Transporting bikes in a campervan

diy

We are 4 and my coach built is a 6 sleeper. Gives the kids a double bed each and with the curtain on the overhead bunk and the blind door on the back bedroom, everyone effectively gets their own room. Ventilation isn't a problem - there are enough windows, hatches and fans, plus it has a built in heater/cooler though the aircon only works if the motor is on. One thing I found handy was adding some 12v USB 2.1/1A sockets on the lighting circuit. Just makes it easier for the kids to keep ipads charging on the go as there are only 3 cigarette sockets and they aren't near the back seats. Only £2.99 from china.

You can spend a fortune on these - it always amused me how a 20k transit with 10k caravan glued on, costs 45-50k

Driving a 130 hp 3.5 tonner isn't much fun if you don't learn to work the gear box (early). If I don't get a run up on the steep hills, I'll literally be working my way down the box until I'm flat out at about 35mph.

ktuludays

check out http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/. some of guys on there have done something internal like you want.

If you are custom building your own bed you don't have to have a rock n roll bed. there are some cracking builds with side beds. have a look through.

I carry four bikes on the back of my t4 with a fiamma rack. no drag as they are sheltered by the van and had no issues in france with security for the past few years.

slowbike

hmm - 4 in a transit van conversion would be cosy!
3 in ours will be cosy.
One PITA that I don't like is having to make up a bed each night - at the moment it's simple enough, drop the table & get the little man's crib off our fixed bed at the rear ... but that's soon going to change. At least it isn't having to make up our bed - it's not just the making up of a bed, it's that the mattress isn't a mattress, it's usually mixed cushions, then you've got the storage of the bedding when not in use ... a fixed bed is so much easier!

I agree with the USB sockets ... I still need to get into the wiring to put some in ours, not too bad as we have a mains socket in the rear and we're mostly on hookup overnight.
I didn't find driving our 3ton 120bhp up italy's tuscan hills too taxing, but then I did learn how to drive properly ...

mycar12

I'm in the process of buying a Volkswagen Transporter van which I'm hoping to convert to a campervan. I intend to carry at least 2, possibly 3 bikes around. I would prefer not to carry them externally for security and fuel efficiency. As I'm working on a bit of a blank canvas now I have a lot of flexibility in trying to work out how best to carry them.

ya sure that's good way to convert your van into campervan it looks different as the other look. I have also changed my bike into other look

ddraver

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19765377#p19765377]Slowbike[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19765301#p19765301]diy[/url] wrote:

For me, you either go for something camper sized and accept the space limitations as a consequence of having a car like drive or you go coach built/A-type. Personally, I can't see the point of the big transit conversions.

Van conversions are quite nice - small enough to get all the places a car can, big enough to be comfortable in.
Depends how many you are I guess - for us it was just the two ... now it's 3 ... but the van is designed to sleep 3 so that's ok. The only issue I can see us having is storage space - it's rather limited - compared to an A class anyway. But we can't store an A class at home - so that would incur extra expense and probably mean we didn't have a van at all.
The other thing with the conversion is that once you're stopped you have this massive side door to open - and you then have outdoor living (and plenty of ventilation) - not something you get on an A class ...

I asked Pa Raver this and his simple answer was that the Motorhomes drive - and most importantly - consume fuel like lorries wheras a Van conversion drives (pretty much) like a car and the fuel consumption is much of a muchness with a Golf

So until your retired and Dutch and go around Europe the whole summer following the sun, a Van conversion may be more useful

diy

I can confirm Pa raver is correct. We get 27mpg avg on a good day, chuck in some hills and back routes and that will drop to 25mpg. But it's 40 grand less than an A type and still has everything a good A type has.

They are a bit nicer to drive than a Luton, unless you get the ford option. The Fiat and Peugeot options are nicer up front. Reasonable stereo, air con, cruise control, and not entirely made of egg box plastic.