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02-23-2019, 10:27 AM   #1681
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QuoteOriginally posted by niblue Quote
It's on a Ford Transit rear while drive chassis, with twin wheels at the rear. The engine is a 2.4 turbo diesel and it has a 6-speed manual transmission. It's quite fast for a motorhome - easily capable of sitting at 85mph - however the fuel consumption is drastic if you drive it like that!

Most RV's in Europe are Fiat based but quite a few are rear-wheel drive Ford Transits like ours.

We carry a small motorbike most of the time as it fits into the garage in the motorhome:
Very nice. Like the turbo diesel rear wheel drive and manual transmission. What kind of motorcycle ? I have an old '67 Matchless G 15 750cc (Norton engine) Scrambler and a '78 Yamaha SR 500 in my shed.

I'm in North America and the Ford Transit has been here for a few years, replacing the the older Ford Econoline. Back in the early to mid-70's I drove commercial trucks (paying my way through school) and one of them was a mid 70's Ford E350 with dual rear wheels, cab and chassis with a 14 foot insulated box mounted on the frame. It had the 7.5 liter (460 cubic inch) 385 series V8, transmission was a heavy duty Ford C6 automatic. Tons of torque, think the GVW was around 11-12000 lbs...and it was generally fully loaded. Great truck to drive, first automatic, power steering/brake and AM radio equipped, commercial truck I ever had the pleasure to drive.

Ford vans have changed significantly in the past 40 odd years.

02-23-2019, 10:37 AM - 2 Likes   #1682
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QuoteOriginally posted by lesmore49 Quote
Very nice. Like the turbo diesel rear wheel drive and manual transmission. What kind of motorcycle ? I have an old '67 Matchless G 15 750cc (Norton engine) Scrambler and a '78 Yamaha SR 500 in my shed.
Some nice bikes there. I've got a few as well - a 2001 Honda CBR600F, a 2009 Honda CBF1000GT, a 1987 Honda XBR500 (quite similar to your SR500), a Gas-Gas Pampera 250 (used to be my race bike when I did enduro racing a few years back) and finally the Honda MSX125 Grom that we carry in the motorhome. This is the Grom in Spain, on our European motorhome tour last year:



QuoteQuote:
I'm in North America and the Ford Transit has been here for a few years, replacing the the older Ford Econoline. Back in the early to mid-70's I drove commercial trucks (paying my way through school) and one of them was a mid 70's Ford E350 with dual rear wheels, cab and chassis with a 14 foot insulated box mounted on the frame. It had the 7.5 liter (460 cubic inch) 385 series V8, transmission was a heavy duty Ford C6 automatic. Tons of torque, think the GVW was around 11-12000 lbs...and it was generally fully loaded. Great truck to drive, first automatic, power steering/brake and AM radio equipped, commercial truck I ever had the pleasure to drive.

Ford vans have changed significantly in the past 40 odd years.
Automatic vans are unusual here in Europe and almost 100% will be diesel with a manual transmission because sadly our fuel costs are a lot higher than in the USA. Whenever I'm over there visiting I usually trade up my hire-car for a nice V8 though!
02-23-2019, 10:54 AM   #1683
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QuoteOriginally posted by niblue Quote
Some nice bikes there. I've got a few as well - a 2001 Honda CBR600F, a 2009 Honda CBF1000GT, a 1987 Honda XBR500 (quite similar to your SR500), a Gas-Gas Pampera 250 (used to be my race bike when I did enduro racing a few years back) and finally the Honda MSX125 Grom that we carry in the motorhome. This is the Grom in Spain, on our European motorhome tour last year:





Automatic vans are unusual here in Europe and almost 100% will be diesel with a manual transmission because sadly our fuel costs are a lot higher than in the USA. Whenever I'm over there visiting I usually trade up my hire-car for a nice V8 though!
Our son has a BMW F 700 GS, before that he had a Yamaha YZF R3. I remember seeing a Gas Gas once..at a World Championship Trials event that was held in the Canadian Shield forests, back in the 1980's. Very impressive bikes and of course riders. Very nice motorcycles you have.

Many of the commercial vans we are now getting in Canada and the USA are Euro type vans...Mercedes Sprinter, Ford Transit(s) and the Dodge van. The Dodge is based on a Fiat van I believe.

