Have you ever thought of building your own bike friendly campervan?

[oldwheels]

I had a Commer pop top camper which the mot man said he did not want to see again. Got a T2 VW van and fitted it out using the bits from the Commer. This worked very well as it had a folding kitchen unit which gave more space inside and we used this as a camper and commercial van for some years. In retrospect it was a dreadful vehicle which spent far too long getting fixed as I think the air cooled 1600cc engine was not up to much. Nice toy but as a useful vehicle a bit doubtful. There has been mention of Ducatos. Some including myself regard them as rust buckets. I currently have a 2004 Ducato coachbuilt which has just cost me a fortune to get it welded up because of rust. Now that it is fixed I am considering selling it and downsizing. The good thing is that my bike can come inside and fits into the front passenger seat out of the way of living space.

 

[buzzy-beans]

Some including myself regard them as rust buckets. I currently have a 2004 Ducato coachbuilt which has just cost me a fortune to get it welded up because of rust. Now that it is fixed I am considering selling it and downsizing. The good thing is that my bike can come inside and fits into the front passenger seat out of the way of living space.

That's an interesting comment about your 2004 Ducato coachbuilt being a rust bucket. On the diymotorhome forum I frequent I have a reputation for writing damning stories about rust buckets with my main criticisms being levied at the worst of them all, namely the Mercedes Sprinter and Ford's Transit, both of these vans have amongst the best mechanical components but oh so sadly even now, these days, they are all bolted together inside body shells that rust like nothing else on earth!!

The Sevel built (the manufacturing facility in Italy) Fiat Ducato/Peugeot Boxer/Citroen Relay started to have fully galvanised body shells aftr the introduction of the X250 series of vans, so, I can assure you @oldwheels, they are no longer rust buckets!
The first vans to have fully galvanised body shells were the Renault Master/Vauxhall Movano/Nissan Interstar series of vans from 2004 onwards.

All of these galvanised panel vans have proven to be truly excellent bases to carry out conversions on and I am pleased to say that we now have several keen cyclists going through the oft protracted stages of planning the interior layouts of their vans.

 

[Crackle]

The old Fiat's (2004 ish) were awful noisy things. I had a noise suppression kit fitted to mine so I could hear myself think when I was driving it. I hope the new ones are better. The old Sprinters on the other hand were much, much better, both to drive and sit in. I had a 316 with the 2.7(?) diesel. It just burbled pleasantly at 50. The only issue was the brakes on the Sprinters were not good and didn't inspire confidence. You had to drive them regularly to keep the brakes sharp.

 

[Nebulous]

Just recently we have seen quite a few new cycling enthusiast members join us over on diymotorhome and are currently having some quite interesting discussions about interior layouts..................... But @Nebulous please don't buy a ready built flimsy as you will almost certainly be disappointed with your choice!

We have friends who spent a lot of money on a coachbuilt van and had 8 or 9 years of spending the whole winter on the continent. Left early October and didn't return until the end of March. They've had to give up because of ill health. That seems to be a theme. Holidaying in Spain this year with a caravan we met a lot of people who had been travelling 7,8,9 years. Very few that had done it more than 10. An exception was a couple we met with a very active dog who have been away every winter for 18 years. I suppose it depends to a large extent how early you retire.

I did use diymotorhome when we did the convoy, but I think I'll buy a custombuilt next time.

 

[oldwheels]

Hi buzzy-beans. I had a transit which I discovered had no effective cold start. The transit forum I remember was full of folk with one question — “how do I get this effing thing to start on a cold morning?” There was a flexible section on the exhaust just below the down pipe which blew regularly usually at high speed and sounded like a helicopter landing on top. I got rid of it eventually because of rust around the back spring hangers. The passenger heater on the Ducato is also pretty pathetic and in winter the cab can be difficult to warm up. Mind you I had fur lined boots to go with the VW as the heating in that was also pathetic when it was not pouring exhaust fumes into the cab due to a blown heat exchanger. Ahh happy days!

 

[FishFright]

Some mtb vannery

 

[Phil Fouracre]

Amazing! Just found this thread! Finished my Renault Master conversion a couple of years ago, chuffed to bits with it, might have a look at the website, out of interest.

 

[MacB]

Amazing! Just found this thread! Finished my Renault Master conversion a couple of years ago, chuffed to bits with it, might have a look at the website, out of interest.

Phil, what size van and internal layout did you settle on?

 

[Gravity Aided]

I need something, that's for danged sure. Mitsubishi Lancer just doesn't cut it for a cyclist, if you need to take bicycles places, or camp out. I think it will make it through this winter, but not next.

 

[Phil Fouracre]

MacB - long wheelbase, designed internal layout from scratch myself. Smartbed seat/bed in front, kitchen, fridge, hob, cooker in rear. Washroom and wc also at rear. Room for two bikes in front of seats in transit. All the usual other stuff - lights, electric, gas and water, bonded windows fitted side and back, all works well.

 

[400bhp]

This is my boy's camper, he converted a Fiat Dobio. Electrics, water and Wi-Fi. Currently in Belgium and hopefully my Brompton is still under the bed.....

View attachment 374911

I have a Doblo and I'd be very interested to find out more about this.

 

[jongooligan]

Has anyone tried an amdro conversion? http://www.amdro.co.uk/

 

[buzzy-beans]

Amazing! Just found this thread! Finished my Renault Master conversion a couple of years ago, chuffed to bits with it, might have a look at the website, out of interest.

From one Phil to another, come along and join in the fun of helping others out on diymotorhome...............

Oh and by the way my 'Millie' is a LWB Renault Master as well that is of 2008 vintage with 120,oo miles on the clock. I bought an oldish high mileage van to convert in the first place so that I could learn how to do the conversion before then buying a nearly new one.
My big problem is that we both love this somewhat battled old thing so much that we can't bring ourselves to sell her and buy a replacement!!

 

[GM]

I have a Doblo and I'd be very interested to find out more about this.

Unfortunately I'm away for a few days, I'll PM you later in the week when I see my boy.

 

[dodss]

My vehicle is a Berlingo Multispace XTR which is my everyday vehicle as well. I take the rear seats out and put in a plywood solo bed with a cook-box to support part of the bed; the cook-box has my food, utensils, pots and pans in. The three section bed can be folded and kept in the boot. It will work with the seats left in but with the seats removed I like the extra space and it is needed for a bike. I keep it minimalist to avoid insurance issues and weight down. Trips are perfectly acceptable with a plastic bowl and water container rather than built in equipment.