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Thankew, thankew, thankew! [Picking off the last remnants of tar and feathers]

I'd like to thank my producers (Mr. & the late Mrs. J. H. Keeney of Linn Creek, MO; my director (except, being single, I don't have one!), the Bennetts who sold me the coach, especially Conrad, who is as addicted to conscientious maintenance and upgrades as I am, all the forum members who gave advice, and especially the lovely and talented, not to mention, shy and reserved, uh....uh....(wait, it'll come to me....he lives in the Great White North, ubetcha)...I got it! davebowers

My large telescope case made it back here yesterday from the factory (being repaired), so I took it with me to see if it would actually fit in the basement (my measurements showed it wouldn't, but I couldn't remember the fudge-factor I used) - but it did - with no room to spare - that's all I needed to know...

BTW, the final decision was made during the 20 mile test drive, as I was concerned about the ultra-short wheelbase. Most of the drive was made in a crosswind of 10-15 mph, gusts to as high as 25. The coach barely noticed them - the body would twitch a little, but it tracked well, needing only minor corrections if at all.

A couple of miles were done on a nasty, undulating road; again, no porpoising or corkscrewing at up to 60 mph. Same on the gridwork on a bridge...my Ford diesel 1-ton LWB van, even with new top-of-the-line shocks porpoises violently (but stays tracking).

Conrad put in a new steering box, steering stabilizer and Bilstein shocks, so whatever bad habits might have been caused by the short were well-damped.

The bottom line is that the Bennett's 28' Breakaway was a pleasure to drive, with no nasty habits or confrontations uncovered.

So anyone contemplating a 28' Breakaway can feel comfortable knowing that if there are any bad tendencies caused by the design, they can easily be tamed.

You watch Rusty, people will be walking by all sorts of big and small and fancy coaches to tell you how great your coach looks. I think this one is one of the nicest I have seen anywhere. Congratulations again, buddy..

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Thanks, Dave - I hadn't thought about the coach's diverting attention from my own stiking good looks (and I have some waterfront property in Florida to sell, also)...golly, I sure hope that Barth Groupies are usually NFL cheerleaders off-season....I think I'll take my on-the-road meals at Hooters....

Anyway, I've only seen 2 28' Breakaways, and both are in superb condition (this one and Jerry Aull's); I do like the color scheme on this one, (blue being my favorite color - but what else from an ex-swabbie?) and I haven't seen in the gallery another like it. I'd have to say this one is virtually flawless, due to Conrad's attention to detail. All I need to do is repaint a couple of interior panels in the engineroom and put a bigger muffler (and rig a genturi)on the generator for star parties, noise and directing exhaust at neighbors is an especial no-no there - combustion residue can play havoc with expensive optics).

And again, thanks to you and everyone else for the advice and encouragement.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
And again, thanks to you and everyone else for the advice and encouragement.

You go Rusty! See, we all knew you had some brains.



[This message has been edited by Bill (edited January 21, 2006).]

Bill, I don't know if'n I got brains,but at least I got a Barth...

Now I need a disguise to keep all the nubile young Barth Groupies at bay...

Rusty if you find this a problem you can try the following to travel incognito.



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ROFLMAO!

I'm an astronomer, and, embarassingly, I failed to notice that the Planets are in favorable alignment.

I called my driveway guy yesterday (he remembered this place) to have the driveway recontoured so I can get the Breakaway in here - figuring it would be four or more weeks - he had a two-day window, and starts on it Thursday and finishing Friday! Otherwise, I'd have to wait until March...

What's more, he's expanded his biz, and has a lift-arm brush cutter that can trim the offending trees that have started to grow back over the upper drive!

I may be able to pick up StaRV II Friday and drive it right onto the RV pad.

I attribute this good fortune to temperate habits (and to prove my veracity, I remind everyone I have waterfront property in Florida for sale....)

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
and to prove my veracity, I remind everyone I have waterfront property in Florida for sale...

Give us the co-ordinates so I can fly in and look.

Oh, I of course mean by google Earth. You really don't think all of the planets were aligned. Did you?

OK, I mapped the location in frappr/barthmobile....

[This message has been edited by Rusty (edited January 25, 2006).]

Cool Randy, a Floridian....

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Who dis "Randy"? Sheessshhh, yer gonna blow my cover!

Well, The Old Curmudgeon picks up his white (for purity) and blue (for sailors) '94 28' Breakaway tomorrow - odd that what I wanted would end up being so close by (170 miles).

This will be expensive - in addition to fuel (minor), I'll provide my partner, (who's taking me there) a 1.75L bottle of JD Black...maybe I'll get him another jug, so's I don't have to listen to him about "doing me such a favor"....