Done it, Bought one, now the Q's start.
Discussion
So we've done it, confirmed order on a large 2017 A Class Home on Wheels.
So now we have the raft of stupid first owner (ever) questions.
WaxOyl / Rust Protection - Worth it, or not for the underside of the MoHo. Obviously it is a massive investment so want to protect our investment?
Storaged Cover - It will be stored off site and a slightly dusty environment, would you / do you cover yours?
Bike Carrage - it has a Mahooooosive boot, space for 4 bikes if carefully packed, but what do people use to keep them upright? We have a towbar and a towbar bike rack for when we need the boot space for other things, but I would prefer to keep them secure and dry if I can.
There will be more, but that will be all for now.
V.
So now we have the raft of stupid first owner (ever) questions.
WaxOyl / Rust Protection - Worth it, or not for the underside of the MoHo. Obviously it is a massive investment so want to protect our investment?
Storaged Cover - It will be stored off site and a slightly dusty environment, would you / do you cover yours?
Bike Carrage - it has a Mahooooosive boot, space for 4 bikes if carefully packed, but what do people use to keep them upright? We have a towbar and a towbar bike rack for when we need the boot space for other things, but I would prefer to keep them secure and dry if I can.
There will be more, but that will be all for now.
V.
Congratulations.
I can’t answer the first question, but will be interested in replies.
I hunted out indoor storage even though it is more expensive than outdoors. If ours was stored outdoors, I would go for a cover though
As for the garage and bikes.... our garage is full of stuff that we have accumulated mainly awning flooring, chairs and dog stuff. The bikes are on a tow bar mounted carrier, if I empty the garage when we are on site I put the bikes in. If you have the space the. Inside would be best. Iirc Fiamma make a garage bike storage system.
I can’t answer the first question, but will be interested in replies.
I hunted out indoor storage even though it is more expensive than outdoors. If ours was stored outdoors, I would go for a cover though
As for the garage and bikes.... our garage is full of stuff that we have accumulated mainly awning flooring, chairs and dog stuff. The bikes are on a tow bar mounted carrier, if I empty the garage when we are on site I put the bikes in. If you have the space the. Inside would be best. Iirc Fiamma make a garage bike storage system.
I would say yes to rust proofing. Vans seem to be built for high mileage low age before scrapping. Therefor the chassis is worth adding the extra proofing if you want to keep the van running for years and years.
Agree on the bikes thing. Rear mounted carriers are not that unsecure though. Padlock them to the carrier and it’s a job to get them off.
You will enjoy the locker at the rear and regret having to remove most of it to go for a ride. For example you stop for lunch in a French town and can’t park close. Pop the bikes off the back and ride in.
Agree on the bikes thing. Rear mounted carriers are not that unsecure though. Padlock them to the carrier and it’s a job to get them off.
You will enjoy the locker at the rear and regret having to remove most of it to go for a ride. For example you stop for lunch in a French town and can’t park close. Pop the bikes off the back and ride in.
Thanks guys.
Will post pics when we have her, first trip away already booked for half term as a 4 night trial run and off to the NEC show later this month.
Got a plan for bike storage in the boot at a 5th of the price of Fiamma which should make them easy to load and remove. Again will post when I have worked it out fully.
V.
Will post pics when we have her, first trip away already booked for half term as a 4 night trial run and off to the NEC show later this month.
Got a plan for bike storage in the boot at a 5th of the price of Fiamma which should make them easy to load and remove. Again will post when I have worked it out fully.
V.
Edited by VEX on Wednesday 12th September 15:47
chasingracecars said:
Reading again if it’s a dusty area I wouldn’t use a cover. Rain will wash off dust but if it gets under the cover it can scratch when the wind blows the cover about. Under trees is a whole different story!
This...I would avoid a cover personally. These things are designed to be outdoors after all.
If you have a cover the same rule applies as per a car: the vehicle would have to be really clean otherwise you may well just grind crud into the finish when the wind blows.