Part of the reason, IMO, is smaller, more economical engines, part of it is economy of scale...production numbers, manufacturers using less platforms for world sales, etc. In NA though the commercial light duty vans are pretty well all automatic now, to my knowledge.
02-23-2019, 10:59 AM   #1684
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QuoteOriginally posted by lesmore49 Quote
Our son has a BMW F 700 GS, before that he had a Yamaha YZF R3. I remember seeing a Gas Gas once..at a World Championship Trials event that was held in the Canadian Shield forests, back in the 1980's. Very impressive bikes and of course riders. Very nice motorcycles you have.
Thanks. You need to post up a picture of that Matchless!

02-23-2019, 12:19 PM - 1 Like   #1685
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QuoteOriginally posted by niblue Quote
Thanks. You need to post up a picture of that Matchless!
I would if I knew how. My kids, in their 30's or about to turn 30 have spent a lot of time with their old dad, trying to show me this and that on the computer. But my old brain never seems to 'get it'. But I can provide a written description.

It's a '67 Matchless G 15 CS Scrambler. AMC the parent company of Matchless, AJS and Norton, made a couple of versions...same bike, Matchless frame, Norton Atlas 750 engine with twin Amals and a sports cam...some were badged Nortons...N15 CS Scrambler, some were badged Matchless...G 15 CS. It has extended (1.5 inch I believe) Norton Roadholder forks, Norton brakes, skid plate, Lyta aluminum tank with quick release cap, braced handlebars, lower gearing, etc.

They were part of the scrambler evolution over the years, that started with the Norton Nomad, then developed into the Norton scrambler, then the G15/N15 CS...eventually the Ranger then the last of the line the Norton P11.
02-23-2019, 12:28 PM   #1686
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QuoteOriginally posted by lesmore49 Quote
I would if I knew how. My kids, in their 30's or about to turn 30 have spent a lot of time with their old dad, trying to show me this and that on the computer. But my old brain never seems to 'get it'. But I can provide a written description.
Can you copy images from the SD card in your digital camera to your computer?
02-23-2019, 12:32 PM - 1 Like   #1687
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QuoteOriginally posted by lesmore49 Quote
Ford vans have changed significantly in the past 40 odd years.
I miss the early Econoline vans.

A longtime friend moved from Mineral Point, Wisconsin in his lime green 1963 Econoline. It has Cragar SS wheels, and the inside was dark brown shag carpet and real wood paneling.

It was awesome.

When he bought his 1972 Dodge van I "borrowed" the Econoline for a couple of years, as I had little income and needed wheels. It was great, and offered a place to stay when I couldn't afford a house.

I miss that van.

02-23-2019, 03:34 PM   #1688
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The redesigned full-size Chevy/GMC vans I often drove in my previous job (~2005) were pleasant well-mannered vehicles.
They were *so* much better than earlier Chevy and Ford models I previously had to live with.
Like most vans gas mileage was poor, but if I had need for such a vehicle I would not hesitate to buy one.

The AWD versions were particularly sure-footed regardless of load.

Chris

Last edited by ChrisPlatt; 03-10-2019 at 06:33 AM.
02-23-2019, 04:47 PM   #1689
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QuoteOriginally posted by Racer X 69 Quote
I miss the early Econoline vans.

A longtime friend moved from Mineral Point, Wisconsin in his lime green 1963 Econoline. It has Cragar SS wheels, and the inside was dark brown shag carpet and real wood paneling.

It was awesome.

When he bought his 1972 Dodge van I "borrowed" the Econoline for a couple of years, as I had little income and needed wheels. It was great, and offered a place to stay when I couldn't afford a house.

I miss that van.
I liked the Econolines and the GM mid size (Astro/Safari) and full size RWD vans. Never had any experience with a Dodge full size, RWD van, sorry to say. Considered buying a '96-97 Dodge B200 window van with three row seating, 318 Magnum V8 for family use. Our kids were young, and Dodge had a table that could go up in the middle of the seating, you could reverse one of the bench seats for long travel, also make it into a bed. It would of been the mid range wheel base, not extended. We pulled a folding trailer on holidays and have an Old Two freighter canoe that could fit atop the van and carry our little Evinrude O/B in the cargo area, along with the rest of the camping stuff. Instead we bought a '97 Astro, 4.3 liter Vortec V6, HD suspension, Eaton locker on the RWD. It worked fine.

I recall those early Econoline vans, also that era E series pickup. When I was working at the company I mentioned earlier, they had a fleet of Econolines , no window, only driver seat, commercial vans...all of them white in colour, which I think was a common colour so companies could put some cheap lettering on these commercial trucks, also probably white was cheaper paint I'm thinking..

They had a '70 Econoline (2nd gen) E 100 with a 240 inline six, 3 on the tree, two '70 E 300s (one tons) with the 300 cube inline six and HD C6 transmissions. Back then I wasn't a Ford guy, strictly Chevy , but with all these Ford trucks I was driving, I came to respect their durability, reliability, robustness and with the 300 inline six their low and mid range power to move a heavy load.

