Can anyone shed some light on the width of the various models. I Know the 90's regency wide-bdies are 102 in wide. How wide are Regals and Breakaways?
Thanks
W&BKnocke
Port Orange Fl

I think that the standard width of all the models was 96". The widebody Regencies were 102" as you stated. Some of the newer model coaches such as the Monarch were also available in a widebody but I think they were only 100". I do stand to be corrected if anybody knows different. BTW, the widebody was a $5,000 option.

Nick

I believe my Monarch was 102". It felt like it was 108" as it always seemed like I was completely filling the road.

Trivia time. Many of the mfgers went to 102" at first. Then as slides started to appear they srunk back to about 100".

The reason for 100" is that this is the europe max width. It it actually in centimeters that is almost 100" in our antiquated measuring system.

Some of the mfgers shipped to Europe. Winnebago was shipping 100" 6.5T desiels but would not even talk to me about them.

Thanks to all. We had a 102 SOB and the wife (and I) hated it. Like Moonbeam- express said it filled the lane it also wandered so you had to pry you fingerg off the wheel. Would a 96 seem smaller so as to ease the wife's nerves? and mine too?
Wayne

quote:

Thanks to all. We had a 102 SOB and the wife (and I) hated it. Like Moonbeam- express said it filled the lane it also wandered so you had to pry you fingerg off the wheel. Would a 96 seem smaller so as to ease the wife's nerves? and mine too?
Wayne

Wayne,
The weird thing is my 43' Blue Bird is also 102" but feels like 92". I think much of it is the placement of the mirrors as far as perception. But additionally, the BB weighs in at 50,000 lbs and has a tag axle, this means it doesn't wander an iota. My Barth was sometimes a handful in wind, odd roads, and passing big rigs. I think it's a combination of factors that make a rig feel "too" wide.

I also find a 102" wide coach absolutely comfortable to drive. Our coach is equipped with the Howard steering system but I only turn it on occasionally to confirm that the coach drives so nicely with out it that it does not provide any noticeable advantage. I agree with Corey that a combination of factors contribute to the feel on the road and would not suggest avoiding wide bodies without driving the individual coach.

As a first time Barth driver and complete RV and big rig greenhorn, my first driving impression of our new (Moonbeam’s old) wide body 97 Monarch was that it was gigantic in every direction. With its height, length, width, weight, big diesel pusher and air brakes, it was completely different from anything I’d ever driven.
What I got to experience during our first trip together was navigating through the Corbin KOA’s narrow twisty gravel drives to get propane, trying to keep up with the semi’s over 1040 miles of Interstate and State highways, and trying to dodge low hanging branches on the neighborhood streets near home. I got to run in the hills of Kentucky, in the rain, in the wind, in the dark, on bad roads, in construction zones, and in heavy high volume traffic in Cincinnati and Indianapolis.
The Barth drove, handled and behaved far better than I thought it would. To me it felt, behaved, rode, drove, performed and sounded just like the big old beautiful bus it is. It tracked straight, cornered, accelerated and braked predictably and felt comfortable, stable and secure on the roads and under the conditions we traveled.
In the short time we’ve spent together, the only quirkiness I’ve noticed is the need to anticipate and apply firm but gentle steering pressure to counter the bow wave whenever a semi overtakes and passes. We'll see if this is more of an issue this summer if we run on any two lane truck routes with the right wind and road conditions.

Did our wide body feel wide? Absolutely, and also really long, tall, high and impressively stout. After our first trip and as my familiarity and comfort levels continue to grow, I seem to be getting used to the width, length and mass. I think height and clearance will always need to be on my mind especially on less traveled byways, at night or in bad weather.
As far as the difference between a standard width and wide body Barth, based on my admittedly inexperienced first impressions I personally wouldn’t let a 6 inch difference in width one way or the other keep me from acquiring an amazing new friend.

Wally

While your coach does have an extra piece in its front windshield area, all of the Barths from this era had that extra piece in there too.

Gasoline puller coaches - Diesel Pushers - If it had that body style, it had that extra piece of glass.

I was told at the Milford GTG from a gathering of the Barth Factory employees that these "Later Model Barths" were all standard width... Maybe what they meant was that all of the Barths from that era were widebodies. I never did measure one so I don't really know.

As a matter of curiosity, and to clarify what I was told, I'd like to know how wide these are. 96 - Maybe 98, 100, 102??? Does anyone have a brochure from that era that tell us what they were?

96 was considered standard and legal - the 102 width coaches are widebodies and might be technically illegal to operate on a few roads. Size Limits

I think the extra piece of glass had more to do with the way the front composite material was designed - it looks like they pushed the windshields farther out horizontally - kind of like they tried to make the windshield area wider for design purposes...

I remember one member telling me he measured his center section of glass and it was about 3" wide. Does this make it a 99" width coach?

Corey did a nice job of maintaining his coach and you should have very little problems with it. From my own experiences, if you sleep on the foldout bed - sleep with your feet facing the back of the coach.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:
Does anyone have a brochure from that era that tell us what they were?

Maybe I should have looked first.

Here is a PDF Download for a 1996 Monarch.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:
I remember one member telling me he measured his center section of glass and it was about 3" wide. Does this make it a 99" width coach?

I guess not. Based on that spec sheet, the Monarch's were 96" widths.

quote:

Originally posted by Nick Cagle:
Some of the newer model coaches such as the Monarch were also available in a widebody but I think they were only 100". I do stand to be corrected if anybody knows different.

In boxing they call it... "The tale of the tape" Anyone want to measure their Monarch's body width?

quote:

From my own experiences, if you sleep on the foldout bed - sleep with your feet facing the back of the coach

quote:

I guess not. Based on that spec sheet, the Monarch's were 96" widths.

Shocking! I was sure it was a wide-body, if for no other reason because of the way it seemed to fill the road. I'm anxious for Wally to apply the tape just to verify.

As far as sleeping position, I always thought it smart to sleep with feet to the rear to decrease the chance of smelling old people. Is that just an old wives tale?

As far as trees hanging over the road in neighborhoods, I was intimidated at first, but a simple solution was checking the hieght of the local garbage trucks. They are higher than my coach by a good bit, and they drive down these streets every week, so I really only have to watch for fallen or droopy branches, especially after storms.

This may sound a little weird, but hear me through. If you mount a small, flexible antennae on the passenger side - front (the first part to usually hit anything) it will give you great feedback as to how close things are. The antennae does not need to be attached electronically, you will hear the thwaaangggg as it hits stuff. The idea is to get a visual feedback on when things are close. Otherwise, you may never know what is too low until it's done damage.

Over time, you will actually be able to tell what is too close by the difference in tone of this makeshift device. They are amazingly rugged too.

The antennae needs to be a small, whip style type like would be used for a CB or cell phone. About two to three feet high.

Sort of like an elevated curb feeler, huh?

Exactly Bill!

It won't save you if you are running into something too low, but it gives you sight memory on what came close historically.