The right 2 berth motorhome
We are looking to swop our Swift Conqueror caravan for a new 2 berth motorhome. We want to travel the UK staying at National parks and e-biking or walking for 1-2 weeks at a time . We are looking at Majestic 120’s, Swifts and Bailey 680’s . We want an end lounge and a van of about 6m in length.
Has anyone any advice based on good experiences or mistakes?
Thanks a lot
Barry Keel
Comments
-
Assuming your user name indicates your location, Barry, I suggest taking a look at the stock at Lee Mill although you've probably already done that. I’m not saying I recommend them as a company to deal with but, there again, I wouldn’t recommend any dealer.
We bought a Warwick Duo PVC 6m with end lounge and found it to be far easier to get around with than our previous coachbuilt model. It depends whether you intend using sites or getting off the beaten track and/or wild camping. We've been able to take the PVC to places we wouldn’t have dreamed of taking the fibreglass sided coachbuilt. You know what the lanes are like!
Other than that, you pays your money and makes your choice.
0 -
Barry, can I suggest you remove your location from your user name and don’t reveal your surname in future?
You make yourself very traceable and if you one day post your touring plans, it will let people know when your house is potentially empty.
1 -
I am not sure what you mean by saying you want to stay in National parks for one or two weeks not sure about what sites you are wanting to use ?
A two birth panel van conversion will give much more flexibility if you want to tour,as they are almost go anywhere campers
0 -
I guess you have been looking at something like this:
https://www.nickwhalemotorhomes.co.uk/elddis-majestic-120-nzj
Note how long the rear overhang will be if you add two bikes. Then think about the payload your van has overall and for each axle. I'm not saying it won't be OK but just like a caravanner, you have to abide by the laws of physics and the DVSA.
Most motorhomers carry bikes in garages. This means the bikes are safer and also closer to the real axle. The downside is that I don't know of any motorhome that has a decent enough garage for bikes and a rear lounge. If you want to carry bikes in a motorhome, a garage layout makes sense.
A 6m Panel Van Conversion such as mentioned by Tinwheeler will have a short overhang, a bike rack can be fitted, and you can have a rear lounge - with limited view if the bikes are on board!
Not many motorhome layouts include a rear end lounge.
0 -
Good points, Apenshaw.
Our PVC has a huge payload of something around 650kg. We have a bike rack fitted and, yes, carrying anything on it does obscure the view through the rear window. No gain without pain.
Also, with a PVC, the weight that can be carried on the rack is governed by the permitted stress on the door hinges rather than the rack's higher limit.
0 -
Barry
If you are free to do so I would suggest trying to get to the NEC where you can see all the models you are interested in one place and its easy to go back and forth when comparing the different elements. We have a Bailey Approach 740 which is bigger than what you want but perhaps worth pointing out that the Bailey Autograph range are amongst the widest motorhomes on the markets which may make a difference to your touring? We have been very pleased with ours.
David
0 -
Dont agree about Most motorhomes not having a rear lounge, rear lounge models are just about the Most popular layout in the UK. And all UK manufactured brands include at least one rear lounge layout. Maybye not popular amongst European motorhomes.
Owned a coachbuilt with a rear garage, an Autotrail Savannah, most of the time it was just wasted space that would be better as living space, especially in a 6 metre van ,but agree that bikes are probably safer in one than on a rack.
0 -
I've got a Marquis Majestic 125, which is the fixed bed/garage layout. I'm assuming that the axle weight of the 120 rear lounge model will be similar. A couple of bikes, unless they are exceptionally heavy, shouldn't present any overloading of the axle limit. I put mine on a weigh bridge and from memory, the rear axle was around 1250Kg. so plenty of capacity on the 2000Kg limit.
As for PVCs being better for narrow lanes, the Majestic is a slimline model being only 2.14m wide.
0 -
A two birth panel van conversion.....
Adria Twin?
0 -
As ebikes are generally heavyish and if you have any problems lifting them onto a rear mounted bike rack another consideration could be a tow ball type fitting for carrying them. As said bear in mind payload/axle weight limitations. Good luck.
0 -
ebike storage and uk rear lounge MH design are generally not the best bedfellows...
a rear lounge coachbuilt will have poor storage (compared to a garage version) and almost certainly small external lockers, so a rack will be needed, bringing in the points raised by Aspenshaw above.
even CY's garage version 125 isn't large enough to accommodate easy access for a pair of typical full sized bikes.....a storage locker is only usually referred to as a 'garage' if it's over a metre tall...ours is 1.20m high...
however, some rear lounge PVCs can cope with bikes by flipping up the rear side seats to form a large space accessed by the rear doors...
again, the execution of this operation will vary tremendously across brands so a good look (perhaps at the NEC as suggested) would enable a comparison.
our 6.4m X 2.12m 'slim' A class has a full sized garage that allows our ebikes to be rolled straight in and secured within the internal rack.
however, the layout would not suit someone looking for a rear lounge version..
designing in large dedicated storage places in small vans is tricky, we didn't want a rack (extend the length) and the bikes are well tucked away out of sight and kept warm and dry.
the other issue is that, with a rack, they are on display and will also (possibly) need to be removed to use the rear doors but putting the bikes inside means no use of the lounge until the bikes are unloaded.
door hung racks (with two ebikes) can put a lot of strain on rear door hinges...
a popular solution to this issue is the range of towball mounted racks available these days.
these cope well with weight, are low and easy to load with bikes (and fit covers) and can be swing away from the van to open the rear doors...
a brand 'Busbiker' comes to mind but there will be many on the market, good luck.
Edit: crossed posts with Jay, good thinking.
0 -
I haven't a clue what you're on about but my post obviously went straight over your head....
0 -
-
The weight our door hinges will take is quite a lot less than the rack itself is capable of bearing. I can’t recall the figures off the top of my head but I think it worked out that only one ebike could be carried. It would need checking.
The rack doesn’t hinder the opening of the rear doors when loaded.
0 -
We had a tow bar and door bike rack fitted on our pvc. The door mounted bike rack worked well, probably easier than the higher one on our present small coach built. The tow bar was useful if you wanted to trailer a boat or take a small trailer itself.
I can't say we've had any problems getting to places with the pvc or the small coachbuilt I think the coachbuilt is warmer in winter, a lot less doors but equally flinging open the pvc doors in summer was nice. So it's just a question of a thinking about where and when you'll be travelling, maybe you're going away all year round so look for good insulation etc. But it's really an individual choice.
0 -
A, I do remove the batteries before wheeling the bikes into the garage but mainly as I prefer to recharge them off the bikes.
the batteries and chargers also liv in the garage. we have plenty of spare rear axle payload margin.
0 -
Now got a Carado T135 its 6 meters but not end lounge. Very pleased with this model we use our van a lot and so far so good. 2 long mainly off grip trips in France. Had a Auto Trail Tracker EKS that was also good but the new models are way over 6meters.
0
