Craikeybaby's VW T5 Bike Van

[anonymous-user]

And now the wallet emptying can begin...

Owning a Transporter and not ‘tweaking’ it is a bit like eating a doughnut and not licking your lips

[rustfalia]

Coin Slot. said:

And now the wallet emptying can begin...

Owning a Transporter and not ‘tweaking’ it is a bit like eating a doughnut and not licking your lips

....
My father bought this and I ended up getting hold of it...


Added some windows...


Ended up fully colour coded, sportline kit etc etc $$$$$

Edited by rustfalia on Sunday 1st March 08:04

[Craikeybaby]

Coin Slot. said:

And now the wallet emptying can begin...

Owning a Transporter and not ‘tweaking’ it is a bit like eating a doughnut and not licking your lips

Yeah, something like that! Trying to keep it standard for the rest of the year, due to insurance. Still got a few things I want to do though.

[Craikeybaby]

Had a good trip out in the van today, our usual park has a height restriction on the car park, which means I couldn’t go in with my bike on top of the car - but I could take the bike in the van! Had a great ride with my 3 year old, his longest ride to date!



I had some time to kill waiting for my wife and managed to pull 12 parking tickets out of the gap between the dashboard and windscreen. It seems to be a common issue, as it is possible to buy a foam strip to block the gap.

[Court_S]

Even as a mountain biker I’ve never really got the Transporter thing until a friend got a really cheap van. Having some where to get changed after w ride is good...downside is his is billy basic so no A/C which is pants on a warm day.

[Craikeybaby]

The main thing for me is being able to have the bike locked out of sight in the back, I did not feel like I could leave the car with the bike on the racks only secured by the Thule locks. Getting changed in the back is good though, as is just being able to sweep out the mud after. With AC, Bluetooth and cruise control this is the most luxurious vehicle I have owned!

[anonymous-user]

How about some cheap mod ideas -

https://travelinlite-transporters.co.uk/products/t...

https://www.deadening.co.uk/products/dodo-dead-mat...

The door seals make a huge improvement, you may be lucky and have them fitted from the factory though.

Dodo Mat the inner door skins and cab floor.

Or spend a bit more,

I’m too lazy to diy the whole van, but I did the doors and cab floor, then got a pro to soundproof the rest of the van, it makes such a difference.

Plenty of companies out there who will soundproof and carpet the rear for somewhere between £800-£1000.

[Craikeybaby]

The door seals are on my radar, and I’ll likely get the sound deadening done when I get the rear carpeted etc at my local conversion place.

Trying not to spend too much money on it until the autumn!

[GT72]

Loving it. Can we get some internal shots of the van please. Interested to see how the bikes fit it.

And good luck not spending money on it, I wouldn’t be able to resist.

[Craikeybaby]

This is he only interior shot I have a the moment, but shows how much space there is with an adult (size M) 27.5” trail bike in the back.

[GT72]

I didn’t realise they went in sideways, that’s perfect.

[CaptainSlow]

On the Kombi models like this one..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-VOLKSWAGEN-TRANSPO...

I see the rear seats fold up but can the come out completely to fit a motorbike in?

[Craikeybaby]

GT72 said:

I didn’t realise they went in sideways, that’s perfect.

It’s diagonal there. Sideways would need the front wheel off.

[Craikeybaby]

CaptainSlow said:

On the Kombi models like this one..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-VOLKSWAGEN-TRANSPO...

I see the rear seats fold up but can the come out completely to fit a motorbike in?

I’m not sure about the 3 seat bench, but I expect it would. On the 2/1 rear seats, like mine, both the 2 and 1 can be removed.

[anonymous-user]

The 3 seaters do come out, but it’s a 2 handed job as they are heavy.

I’ve got the 2+1, quite often take out the 1 to give us a bit of extra room when camping etc.

[Jonny_]

Craikeybaby said:

GT72 said:

I didn’t realise they went in sideways, that’s perfect.

It’s diagonal there. Sideways would need the front wheel off.

Do you reckon that the rear of your van would take four adult mountain bikes, without resorting to removing wheels?

I'm looking at getting myself a similar sort of van (probably the Ford equivalent though, as they're a good bit cheaper than the VWs) for mountain biking trips.

Was looking at panel vans rather than combis with the notion that the combi rear would be too small, but having read this thread I'm starting to reconsider. The extra seats would be very useful indeed, especially if they're removable.

[Craikeybaby]

I think you would need a LWB for 4 adult mountain bikes in the back with wheels on. When I was looking at vans Transits seemed to have a bulkhead behind the second row of seats.

[Craikeybaby]

Since my last post the van has mostly just sat on the drive. Before lockdown was announced we managed to squeeze in a family day out to a small mountain bike trail, it was a really good day and proved the van works how we expected it to. After that it has mostly sat on the drive for six weeks. It did turn into a mobile office at one point as my home broadband was down and I had also ran out of 4G data, so I was able to drive to work and connect to the wifi from the car park!

Last Friday should have been a good day for the van - I ordered some bits for it and managed to get out in it with my youngest son to pick up some essential shopping However, parked up by the butchers I noticed that there were scratches all down the passenger side, that were not there before. I am not sure if they are from people passing it to closely coming up the drive with deliveries, or when it was parked on the street for a few days whilst we have the front of the house painted. They aren't too bad, but it is just annoying. It was also the first time I have driven it when it has been hot enough to have the AC on, and it smells of vomit. When I get a chance, I will take it down to my local AC specialist, hopefully they are still open - when I have been there before you don't have to get out of your vehicle, so they should be able to carry on working safely.

On a more positive note, I got the windscreen seal fitted - so hopefully no more tickets lost in the void! My eldest son enjoyed helping me and sitting in the drivers seat! The space in the front makes it easy to clamber about.

"Just borrowing the van Dad" by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

Then I got him to help fit the new threshold cover caps:

Cleaning out the holes by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

It is only a little thing, but tidies up the back of the van nicely:

New caps fitted by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

I still have some extra door seals to fit, which are a universally recommended upgrade, but not sure that can be done whilst looking after an inquisitive three year old, so will tackle that another day.

Other than that it has just sat on the drive, I last bought diesel for it in February!

[sjabrown]

Best colour, but then I am biased!

Saw plenty of use last year lugging bikes about and as rally service van but in effect it's furloughed. Done a total of 12 miles since February.

[Craikeybaby]

Mine has already missed two trips to Wales. I decided to SORN my MR2 Roadster instead, as tax was due the same month, so at least I got them out of sync.