[Closed] Please put me off buying a double decker bus?

buy it

I can't even comprehend the confusion that must exist in your mind to want to buy that.

Buy it then drive it around the world..... loads of room for bikes, parties, hangers on... 🙂

my dad bought one of these;

[img] [/img]

ina 'I've always wanted one' moment. He's not done a lot with it, tbh.

Just think of the holiday opportunities!

[img] [/img]

Imagine the biking road trip you could have in that thing - buy it!!!!! 😈

Imagine the biking [s]road[/s] trip you could have [s]in[/s] if you don't buy that thing.

Question: how many buses have ever been on the road? How many people do you ever see driving busses as private vehicles? QED

Question: how many buses have ever been on the road? How many people do you ever see driving busses as private vehicles? QED

You're right, it's the perfect vehicle to travel incognito!

[img] [/img]

BUY IT!

A friend of mine is like that - bought one and ended up setting up a bus company. Has 16 modern vehicles and various garages full of old stuff. It costs him silly ammounts of money to have that hobby.

http://www.harrogatecoachtravel.com/historic-vehicles.htm

Did I read the mileage right?
19 million?
Holy sh.it

not even sure my licence will let me drive it

Really big for weddings at the moment. You could make a killing hiring it out.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bus+wedding&hl=en&rlz=1C1TEUA_enGB461&site=webhp&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=XP44T4HIHeSj0QWK4o3GCg&ved=0CGUQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=643

http://www.thisbus.com/

Love binners pics - brilliant. 😆

If you are going to buy a bus either an old one or nothing

It needs to be a routemaster so you can swing on the pole at the back as someone drives it flat out.

Turn it into a double decker one of these!

[IMG] [/IMG]

Get on board!!!

[img] [/img]

uselesshippy - where did you get that mileage from?
That would be over 4000 miles a day every day!
That's some London bus route!

not even sure my licence will let me drive it,

I'd rather have this:
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6532022495_988d6d180d_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6532022495_988d6d180d_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/23875695@N06/6532022495/ ]VW Camper double decker[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/23875695@N06/ ]Ledlon89[/url], on Flickr

It needs to be a routemaster so you can [s]swing[/s] dance [s]on[/s] around the pole at the back as someone drives it flat out.

If you get a job at a bus company you'll get put through your test for free (single decker first).

As long as you're feeling daft enough to buy this, quit your job, get a job as a bus driver, quit that job, sell your house as you can't get another job, live in your bus which you'll have converted to the ultimate camper van during your time at the bus company.

I can't see any downsides. Within a year you'll be living in your bus with enough money in your back pocket to last a year or so before slipping into depression, drugs and prostitution.

Do it!!!

Buy it, for God's sake!

Think of the possibilities man.

Some mates had a six wheel Leyland coach, in pink primer, kitted out with stoves, hammocks and old sofas.
Brilliant for festivals till it crapped itself termanally at Heaton Park Roundabout on the way home.
Roadside Recovery can be pricey. 😀

How exactly does £3995 + VAT come out at £4993ish? Has VAT jumped up again or has my maths got even worse??

Nah you don't want that mate, how would you get your bikes on the roof rack?

Buy it 😈

There are plenty of Leyland Olympians still on the roads and plenty in scrap yards too, so finding spare parts will be easy and cheep. They are fairly bomb proof, and seem to have a fair turn of speed for a bus. In other words if I were ever to buy a double decker bus it would be one of these. You could live upstairs and fill the bottom deck with bikes for all occasions

stevemtb - no, it's their maths. They've taken 20% off £4995 instead of the correct way of doing it.

Doh. That was the year??????
But you wont be able to drive it on a normal licence though.

not certain but i think it does as long as you don't charge fares

Does it come with mandatory short-sleeved shirt & tie combo and a tin of Brylcreem for the authentic teddy boy d.a. hairstlyle ?

Seems the bus would be way over the allowable weight limit...

[i]Exempted passenger carrying vehicles
Holders of a full category B (car) driving licence may drive any of the vehicles listed below:
a passenger carrying vehicle manufactured more than 30 years before the date when it is driven and not used for hire or reward or for the carriage of more than 8 passengers
a minibus with up to 16 passenger seats provided the following conditions are met:
i. the vehicle is used for social purposes by a non-commercial body but not for hire or reward
ii. the driver is aged 21
iii. the driver has held a car (category B) licence for at least 2 years
iv. the driver is providing the service on a voluntary basis
v. the minibus maximum weight is [b]not more than 3.5 tonnes or 4.25 tonnes[/b] including any specialist equipment for the carriage of disabled passengers
vi. if the driver is aged 70 or over, is able to meet the health standards for driving a D1 vehicle
When driving a minibus under these conditions you may not receive any payment or consideration for doing so other than out of pocket expenses or tow any size trailer; you may only drive minibuses in this country. Drivers aged 70 or over will need to make a special application, which involves meeting higher medical standards.
Holders of a full category D (PCV) driving licence can also drive a passenger carrying recovery vehicle. This is defined as a vehicle (not being an articulated goods vehicle combination) which:
has an unladen weight not exceeding 10.2 tonnes
is being operated by the holder of a public service vehicle (PSV) operator's licence and, is being used for the purpose of:
[/i]

Kids will drive past you and shout out 'bus w****r'... or maybe that's just on the tv...

