How about the articulated buses?

[Jdawgsfanasty]

I'm in the savings stage...so all buses get a looksy at this point...

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[PNW_Steve]

I believe that most states limit the length of a single vehicle to 45' with an exemption for certain agencies such as transit authorities.

If you could register the front half as a vehicle and then register the back half as a trailer then you would be a "combination" and good in most states up to 60'-65' depending on the state. Don't think that you are likely to pull that off though....

[BlackJohn]

There is a thread here somewhere from a couple in Australia with a beauty articulated machine. That's all I know but it is sweet.

John

[Jdawgsfanasty]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

I believe that most states limit the length of a single vehicle to 45' with an exemption for certain agencies such as transit authorities.

If you could register the front half as a vehicle and then register the back half as a trailer then you would be a "combination" and good in most states up to 60'-65' depending on the state. Don't think that you are likely to pull that off though....

Thx...they are huge though...you'd need more than 40 acres to turn the beast around...

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[Robin97396]

Maybe you could put a smart car in the second section so you can go shopping.

Do they even put reverse in those articulated buses?

[Jdawgsfanasty]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Maybe you could put a smart car in the second section so you can go shopping.

Do they even put reverse in those articulated buses?

Oh gawd!!! I don't know...what's really weird is the engine is in the trailer...

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[Robin97396]

I got really excited about those articulated buses when I first saw them. The licensing requirements alone were enough to convince me otherwise. Besides, where would you park that beast? You're not going to a camp ground. It's more likely you'd frequent Walmart parking lots. I live on a ranch and I don't have enough room to turn one of those around on my place. Still, it would make the most badazz skoolie for skoliepalooza.

[Jdawgsfanasty]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

I got really excited about those articulated buses when I first saw them. The licensing requirements alone were enough to convince me otherwise. Besides, where would you park that beast? You're not going to a camp ground. It's more likely you'd frequent Walmart parking lots. I live on a ranch and I don't have enough room to turn one of those around on my place. Still, it would make the most badazz skoolie for skoliepalooza.

For real...

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[o1marc]

As long as we are getting crazy, lets completely lose our minds.
Phuck it, put a swimming pool in there too.

[Robin97396]

Those have got to be some bugers to work on. The ones I'd seen were only doubles and that seemed amazing at the time.

[cowlitzcoach]

The Prevost H5-60, the Crown Ikarus 286, and the MAN articulated buses used by Metro Transit in Seattle were all powered in the first section with the "trailer" section going along for the ride. The trailer had single tires on a steerable axle.

The Prevost used a Detroit Diesel 8V-92T, the Crown used a Cummins Big Cam, and the MAN used a MAN diesel engine.

The newer models like the Breda and New Flyer are hybrids where the center axle is driven by the hybrid drive system and the rear axle is driven by the diesel engine.

As far as using an articulated bus as a platform to convert, you are going to run into some serious issues in regards to licensing and where you can drive one. There are many jurisdictions around the country that will not allow you to drive a 102" wide 60'-65' long on surface streets.

Taking on the task of converting one of these buses would not be any different from any other bus. One of your challenges would be to find parts and service for them. MAN engine and transmission parts are not exactly easy to find unless you were in Germany. Crown Ikarus parts are made of unobtainium. Of them all the Prevost would be the easiest. But a lot of the parts and pieces were one-off pieces specific to the H5-60 and rather difficult to find now.

If you really need extra room I would suggest you purchase a travel trailer to tow behind your bus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown-Ikarus_286

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7zy0XBphdg

[Jdawgsfanasty]

Originally Posted by o1marc

As long as we are getting crazy, lets completely lose our minds.
Phuck it, put a swimming pool in there too.

Wow...back it up right over there...lol

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[Jdawgsfanasty]

Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach

The Prevost H5-60, the Crown Ikarus 286, and the MAN articulated buses used by Metro Transit in Seattle were all powered in the first section with the "trailer" section going along for the ride. The trailer had single tires on a steerable axle.

The Prevost used a Detroit Diesel 8V-92T, the Crown used a Cummins Big Cam, and the MAN used a MAN diesel engine.

The newer models like the Breda and New Flyer are hybrids where the center axle is driven by the hybrid drive system and the rear axle is driven by the diesel engine.

As far as using an articulated bus as a platform to convert, you are going to run into some serious issues in regards to licensing and where you can drive one. There are many jurisdictions around the country that will not allow you to drive a 102" wide 60'-65' long on surface streets.

Taking on the task of converting one of these buses would not be any different from any other bus. One of your challenges would be to find parts and service for them. MAN engine and transmission parts are not exactly easy to find unless you were in Germany. Crown Ikarus parts are made of unobtainium. Of them all the Prevost would be the easiest. But a lot of the parts and pieces were one-off pieces specific to the H5-60 and rather difficult to find now.

If you really need extra room I would suggest you purchase a travel trailer to tow behind your bus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown-Ikarus_286

Those make more sense...this a older Houston metro articulated bus

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[Jdawgsfanasty]

Originally Posted by Jdawgsfanasty

Those make more sense...this a older Houston metro articulated bus

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A video of the newer style...ok I can't get a video to load directly...here's a pic of the driver's station...that big grey hump is the front wheel...(sorry, the pic is sideways)

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[Jdawgsfanasty]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Those have got to be some bugers to work on. The ones I'd seen were only doubles and that seemed amazing at the time.

Here's a video of one of Houston's articulated buses...https://youtu.be/oqEClXbxS6Q

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[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by o1marc

As long as we are getting crazy, lets completely lose our minds.
Phuck it, put a swimming pool in there too.

dang your own personal Train!

[Jdawgsfanasty]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

dang your own personal Train!

Ikr!

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[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by o1marc

As long as we are getting crazy, lets completely lose our minds.
Phuck it, put a swimming pool in there too.

I like it but does it come in a double decker?

[Jdawgsfanasty]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

I like it but does it come in a double decker?

This?

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[Iceni John]

Or do what Chadluck (sp?) here did some years ago - he cut the front off some POS RV and turned it into a sort of articulated trailer behind his Blue Bird TC2000, complete with rudimentary bellows between the two. It looked like you can imagine, and I can't think that the 5.9 Cummins would have managed too well with all that weight. But give him extra points for creativity.

There were a few home-made Crown bendy-buses before Crown and Ikarus got cozy and spawned their infamous 286. Coast Community Charter in Northern California grafted together two 35-foot Crowns, one with front damage and the other with rear damage, and made a presentable-looking bus that was in revenue service for several years in the 1970s. By doing that, the rear half is classified as a trailer, getting around the length complications that happens when the rear is indivisible from the front, such as on all current rear-engine bendy-buses. I saw another one made from two old deck-and-a-half sightseeing Crowns, probably old Tanner buses, in Patrick's yard in Dinuba when I bought my bus from him. So, with some imagination and creativity and some serious metal-working skills you could make your own Frankenbus from two hapless donors.

The main reason to not buy a used rear-engine bendy bus is the hinge between the halves. It's a fearsomely-complicated design, and when they wear out it's sometimes not worth repairing or replacing them so the whole bus is then scrapped, or sold to unsuspecting suckers! However, I heard that the big Prevost H5-60 mid-engine buses were essentially built around their engine, and when it needed major work it required parts of the frame and understructure to be cut away to access it - I guess that also rules them out as a practical conversion candidate. And as for the (un)availability of MAN parts in this country, it could be easier to go to Mexico to buy them there - there's lots of late-model MANs there with gorgeous Irizar Century bodies in First Class service with the long-distance bus lines such as Primera Plus and Futura. (The only buses you won't much see in MX are American-made ones!)

John