It takes me around an hour to give all 4 sides a wash, rinse and dry on ours (8.7m long). The roof'll need doing a few times a year. I use a collapse-able ladder to get up to height on mine as I have no rear ladder fitted to it. Cleaning up there (and all over) is by using one of those extend-able brushes (15 quid or thereabouts from Amazon/Ebay etc)
Keep asking questions though: remember there are no stupid questions...
You may also want to join a specialist MH forum too. There are many about. My main one is motorhomefacts which is £12.50 for lifetime membership but there are others which are free to join also. It has paid for itself 100 times over for me on advice/pointers/guidance given...plus they used to offer cheaper insurance through Comfort too...
Oh and if you are planning on going abroad get an ACSI card and books (around 15 quid or so) as these offer HUGE discounts abroad (mainly) on '000s of sites off peak.
Enjoy
Ours sits out all year and we don’t use a cover, just wash it down periodically.
I don’t use a pressure washer; it could damage the siliconed panel joints, so I use a telescopic brush on a hose.
I’m going to treat ours underneath with Dinitrol (I’m not a fan of Waxoyl).
But most of all, enjoy
I don’t use a pressure washer; it could damage the siliconed panel joints, so I use a telescopic brush on a hose.
I’m going to treat ours underneath with Dinitrol (I’m not a fan of Waxoyl).
But most of all, enjoy
Just a thought on the keeping bikes secure inside the rear luggage compartment
https://www.bikeinside.de/en/interior-bike-rack/system-bikeinside.html
https://www.bikeinside.de/en/interior-bike-rack/system-bikeinside.html
My advice for first trip out:
Take all instruction books / manuals... over 4 nights you will probably need them at some point.
Allow enough time for setting up and packing up, in a new van it might take longer than you think.
Ensure you check everything is locked, secure and attached (bikes etc) before setting off there and back.
Make sure you check your oil and water, even on a new van.
I always preferred to fuel up before setting off with a full tank but then again before arriving at the destination if I had used more than half a tank to get there. This meant we would not have to stop on the way back for fuel or worry about fuel if there was an emergency and we had to go home in a rush. Also fuel at motorway services is a rip off.
HTH!
Take all instruction books / manuals... over 4 nights you will probably need them at some point.
Allow enough time for setting up and packing up, in a new van it might take longer than you think.
Ensure you check everything is locked, secure and attached (bikes etc) before setting off there and back.
Make sure you check your oil and water, even on a new van.
I always preferred to fuel up before setting off with a full tank but then again before arriving at the destination if I had used more than half a tank to get there. This meant we would not have to stop on the way back for fuel or worry about fuel if there was an emergency and we had to go home in a rush. Also fuel at motorway services is a rip off.
HTH!
red_slr said:
My advice for first trip out:
Take all instruction books / manuals... over 4 nights you will probably need them at some point.
Allow enough time for setting up and packing up, in a new van it might take longer than you think.
Ensure you check everything is locked, secure and attached (bikes etc) before setting off there and back.
Make sure you check your oil and water, even on a new van.
I always preferred to fuel up before setting off with a full tank but then again before arriving at the destination if I had used more than half a tank to get there. This meant we would not have to stop on the way back for fuel or worry about fuel if there was an emergency and we had to go home in a rush. Also fuel at motorway services is a rip off.
HTH!
Yep I always (when I had a motor home) always made sure I was 50% full on diesel if I needed to charge leisure battery’s when off grid.Take all instruction books / manuals... over 4 nights you will probably need them at some point.
Allow enough time for setting up and packing up, in a new van it might take longer than you think.
Ensure you check everything is locked, secure and attached (bikes etc) before setting off there and back.
Make sure you check your oil and water, even on a new van.
I always preferred to fuel up before setting off with a full tank but then again before arriving at the destination if I had used more than half a tank to get there. This meant we would not have to stop on the way back for fuel or worry about fuel if there was an emergency and we had to go home in a rush. Also fuel at motorway services is a rip off.
