Nebraska - Motobus/Crawler Hauler

[JasonH28]

Hello Skoolie net!

I'm Jason, long time lurker and been researching vans and busses a long time now, and finally own one.

I've had my 2003 blue bird/ Ford E450 7.3 5 window for about a year now
finally have registration/insurance figured out and am starting tear down.

The purpose is - Having an adventure bus thats capable of hauling the dirtbikes/adventure bikes to remote places and pull my jeep on the trailer when we go rock crawling

I would like to haul 2 dirtbikes or Adv bikes without my motorcycle trailer(inside or small rear hauler)
full size bed for me, and pullout/dinet bed for a friend
still debating how far i want to go with the electrical/plumbing

I have a few 3d models of different layouts that i can share.

Anyone doing moto bus builds, lets bounce ideas around!

I'll post some photos, but may start a build thread as well

 

[JasonH28]

Inventor Layout Possibilities

If im going to have 2 dirtbikes in the bus, this is my initial layout idea

pullout fullsize bed

simple counter with cooler drawer slide

Rear ac for shore power/generator



If i decide to have the bikes out back on a small deck/motorcycle hauler, my other layout ideas have a permanent bed, which is better for storage, batteries, electrical panel location/ect.

i'm leaning towards keeping the bikes out of the bus for cleanliness, a permanent bed, and storage




Let me know what you think!

If theres any interest in a build thread, i can try and do that as well.

 

[Booyah45828]

Pause your planning for a minute and weigh what you have now. One of the fancy scales that gives you per axle weight. A lot of the buses built on 1 ton chassis are near overweight from the get go, and any sort of conversion or trailer would make that even worse.

So my suggestion is to weigh everything, and then keep the conversion minimal and on a diet, especially if you plan on hauling a trailer with it.

 

[UFO pilot]

Go ahead and do that build thread, I luv toyhaulers big and small.
Are you doing a "multi-mission" setup in back, with a removeable bed-to-bike space?

 

[JasonH28]

I havent quite decided yet, almost tempted to see if i can make a murphy bed that folds up out of the way, so i can have the bikes in there until i get to camp, then still a full size bed

 

[Retired Roughneck]

weight is very important.
run your vin and see what your chassis / suspension is rated for.
strip it down, do your floor/walls then take it to cat scales weigh it and see where your at. then take into consideration everything from there?

https://www.fordvinlookup.com

that will give you a bunch of useful OEM specs.
i run light & dry so i dont have to winterize & put too much stress on my 6.0
you got the 7.3 so your ahead of the game!

my buddy has a queen mattress in the rear of his bus on the floor. he just lays it up against the wall so he can put his HD back there.

sometimes simplicity works out great LOL !

enjoy the build!

 

[JasonH28]

After this weekends ride, i think im throwing out the garage in the bus idea and going with a static bed.

50 degrees and everything melting, the bikes were muddy as hell.

Having them on the back rather than inside will be so much cleaner, not often the bike comes back from a ride clean lol

 

[fo4imtippin]

After this weekends ride, i think im throwing out the garage in the bus idea and going with a static bed.

50 degrees and everything melting, the bikes were muddy as hell.

Having them on the back rather than inside will be so much cleaner, not often the bike comes back from a ride clean lol

That's a good plan. I originally was going to use the handicap ramp on my bus to store mine in the bus on the road. This would keep thieves away more than just parked on a rack, but decided it wasn't worth it while traveling. I built a rear deck for them as that will keep the mud outside. I did still keep a garage for hiking gear, bikes, etc. When not on the road, i plan to store the dirt bikes in the garage (after they have been washed of course).


What sort of bikes are you looking to haul? Some of those 650 dual sports are pushing like 380lb. I'm planning on putting the pw80 on a front rack and a 450r and xt250 on the rear rack.

 

[JasonH28]

I thought the handicap ramp would prove useful because the adventure bikes are so heavy, getting the dirtbike in would be easy with a longer ramp, but my Tenere weighs 450 and its sketchy loading in the back of a truck lol

I have a 2021 Tenere 700 - 450~lbs
and a 2019 TE250i ~230lbs

I remember measuring the inside of the bus and realizing that the tenere is longer than the 250 and would not fit sideways in the bus.

I do have a 3 bike motorcycle trailer that i will pry have to when i take my tenere and my buddies africa twin, cause thats almost 1000lbs
that could make backing up the long bus with that short trailer a pain in the rear

But when we take the dirtbikes thats sub 500lbs on the rear deck

Here's my bikes for your viewing pleasure

 

[jimmy649]

Get yourself a trailer to haul those bikes. Make extra room!! Plus put a bit of a workbench in there…g2g

 

[JasonH28]

We had a few nice winter days and i got the ceiling out of the bus
I only saw one hole to patch in the ceiling where a screw went through

sorry its sideways, its upright everywhere else

been busy finishing up projects inside the house, will return to the bus soon

 

[Retired Roughneck]

lookin good/lotta work!
r u gonna leave that bus seat in the front for passengers to face forward.

i kinda did both. mine posistions both ways! i welded nuts under the frame with 7 holes in the floor. on the road for long hauls i face it forward. on short hauls or camping i keep it on the side. i use a power socket to move the seat real quick! when its forward there is enough room to get around to the back. i found a guy who was converting a shuttle bus so i got the seat from him of market place for $20 bucks. came with a arm rest, seat belts and frame. it even matched my driver seat & dash interior! came out sweet!

just thought i would share another option that i hadnt seen before. it was kinda my wifes idea cuz she couldnt see both sides of the road & i liked it off to the side for room LOL

not sure why some pics do that. what i do now is take a pic in both directions of the camera? upright & sideways. one will work? then preview post.

enjoy the build!

 

[JasonH28]

Maiden Voyage soon

I am part way thru gutting the bus but decided to make a maiden voyage and test how i like using the lift and having bikes in the bus

A quick use of a small ramp i had to extend the handicap lift, and the bike fit no issue, i put a switch to jumper wire 25 on the ricon lift, and i can operate it anytime (since i removed door switches/buzzers/wiring.)

This little ramp flips over and tucks away with the ramp it works, although its definitely a temporary solution.

 

[Retired Roughneck]

great job!
i like that little extension.