If it’s exclusively for Bike use i.e. mainly weekend motorways use, 3-4 people + bikes why not practise a bit of “bangernomics” and go for a late 90’s Estate Car instead, Vans are generally a tad more to tax and often way more abused/higher mileage than a similarly aged Estate car, I’d always prefer to be buying a £1K Car over a £1K van…
You have to think about who’s owned the car before you, Sedate old farts drive Estates (My Dad for instance: carefully, serviced regularly, Boring safe, pristine) Cowboy builders and plumbers will have raped your Van several times over before offloading an MOT failure into your lap…
You’re still gonna be taking off wheels to get more than 2 bikes in a Combi/Escort type van but you’ll more than likely only have seating for 2 people, a well packed Mundano/406 Estate could just about accommodate 3 riders + bikes before you need a rack, plus empty it out and leave it on the street/Drive during the week and nobody is going to be breaking in looking for tools or scrap copper, 3rd party insurance should do the job…
You can still do a bit of adaptation, remove a rear seat maybe add a (Gulp) roof box for kit and the option of a tow bar rack is a good one if there’s more of you, While I’d quite like a Van Myself I can see some drawbacks….
As for speed limits applied to Vans/Car derived Vans… I was under the impression that all Road Laws are “not applicable” if you are driving a van….