Rear wheel drive, rear engine. Should need no more reasons...

Also, ever since I saw the double decker at mayhem last year I've thought they'd make an awesome bike holiday tool. 😆

buy it... live in it.. sell yer house.. quit yer job.. quit the rat race and join the human race.. evolve..

climb out of the primordial soup and leave the pondlife behind you

🙂

(disclamer: unfortunately there is not much you can do about kids shouting 'bus w****r' at you..)

Classic for camper van conversion. It can be doen just look at NZ ther you have quite some busses turned in to mahoosive campervans. Dreamed of it but never went that way in the end.

[img] http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/resources/images/1778871/?type=display [/img]

Looked at this last year, buses are reasonably cheap to buy at the moment, its the maintance that costs, and the licence,then there is the fuel about 10m to the gallon.

Leylang olympians do seem to go well as buses and are reliable, as are cummins engines.

Go for it, but youll also need secure storage, as there is a lot of metal to nick off a buius as well as lots of nice diesel.

oh and it looks more northern counties body work than ECW,at some tiome in its life it was also a Arriva bus, due to the blue paint in the engine bay.

Have a look at route one magazine, or bus and coach for good deals on used buses.

Do it. Then convert the upper deck into some awesome bedrooms and possibly a balcony. then keep all the bikes downstairs, with a full sized workshop.

I think I'd have [url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Coach-/330685409860?pt=UK_Minibuses_Buses_Coaches&hash=item4cfe62ea44#ht_500wt_1287 ]this[/url] instead though.

I know of a Leyland Atlantean that may be for sale - it's painted purple though, and already stripped/converted inside as a playbus. No idea what the price would be. I drove it's predecessor (with no power steering and no passengers) on my normal licence down Princes Street, that was grand!

sambob - I'm looking at that and think "Mmmmmm, there's possibilities with that one". Looks like a good price, currently too.

I'd buy an old routemaster and call it horas Sexualexpress 8)

Is it true that the first routemaster dont have a fuel guage, just a dipstick to the tank?

Well, not pressed the button yet, going to book some lessons to see how I get on first & the Mrs has said 'do what the hell I like as long as its not parked near her', this could be a goer 😉

Thinking more a mobile 'walk in Cafe' than a bike lugger, but you never know 😉

(long time ago) i used to do install work for a bus that had been converted into a travelling art gallery, I converted one for similar purposes too.

The gallery one was operated by a council and could be driven by anyone with a standard drivers license and a certain amount of chutpah (this was pre 1997 mind - only people with older licenses could do it now), in much the same way as a 7.5t truck can be/ could be. I don't know whether there needed to be an 'O' License held by someone, I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't though.

I only had to move the ones I worked on around my yard, rather than on the open road - its interesting, pre-selectors and nonsense like that. Its like a ghost is driving the bus you you're trying to stop it.

Depending on how its reclassified the size / weight would be irrelevant to HGV or Operator License rules - if its not being used to carry goods - some SUVs are heavier than laden commercial vehicles, and so called 'Dual Purpose' vehicles (Navara type 4x4 pickups) can dodge the train-weight rules when towing and have an all up weight that would require an 'O' license with any other kind of vehicle

The buses I worked on had all the seats out, and in some cases had the top deck floor removed to make a larger exhibition volume. That means they had probably been re-classified as another kind of vehicle.

I'd buy an old routemaster and call it horas Sexualexpress

*shudder*

At least the police would be able to find you quite easily.

horas Sexualexpress

Ding ding! (ding dong)

read a copy of something like [i]bus restoration monthly[/i]at the dentists once and was surprised that you can drive a classic bus then let the urge to buy one pass me by

mastiles_fanylion - Member
Seems the bus would be way over the allowable weight limit...

Exempted passenger carrying vehicles
Holders of a full category B (car) driving licence may drive any of the vehicles listed below:
a passenger carrying vehicle manufactured more than 30 years before the date when it is driven and not used for hire or reward or for the carriage of more than 8 passengers

magazine i remember reading seemed to suggest above means that for a 30yr old bus anyone can drive with an ordinary license - all seem a bit odd as fairly sure only reason can hire an mpv/minibus with 8 seats or more is because have had a license prior to i think around 1995 and in those days it was automatic

here's a linky with what looks like facts - albeit nerdy not officialdom
[url] http://www.self-preservation-society.co.uk/jotter/driving.htm [/url]

i guess you to have wear a period uniform or get rasta stylee with a dog on a string though

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/thinking-about-buying-a-bus-for-conversion

have a look at the final post.

I went to a lecture once on adventure travels. Two blokes who I think were from Thornbury Glos (I could be mis-remembering) had bought an old bus. They did it up over several months and at a lot of cost to be a very classy mobile home. The talk was photos and info about thier tour around Europe with it and what fun they had.

By the time I had heard the talk, they had already sold it on as they felt they had 'been there, done that' and I believe they made a profit on the purchase and outfitting.