Date: Tue, 19 Dec 1995 13:34:00 -0400 (EDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Porter_Fred%PAX9@mr.nawcad.navy.mil
Subject: RE: RE:bike storage and vehicle choices
I have been driving to MTB races for 5 years now. The first three in an 86
toyota tercel the last 2 in an 87 syncro gl. Both have their pros and cons.
Since it sounds like you are still considering what to get here are some
observations...
Toyota pros:
faster, better mpg, cheaper and easier to repair (no EFI or EXPEN$IVE
parts), easier to drive
Toyota cons:
not the cruising condo that my vanagon is, not the same coolness factor
Vanagon pros:
loads o' room one guy can sleep on a full size bed, while another is cooking
breakfast on a coleman 2 burner, while the third drives and a fourth has Bud
and cornflakes. Also, the interior room allows one to lace, tension, true
and dish a new rear wheel.
the Syncro mo-mo's thru snow, esp. with the diff. lock (all introduce more
expense)
Vanagon cons:
expensive to maintain (check out the prices for a new exhaust, tranny, power
steering pump, brakes, etc. etc.), kinda poor mpg, not to fast, especially
loaded and up hill and more awareness is required to drive it, definetly not
a plus when endorphined out after a nice painfully hard race. Everyone
knows you have the dream queen cruising machine (maybe named Pricilla, Queen
of the Race Sceen) so your van will ALWAYS drive to the races. But hey
that's why you got it, right???? Plus if you have a girl friend along she's
a far reach away across the cabin, unless the space between the seats is
used instead <GRIN-SMIRK!>......but thats also where the cruising condo
concept is nice.......
Geepers, from the above maybe I should sell my van and get an eagle talon.
Sacrilege
To load bikes, I put fork mounts (used front hubs held down with 'U' bolts)
on a board across the sliding door opening and the bikes all just slot in
nicely. For multi person treks put bikes on top of van. An idea that I
have been toying with is to mount a yak rack for gutterless roof mount on
the rear lid. You'd have to remove the bikes to open the lid, but at least
they'd be out of the direct wind (and resulting MPG reducing drag). The yak
mounts can accomodate non-parallel roof lines and the lines of the lid are
curved. Either that or put a trailer hitch on the van and put the bikes on
a hitch mount rack. Getting to bikes on the roof is a bit labor intensive
and balancy.
|On Mon, 18 Dec 1995, Boudreau, Paul wrote:
|
|>
|> Mark,
|>
|> Thanks for the offer but I'm still unsure what I'm looking for. Right now
|> I'm still trying to determine what exactly it is that I want/need (2WD,
|4WD,
|> Westie) to get me to mountain bike races in New England this coming
summer
|> (loading up the '91 Golf can be quite the trick with bikes, a passenger
or
|> two, and misc bike and camping gear)!
|>
|A way to mount two bikes inside a Westie
|-get two fork mounts($30 each at a bike shop, or better, improvise) and
|attach them to the storage box
|face under the back seat. Without the front wheels in place, this works
|pretty well for my Cannondale MT bike, but,of course only allows for two
|to three people to ride, and little movement in the cabin, ...but it's
|good for the bikes.
|-alternative is to put one mount on the box face below the back of the
|front passenger seat to put the bikes in alternating....
|
|Mark
|'85 Retrowestie
|
|