Hello all,
I have been lurking for a few months here and would like to get some feedback regarding advantages of a Barth over a bus conversion. The conversions that I am looking at are; 1979 35' MCI MC-5 professional conversions. I have seen several beauties in the 40K-50K range. The 1994 Monarch looks nice but a bit pricey for my budget. Foretravel's were also on my list but they are way overpriced in my opinion.
Thanks,
Rick

quote:

Originally posted by Barth_user1:
...like some feedback regarding advantages of a Barth over a bus conversion. The conversions that I am looking at are; 1979 35' MCI MC-5 professional conversions. I have seen several beauties in the 40K-50K range...

All things being equal the first thing that jumps out at me is the age difference. For that kind of money you could get a 10-15 year old Barth. Not a 20-25 year old million mile bus.

That being said, I love MCI conversions. I am a truck mechanic by trade and would love to do that kind of conversion myself.

I would think that you would have a little more options in the repair department, with a Barth, when looking for a garage to fix you. Most of the Barth's in this range would likely have a 8.3L or 5.9L Cummins. with many miles to spare.

The MCI Conversion sounds like it has (based on size and year)a 6v71 series or 8v71 engine. These motors are great for longevity. The question needs to be asked... how much longer. A lot of buses in this vintage has a million plus racked up and may have had the motor changed out (after 2 or 3 inframes) once already.

A lot of the Buses back then had standard transmissions. All the Barths are automatics. Might not be a factor for you. Might help in the resale area.

You should be able to track the maintenance a lot easier on a Barth. More likely then not between 1 & 3 owners. The bus conversion had dozens of mechanics and many more drivers in it's life. Very hard to track and the seller of that type of coach could tell you anything based on hearsay.

The fuel mileage would also be a factor to consider. I have no absolute numbers for you in this regard but I would suspect 5 on the bus and 7-9 on the Barth.

Of course anyone looking at the two side by side will still be impressed with the MCI or Barth. The level of both are really impressive when compared with other coaches on the road today. Both are aircraft type construction.

Whatever you do... pay a truck or bus mechanic to look at it. remember that the initial outlay of money for ANY coach is but a portion of the overall expense of owning a motorhome.

quote:

Originally posted by Barth_user1:
... Foretravel's were also on my list but they are way overpriced in my opinion.
Thanks,
Rick

You sound like a smart man. Didn't need me to tell you that. I'm glad you weren't asking to have a Foretravel vs Barth comparison. I don't have that type of typing stamina first thing in the morning. ha,ha,ha...

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1991 Barth Regal
460 EFI C6 Transmission
33' Oshkosh/John Deere Chassis

http://www.TruckRoadService.com/

"Without Trucks,

America Stops"

[This message has been edited by Bill (edited February 14, 2006).]

Rick,I think a lot has to do with how you're going to use it. If this is your first motorized RV and you're going to use it for long weekends and vacations, I would probably go with a Barth for several reasons.
they are simpler
they are easier to manuever
it's easier to have them worked on
they will go places you wouldn't dare
take a bus to
maintenance should be lower
Having said that, if you were going to go full timing and need a lot of space for your stuff and want to haul a toad with you, some of the Barth advantages aren't quite as apparent. There is a very nice 32' Regency in Shelby NC that would probably be in your price range.It's a diesel pusher and is in drive home shape. It has moderate basement storage and is drives like a Cadillac. Shadowman can talk to the advantages of a bus, but he's a full-timer.
Jim

Bill,Jim,
Thank you for your thoughts. My situation is such that we (wife and I) hope to be retiring in July of 07. We would like to fulltime probably moving around every couple of months. A 34’ is about as small as I think we can go and would tow either my Saturn or the F150 2wd. Many of your comments have passed through my mind and I am trying avoid overlooking any “not so obvious” issues. Where my experience is limited to trucks up to 1 ton, I will utilize the services of a professional to complete a detailed and written inspection of any prospective coach.
Also thanks to Dave B for running this site.
Rick

Read this.

https://www.barthmobile.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000997.html

Something like this maybe?



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1991 Barth Regal
460 EFI C6 Transmission
33' Oshkosh/John Deere Chassis

http://www.TruckRoadService.com/

"Without Trucks,

America Stops"