They also had (for a short time) a single rear wheel, early box Econoline, with a 302 V8. That one was the exception. Timing chain, head gasket, tranny issues abound. So much that they traded it in on the E 350 DRW, cab and chassis with the 14 foot box. It had the 460 V8/C6...and that thing was dead reliable. Never an issue for anything and it could haul a load with that torque rich , big block V8. One of my all time favourite light trucks to drive and work in. MPG's were atrocious, but that was not surprising.

It was the only Econoline from that era that didn't have alignment issues with the front Twin Beam front suspension in the company. I really liked it.

---------- Post added 02-23-19 at 05:50 PM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by Racer X 69 Quote
Can you copy images from the SD card in your digital camera to your computer?
I can and do.

I tried to send a pic to the poster via private email, but I couldn't get the picture to go on the email. I'm a major league Klutz when it comes to computers and at my age, I accept my limitations.

Last edited by lesmore49; 02-23-2019 at 04:53 PM.
03-09-2019, 07:22 PM - 1 Like   #1690
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A year ago, if someone had told me I’d be driving a retired police cruiser from Millcreek Township in Erie County, PA I’d have told them to seek mental health help. Circumstances in my life changed rather dramatically in June of 2018. Needing to reduce monthly expenses immediately, I sold my 2015 Chevy Colorado LT 4X4 back to a local truck specialist car lot. It was about half paid off, but three more years of $478 per month was out of the question. The final tally, $3000 back to me.
I am tall and fat with size 15EEE feet, not many vehicles fit me. Needing a vehicle, and needing to keep it under $4,000 or so made my choices very limited. However, the dealership had an unusual, inexpensive option...

Looking over the used car inventory, I spied four white former police Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors. Priced between $2,000 and $3,500. Two were really rough and still had the prisoner divider behind the front seats. A 2008 for $2,800 looked promising but someone took it for a test drive and bought it while I was waiting to finish my truck sale. So, I decided to take the $3,500 2009 for a test drive. I was pretty clean inside with surprisingly little damage to everything except the driver’s seat. I fit, which is a prerequisite! It had 118,000 miles on it, decent tires and ran pretty darn good. The left front fender has some rust, typical of every older Crown Vic in the road salt states. A few dents and dings, but otherwise it made a good impression. I ended up buying it.

I’ve put about 7,000 miles on the Boulevard Barge since June. It needs a new air conditioner dryer/receiver and a set of u-joints on the driveshaft, both items needing replaced on every Crown Vic according to the owner forums I frequent. It’s got a 3:55 ratio Trac Lok limited slip rear axle which make the big, heavy car fairly fun to drive on our hills and mountains, but not so great on the interstates. Gas mileage is respectable for a big V-8 old cop car, average 17 to 19 MPG and can get as high as 22 MPH if I stay out of town andoff the 70-80 MPH highways. I like the CV Interceptor enough that I would definitely buy another even though the last year for the venerable cop car was 2011.
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03-10-2019, 04:37 PM   #1691
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QuoteOriginally posted by steamloco76 Quote
. . . . . little damage to everything except the driver’s seat.
Looks awesome for $3,500.

The $500 you have left should more than cover getting an upholstery shop to fix that seat.


And have money left over for a beer or two. And dinner out.
03-10-2019, 05:37 PM - 1 Like   #1692
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They used to wholesale retired police cars from all over into several dealers in The Bronx.
They would fix them up, repaint them and sell them for use by car services or "gypsy cabs".

This was long before Uber and Lyft. Now anything and everything is a cab...

Chris
03-10-2019, 06:34 PM - 1 Like   #1693
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QuoteOriginally posted by ChrisPlatt Quote
This was long before Uber and Lyft. Now anything and everything is a cab...
Kinda cheapens the value of the metal badge a cabbie owns, and so many compete for each year.
03-10-2019, 09:05 PM - 1 Like   #1694
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QuoteOriginally posted by Racer X 69 Quote
Looks awesome for $3,500.

The $500 you have left should more than cover getting an upholstery shop to fix that seat.


And have money left over for a beer or two. And dinner out.
Hee. Or maybe toward a Gearvendors overdrive for those highway runs.

Does look great from here, anyway.
03-10-2019, 10:13 PM   #1695
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This area has a lot of resettled refugees. When they get around to buying a car, the retired police cruiser is very popular. It is very common to see a woman in traditional Muslim clothing at the wheel of a Crown Vic.
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