HTH!
DP1 said:
Just a thought on the keeping bikes secure inside the rear luggage compartment
https://www.bikeinside.de/en/interior-bike-rack/system-bikeinside.html
Like that idea, but costly. I was thinking of re-engineering a pair of these, with the little Fiamma cross bar seperators (or even make my own)https://www.bikeinside.de/en/interior-bike-rack/system-bikeinside.html
https://tinyurl.com/y6vay4z5
We also have a Pilote Galaxy (I think I exchanged a couple of PMs with you) - Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions on the Pilote as we've now used ours quite a bit (55 nights in it this year!) - Which "version" did you buy in the end?
Having just been on a 5 week trip around Europe (France / Switzerland / Germany / Belgium) the bike storage "issue" is one I am currently looking into. Whilst the garage was big enough for 4 bikes and everything else we took with us I did start to get annoyed with getting them in/out. I don't however want to fit an external rack on the back.
Getting them in was a bit of a task in that I had to get pedals in correct positions / bikes in correct order etc etc, otherwise they didn't fit well and also risked damage (scratches etc). I also had to take other things in/out every time we wanted the bikes. As we moved sites every 3-5 days it did get a bit tiring and on a couple of occasions I just couldn't be bothered
I currently have 2 x ideas that I am going to try......
1) I have purchased a standing bike rack from Amazon (£25) like this one - http://amzn.eu/d/iUTTScH - I'm going to modify it (angle grinder / drill) as its a bolt together one to see if I can place it in the garage and use it to hold the bikes apart. As standard it is a touch too wide and the bikes a few inches too far apart. The benefit of this (as we saw someone else do) is that once on site the stand can be taken out and actually used for standing the bikes up rather than them being dropped on the floor / leant against the side of the van. Its also a cheap solution.
2) If the above is no good then I might keep an eye on ebay / gumtree for 4 x cheap roof mount bike racks and a pair of roof bars. I was thinking of fitting these between the garage rails built into the floor, but raised by 12-18inches on spacers. The bikes could then be held tight in the racks, but there could be a good amount of space UNDER the racks for storage of chairs / tables / pipes / cables etc. When the bikes are stood on the garage floor there is a lot of wasted space above them.
Having just been on a 5 week trip around Europe (France / Switzerland / Germany / Belgium) the bike storage "issue" is one I am currently looking into. Whilst the garage was big enough for 4 bikes and everything else we took with us I did start to get annoyed with getting them in/out. I don't however want to fit an external rack on the back.
Getting them in was a bit of a task in that I had to get pedals in correct positions / bikes in correct order etc etc, otherwise they didn't fit well and also risked damage (scratches etc). I also had to take other things in/out every time we wanted the bikes. As we moved sites every 3-5 days it did get a bit tiring and on a couple of occasions I just couldn't be bothered
I currently have 2 x ideas that I am going to try......
1) I have purchased a standing bike rack from Amazon (£25) like this one - http://amzn.eu/d/iUTTScH - I'm going to modify it (angle grinder / drill) as its a bolt together one to see if I can place it in the garage and use it to hold the bikes apart. As standard it is a touch too wide and the bikes a few inches too far apart. The benefit of this (as we saw someone else do) is that once on site the stand can be taken out and actually used for standing the bikes up rather than them being dropped on the floor / leant against the side of the van. Its also a cheap solution.
2) If the above is no good then I might keep an eye on ebay / gumtree for 4 x cheap roof mount bike racks and a pair of roof bars. I was thinking of fitting these between the garage rails built into the floor, but raised by 12-18inches on spacers. The bikes could then be held tight in the racks, but there could be a good amount of space UNDER the racks for storage of chairs / tables / pipes / cables etc. When the bikes are stood on the garage floor there is a lot of wasted space above them.
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