard as i thought it was going to be but it depends how hands on you want to be. drop us a line if you need more details.

rickydisco – Member

check this badboy out – Ural 4320 Russian Military Truck Motorhome Conversion

Guaranteed to get you banned after you chew up each campsite, but make sure you get an HGV license first! Camper fail!

Spongebob – Member
WTF is that yunki?!?

Bedford J4 bus conversion

good stuff 🙂

Yunki wins! 😀

We bought a new 'van at the beginning of the summer. We decided to go for a brand new one, as the s/h prices were high and didn't include warranty etc.

We never even looked at VW/Bongo type vans as we want all-weather, all-year self-contained usability. VW type vans are too small to be comfortable for a long timespan IMO.

We plumped for a Chausson Flash 04

It has a 140bhp engine that will do more than 30mpg (sometimes even 35mpg+) and will still do motorway speeds with ease. With a/c and cruise control it is easy to drive. It is self contained with shower, toilet and diesel heating, and like EpicSteve's 'van it has a garage at the back that will swallow bikes, skis and even a kayak. The bed above our raises and lowers to tailor the space to suit. This summer it carried 2 XC and 2 DH bikes safe and sound, out of sight, inside away from prying eyes/hands.

It did cost us £34K, but we'll use it a lot, and did 4 and a half weeks in the Alps this summer, at a total cost of less than 40 euro for services such as waste disposal and water. Having a decent kitchen/fridge means we can eat a decent varied menu long-term in the van, without having to stick to one-pot meals.

IMO the smaller vans are fine for weekend use, but are compromised for longer term use. Being able to store the bikes securely is a massive plus for me.

Is this one having a cr4p?

For some off the beaten track wild camping.

It did cost us £34K,

(Wonders how many holidays staying in hotels could be had for that plus insurance, tax, petrol, servicing, road tolls, ferries etc…)

Not knocking it, and I'm sure it must be nice to have and that, but doesn't it kind of defeat the object of getting out into the countryside, when you bring a small house with you? Maybe if you're way for several weeks/months at time, but for the odd week/fornight away, seems like an awfully big investment that's all.

Elfinsafety – Member
It did cost us £34K,
(Wonders how many holidays staying in hotels could be had for that plus insurance, tax, petrol, servicing, road tolls, ferries etc…)

Not knocking it, and I'm sure it must be nice to have and that, but doesn't it kind of defeat the object of getting out into the countryside, when you bring a small house with you? Maybe if you're way for several weeks/months at time, but for the odd week/fornight away, seems like an awfully big investment that's all

Whats it got to do with you, if thats how people enjoy getting away by using a camper, who are you to judge, seems like thats all you do on here. 🙄

Whats it got to do with you

1. For the purpose of conversation and better understanding our fellow man
2. Because the information was posted on the internet for purpose of critique, ridicule and furthering the discussion
3. What's it got to do with you?
4. Get back in your cave 🙄

It's flippenheckler's money and his opinion, have some respect for that!

Here's ours:

Well, it was ours for a fortnight whilst we were renting it.

A home from home whilst doing TransRockies in 2007.

It's probably the flexibility that's key. And although the outlay is indeed high (and I wouldn't seek to dispute that), as EpicSteve pointed out, they depreciate very slowly, so resale values remain good. We sold our last van for what we paid for it.

For me comfort is important too. I have eczema which means a shower once or twice a day is important to keep my skin in decent condition. Wildcamping in bivvy bag just can't do this, so once you tie yourself to campsites and associated costs loss of flexibiity – booking in advance etc – you may as well invest in a decent alternative.

Whats it got to do with you, if thats how people enjoy getting away by using a camper, who are you to judge, seems like thats all you do on here.

Just asking a perfectly reasonable question. Keep yer knickers on love. 🙄 Judging? Erm, right…

It's flippenheckler's money and his opinion, have some respect for that!

Was actually asking TroutWrestler, but there you go.

Not criticising. Just curious as to why someone would go to the expense. I don't drive, and camper vans don't appeal to me personally, but then I'm ignorant of the whole thing, so I'm trying to learn. That's all. I'm sure TroutWrestler has their reasons why they've got a camper van, and hopefully will be along to explain why.

