Double-decker Neoplan on eBay

[dukegrad98]

Newbie here, first post, but been lurking awhile.

Anyway, if you're like me, your imagination can run wild with the possibilities for this coach:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130659866359

Of course, your budget could run wild, too -- entry price of $92k.

I look forward to participating a little more around here as I shop for a bus platform and continue to ponder whether to take the big bus conversion plunge.

Cheers, John

[oldmansax]

That 13' 9" height will hurt you in the East.

I'm sure you've looked at Sean's Neoplan but I don't think it is that high.

TOM

[Oonrahnjay]

That 13' 9" height will hurt you in the East. (snip)

     Yeah, over 13'6 in about 35 states and a few provinces and you're into OverSize permits, etc.  Not good.  While in practice, *most* overpasses have a bit more clearance than the 13'6 limit, all it takes is one to ruin your day if you're 13'9.   And just a little inch is all it takes.
     And I wonder what it would be like to base a conversion on that bus.  The stairs up are right at the front door, that would mean that you'd have very little area to access the front of the upper level (on my bus, the stair is in the center of the bus, leaving a 12'6 X 8' "front room" that will serve as our living room -- couches, TV, convert coffee/dining table); this bus will leave you very little "working room" on both the bottom and upper level.  And while the wheelchair accessible restroom might be good for a tour or over-the-road coach, it takes up a big footprint.  I'm guessing that my bathroom complete with shower takes up little more room.  Of course, the good thing with a double decker is that you have lots of floor area to work with.
     (And I sure don't have $92K to start off, although the engine/trans combo is very nice.)

BH  NC USA

[dukegrad98]

     (And I sure don't have $92K to start off, although the engine/trans combo is very nice.)

Isn't that the truth!  The whole double-decker thing (along with the articulated bendy-bus) is pretty much just wild fantasy, but the right guy could do some neat stuff with those platforms.

For now I'm just looking for a good and affordable 40' or 45' platform to start with.  I like some of the VanHool buses I am seeing out there -- tall bays and four-stroke Cummins engines that I'm more comfortable with than the two-stroke DD stuff.  I'm still working out the spreadsheets in my head while I look for the "right" unit to start with.  Starting point budget is more like a quarter or a third of the asking on that Neoplan!

Cheers, John

[Sean]

I recognize this bus.

It is one of two or three Lamar-built 1996 Skyliners that were owned and operated by the Antelope Valley Transit Authority in southern California, which carried unit numbers 720, 721 and 722.  The distinctive destination sign gives it away, and it looks like they even kept the general lines of the paint scheme.  I found a couple of shots of either this or its sister bus in AVTA livery on the 'net:







AFAIK, these coaches were 13'6", not 13'9" as stated in the listing.  My own coach is just 12'3" to the top of the roof (my 13' height is due to the satellite dish and roof airs which add another 9"), and the AN122 does not look 18" taller to me.  My coach and this one use the exact same glass.  Perhaps the current operator has been overstating the height just to keeps its drivers out of trouble.

Elsewhere on this board I have written extensively about why these kinds of double-deckers are difficult and expensive to convert, with all due deference to Bruce and my good friend Russ (who ultimately gave up on his in favor of something less costly and more expedient).

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[Busted Knuckle]

Sean, I believe you are correct on the 13' 6".  All of them I've ever known of, seen, or read about were said to be 13' 6".

Now that said it could be the current seller is going off some mixed info. Such as my Setra's that have raising and lowering capabilities of about 3-4" someone could have told him it is 13' 6" but it raises to 13' 9"

Or something like that.

Still way to much $ for what it is!
  BK 

[Oonrahnjay]

(snip) Still way to much $ for what it is!   

      And it has practically no bay space (I'm guessing that there is some luggage bay capability in the rear area of the bottom deck) and you might be able to squeeze some lower area in the engine area).  I've run into this, from the bottom of my floor panels to the lower edge of the chassis rails is about 10 1/2 inches.  I've used that area for an auxiliary air tank and a couple of flat "dye fuel" generator fuel tanks, but there's really not enough volume to make it useful for much.  It appears that this bus will have even less than that.  There's also the issue that, with any double decker, you have issues of intrusion of the wheel arches into the lower deck floor area.  With the tag axle, that's another 5' of floor space downstairs that you'd have to work around and pretty much lose use of as regards to most of the floor plans that most of us think about.

      Yeah, there might be some creative things that could be done but it would be difficult.

[Jeremy]

$92,000 seems like an awful lot for a 16-year-old bus, so I just did a quick search to see how much a similar bus would cost in Europe. This site (link below) has got 21 Neoplan Skyliners for sale of various vintages:- The oldest one is from 1989 and is for sale for $19,700 (USD equivalent), with one from 1997 (the nearest in age to the one on Ebay) costing $44,400 - in other words, a newer version of the same bus for less than half the price that the Ebay seller is asking.

Jeremy

http://autoline-eu.co.uk/stock.php?cat=005&tm=2692&model=skyliner

[Oonrahnjay]

$92,000 seems like an awful lot for a 16-year-old bus, so I just did a quick search to see how much a similar bus would cost in Europe. This site (link below) has got 21 Neoplan Skyliners for sale of various vintages:- The oldest one is from 1989 and is for sale for $19,700 (USD equivalent), with one from 1997 (the nearest in age to the one on Ebay) costing $44,400 - in other words, a newer version of the same bus for less than half the price that the Ebay seller is asking.   Jeremy 

    My bus cost about $6200 to ship, Southampton England to Baltimore, MD USA a few years ago.  (Add $160 US Customs and an $80 "port processing fee".)  So, we're not talking about shipping being a big issue, although I'm guessing that that bus would be longer and a little wider than mine and extra "cube" means a higher shipping cost.

    The real kicker is that it's usually not practical to import any bus into the US that's less than 25 years old*.   That means that you're looking a bus made in 1987 or later.

BH   NC  USA

(*  The 25 year limit is NHTSA/Safety; EPA allows within 21 years but if you can't bring it in because of NHTSA, that doesn't matter.)