what am I doing?!?
Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 4:01 am
Hey everyone,
I don't know if I've introduced myself here yet, but I've been lurking. I greatly prefer MrSharkey to the other bus conversion forums that I've encountered online. Everyone here just seems to be... cooler.
I'm planning a school bus conversion that I will full-time in with a friend of mine year round; however, most of the year we plan to fill it with people and take it on the road. I play in a country band here in Minneapolis, and manage another incredibly talented bluegrass group. We plan to go on the road beginning in the fall, and throughout the bitter cold MN winter.
Taking two bands on the road at once will require quite a vehicle. The goal is to comfortably seat, and somehow sleep, 10 people in one bus. We don't require many amenities (a toilet and sink would be nice), but I mostly need a bus that can seat and sleep this many people and travel many many miles.
It's important that it gets decent milage, as this will be our greatest expense while on tour. I would like to get 10 mpg. I'm checking out a 71 passenger flat-nosed blue bird tomorrow that has a 5.9L Cummins diesel in it. It has already been partially converted, and I'm not sure this is a good thing, but it is near by and the price is right.
I also had the crazy idea to equip a mini bird so that it could seat all 10 and sleep half of the people, and then tow a travel trailer to sleep the rest. Is this insane? How would it effect the milage I get in the short-bus. Any one with experience towing with a mini? Any advice will be appreciated.
here's a link to pics of a short bus that I like, I would tow a 4-6 person camper behind it: http://blogs.wayne.edu/rgrant/
here's a link to the full-size bus that I'm checking out tomorrow:
http://eauclaire.craigslist.org/rvs/2352042788.html
thanks to all who read this long post - I look forward to joining the ranks. I can't wait to make the leap, but I need to decide on the right bus first.
cheers,
max
I don't know if I've introduced myself here yet, but I've been lurking. I greatly prefer MrSharkey to the other bus conversion forums that I've encountered online. Everyone here just seems to be... cooler.
I'm planning a school bus conversion that I will full-time in with a friend of mine year round; however, most of the year we plan to fill it with people and take it on the road. I play in a country band here in Minneapolis, and manage another incredibly talented bluegrass group. We plan to go on the road beginning in the fall, and throughout the bitter cold MN winter.
Taking two bands on the road at once will require quite a vehicle. The goal is to comfortably seat, and somehow sleep, 10 people in one bus. We don't require many amenities (a toilet and sink would be nice), but I mostly need a bus that can seat and sleep this many people and travel many many miles.
It's important that it gets decent milage, as this will be our greatest expense while on tour. I would like to get 10 mpg. I'm checking out a 71 passenger flat-nosed blue bird tomorrow that has a 5.9L Cummins diesel in it. It has already been partially converted, and I'm not sure this is a good thing, but it is near by and the price is right.
I also had the crazy idea to equip a mini bird so that it could seat all 10 and sleep half of the people, and then tow a travel trailer to sleep the rest. Is this insane? How would it effect the milage I get in the short-bus. Any one with experience towing with a mini? Any advice will be appreciated.
here's a link to pics of a short bus that I like, I would tow a 4-6 person camper behind it: http://blogs.wayne.edu/rgrant/
here's a link to the full-size bus that I'm checking out tomorrow:
http://eauclaire.craigslist.org/rvs/2352042788.html
thanks to all who read this long post - I look forward to joining the ranks. I can't wait to make the leap, but I need to decide on the right bus first.
cheers,
max