No, I'm genuinely interested. Maybe there's an advantage I'd not considered, or a particular reason why TW and others are happy to spend their hard-earned on camper vans. It's a concept that seems strange to me personally, but as I said, i'm not knocking it. I'm just tryingto understand, that's ll.

No offence intended at all, TW. At least JonT understood what I meant.

EDIT: Thanks TW for taking the time to explain that. Makes sense now, I can see. Fair enough.

See? I've learned something. All good.

[/quote]JonT – Member
Whats it got to do with you
1. For the purpose of conversation and better understanding our fellow man
2. Because the information was posted on the internet for purpose of critique, ridicule and furthering the discussion
3. What's it got to do with you?
4. Get back in your cave

OP said show us your campers not criticise the reasons for buying one, so get back in your cave! 🙄

Flippinheckler; chill. I din't mean any offence. I think you've taken my comments well out of context.

I'm calm. Is anyone else?

Surfer – we're going to Vanfest too.

We are planning on living in it for a while, as we're thinking of leaving our jobs and going around Europe until our money runs out. We'll only be able to afford a converted van, but it's a step up in luxury from our original plan of bike touring.

Calm?! CALM?! People keep starting threads on camper vans that I want but can't afford, and you expect me to keep calm?

And on the same day that someone sticks a Soda in my size on the classifieds. You're all just trying to wind me up………..

back to campers eh?

Roof was done by MAD workshop in Bristol

Total conversion price inc roof was around £6k (£3300 for the roof alone), although I did all the work bar the roof myself.

I have a camper rather than a motorhome as it has to act as a daily driver as well as a home from home, also sometimes we go places and not stay the night etc but to have a fridge, cooking facilities and a mobile changing room is very handy.

Personally I can't stand hotels/B&B plus we go away nearly every weekend and stay approx 40 nights a year in it so it works well for us, each to their own and all that.

This works for us. On hols in France this summer:

elfinsafety was not being critical but asking questions! Relax!

I have used a few different campers that I have hired. to me they are all a compromise. Small ones are cramped and don't have all the mod cons, big ones are no fun to drive.

However nothing beats coming back to the campsite after a long day out and cracking a cold beer from the fridge. Can't get that with a tent – the beer is always warm!

I got this only recently as it seems to to tick all the boxes for not too much money, Happy so far !

Its comfortable for 3

And the Bikes are safe!

my bongo at dalbeatie
small but i love it

The daily driver thing is a big factor. A big van would certainly be awkward to use on a daily basis – supermarket carparks and all that.

Yep, we looked at bigger vans and decided they would be nice for the times we coulld use them but a total pain most of the time. Mine will fit in nearly every multistory carpark with a bit of care and on the eurotunnel etc as a car size.

We'll be at vanfest also on Fri or Sat.

why do all threads go tits up at some point? lol

It's my fault. 🙁

Actually I've had a think about it and read some people's comments, and I sort of get it now. You can just park up wherever you feel like, not have to worry about mucking about with tents and that really, and have a mini hotel sort of thing. Yeah, I can see the appeal. I spose you can stay in more remote locations than you might find a hotel in. And it would be warmer than a tent, in colder months. And if you or a family member/friend had any particular health/mobility issues, then it makes camping actually possible. Yeah, that makes sense to me.

I think most folk would agree it's a lot of money, mind! But fair enough if that's what you want to do. We're all different. I'm a sybarite who likes hotels and stuff done for me! I'd quite like to camp out in a nice vayn though now and then.

I want one now. 😳

<jealousyandchiponshoulder>I could have sworn £25k was a lot of money.</jealousyandchiponshoulder>

Plenty of people spend more than that on a car.

windy smithy now my favourite caravan

To give prospective buyers something to drool over: http://www.rsmotorhomes.com/ There is a slight caveat to owning one though, if you turn up to a race and have your name, number and a riding sillhoutte on said motorhome you are required to win!

Iain

Sweepy; they're cute!