Jim, "but he's a fulltimer" ? Not sure how i should take that..... Rick, i wanted a Barth but could not find what i wanted in my price range at the time i had the money. Saw one a year later of course but that was too late. While i was looking for the perfect Barth, (they all are aren't they?), for me, i found my 68 Mci 5A. Have no regrets, we love it. If anything were to happen to it and i could not find another 5 to replace it, (they only made a total of 2255 5A's & 5B's, as compared to what, about 9000 Barth's Dave?), then i would not hesitate to get a Barth if i could find one in my price range. That said i will make a few comments based on the other posts. Million miles? mine has close to 3 million and the body will go another 3 million. Of course the engine will need to be rebuilt/replaced more than once but i am not going to put 3 million more miles on it in my lifetime unless i start driving now and never stop. Same with the tranny....it was changed out to an automatic, would not have bought it if it was a stick....done too much shifting in my life as is. Mileage? worst was 6.9 the best was 8.1, i try to stay off of the freeways as much as possible...more to see on the other hiways, but a lot of up and down too. My mileage might be a little better if i drove a little slower but she likes to run at 70 or better all day long. Storeage? like everyone else i wish i had more, but then i would just have more junk. Hard to overload one of these babies....28,450 lbs. fully loaded. This was a 41 seated and 12 standing passenger coach. With their luggage. I think the gvw was somewhere around 33-35 thousand, i will have to look that up to be sure but about the only way i can overload this is with a bunch of lead bars. Before you buy anything go look at both and compare to see what will work best for you,there are going to be tradeoffs. Also you might want to get a busnut to check out the bus for you....could save you some $$$ and heartache in the long run. The nice thing about it is that even if you buy the bus the people here won't hold it against you too much and there is a alot of info on this site that applies to buses too. I just ordered a custom lighted grab bar for the bus and i got the info on where to get one from the archives. If you have any more questions i am just sitting here in the shadows.... waiting.

When I bought my Barth I fell in love with conversions also because they all exhibit that "bus" look. I have had some work done on my coach at Lakeland Bus in Burnsville, MN. They do a great job and I get to look at the conversions they have sitting around.

If you go conversion you must be more diligent in your research than with a Barth. Because there are so many different quality levels depending on if a company or an individual did the converting. Obviously the bones are solid but we live in the other stuff so that is very important.

I am a chicken and not so handy so I will probably stay with "store bought" coaches like the Barth, however, I have seen some coversions that are very nice and Shadow Man's is at the top of the heap.

I can't speak to full-timing (although I spend about a total of three months a year living in my coach). Most of my coach living is dry camping (no services) at star parties. That's my preamble to what I discovered by acident; I was looking for a 26'28' class A for years before my Barth became available. Finding mostly junk out there, I bought a fully self-contained 24' Class C from a friend.

What that provided after a year and a half and 14K miles, was very valuable insight on what I wanted in terms for features and layout for my two Golden Retrievers (who are not spoiled) and me for our travels. I ended up with a very extensive list of "druthers", many of which I'd never have thought of if I hadn't owned that little Class C.

What I'm getting at is that since you're as new at this as I am, I'd suggest you research the what features you want in an RV, and perhaps even rent one for some trips so you get a hands-on feel for what's important. I only know a couple of dozen full-timers, but none was completely satisfied with that first live-aboard coach.

Note that it's usually easier to find a shop to work on a conventional RV like a Barth than for buses.

In any event, a Barth or bus conversion is a wise choice, as, unlike the stick-and-staple motorhomes, you won't find yourself pouring money into one end while it's falling apart at the other (you'll just be enduring the former... ).

Hey Shadow! It was said with the utmost respect and not just a little admiration and envy. There's an old saying, "Man was created in the wilderness but woman was created in the garden". Those who are full timers have a sense of adventurism that I admire and they also know what works and what doesn't, (not that some others don't). There's an interesting article in the December issue of Family Motor Coaching, about Bill and Carol Mumma who designed and had built a 30' motor coach just for their full timing needs. The only thing "wrong" with it is that it isn't a bus or a Barth. Full timing has always been one of my dreams--maybe after the triplets are up and running!

Jim, we are only rookie fulltimers....only lived in the bus for 2 years so far and still have a lot to learn. That's why i come to the bus boards and barthmobile.....to learn from those who have been there before and are will
ing to share.

Not to butt in, but there are a ton of other great forums out there. I regularly check out www.escapees.com (the best for fulltimer wannabees) www.irv2.com (best if you have a plastic motorhome and like NASCAR alot) www.rv.net (a really solid site owned by Affinity...Good Sam/Camping World).

Shhhh!!! Bill, don't tell Dave but i go to Busconversions.com , Busnuts.com, and Yahoo has groups for each brand of bus....i go to Mcibusnuts and mci5ers and the allbusnuts sites. You should be able to google those, if you can't find them let me know and i will write out their whole web address for you. I usually hit those each nite unless i am short for time....ie, ready for bed, but i ALWAYS save the best for last....Barthmobile of course.

PS. don't know if there is a fulltimers board or not but may have to go looking for one. I think Dave has mentioned the Gypsy Journal paper put out by Nick Russell...he is a fulltimer who writes about his travels. In the last year or two we have been in a few of the same places as him but either just before or just after he has been there. Two days ago when i was coming back from taking our dog for a walk in the desert i decided on the spur of the moment to come down the street next to ours. And what did i see but a bus. And next to the bus a truck with a sign for the Gypsy Journal on it. So i stopped and ended up meeting Nick and Miss Terry. They were just leaving for a while but will be back later and i am hoping to get together again with them.