WANTED: BUS DRIVER **** MAYBE**** Jeez

[Ed Hackenbruch]

Clifford, after filling a 4000 gallon tank, a 275 gallon tank should be like using your spare change to fill it.

[Hard Headed Ken]

If I just run the numbers, converted coaches have been the biggest waste of time and money of anything I've ever done. If I was hooked on drugs there's help for that. I've learned a lot that has little real value. I've made some great friends and that includes friends that I don't even know, never meet, priceless? I doubt it, maybe worth about 10 or 20 bucks. Of course I'm kidding, maybe 50 bucks.  

Where's that big red emergency stop thread button. I'd push it on myself.

[luvrbus]

If you own a boat just don't let the kids use it you get stuck with the fuel bill and repairs every time 

[ros]

Vern/Mung, my name is Ros, not clueless dude.  Others are free to address me as they wish, not you, Vern as I saw what you did and so did the others.

Now, if you are not guilty of name-calling, I don't know who is.


I read your bad experiences and I am wondering if they happened to you because you are living on the wrong side of life -hey, anything is possible.

You are doing your best to start a war and it is evident to a lot of people.  I will not be a part of it after this.  You KNEW that your post was highly inflammatory else why say this AND I QUOTE THIS SICKENING DRIVEL:  

"Flame away all you want, but these are all very valid questions and I hope before you go ballistic on me, you at least think about what I am saying and know that I am very concerned for you and would feel very bad if the worst happens to you and I didn't speak up to try to help you understand some of the things that could happen to turn your dream into a nightmare."

If that is your idea of help, I want none of it.

At the very bottom of your post you tell me to 'flame away'. After you have flamed me!

First, an explanation of what anecdotal evidence means: "Anecdotal evidence refers to an informal account of evidence in the form of an anecdote. It is the opposite of scientific evidence.

Even empirical evidence is preceeded by the folly of 'anecdota'.

I tried to teach you what anecdotal evidence means but you just wouldn't learn so, let me spell it out for your using your bad experiences with your bus:

In simple terms, it means that just because you had those experiences, is not in any way,
forecasting that I will.

I am going to say it again after I have said it many times before.  "I came here to learn about buses and in the process, perhaps find one as well.

I did not come here to fight or have to put up with treating me as a baby.
I did not come here to listen day after day to 'nay sayers'.  I say again, I am going to get a bus and if you don't like it, too bad.
 
I do not for a minute believe that you, Vern, have my best interests at heart.
You are making posts clearly designed to recoup your name after treating me so shabbily the other day.  

If you truly had my best interests in your heart, why didn't you just pm me instead of playing to the audience?

You and another, took something that you didn't understand and didn't read most of it and thought you would make me look bad.  You did but you and your friend looked worse.

I don't need to justify a damned thing to you when you ask about my preparations, my money, what I will do if the sky falls in, or where do I intend to live or not live.

You say that you have installed engines; I have built many engines from the ground up, meaning building from just an empty core or block.

Your lecture to me about not being taken in by beauty is laughable.  Maybe you are that naive but I am not.  

So, you say that you have tried to keep your mouth shut.  To that I say BULL!

Now, do both of us a favor and the board, too, and forget that I exist.

Again, please do not address me in the future.

No flames - facts.  I also will not allow you to bait me into a war.



I still very much appreciate the majority of folk here that are trying to help me.


Ros

I have tried to keep my mouth shut, but dude you are clueless.  I guess you weren't around to hear about my bus delivery.  

So, my bus was driven from north of Atlanta to Central Florida by the PO.  I paid for all of the fuel and other expenses.  Keep in mind, this is the guy selling me the bus and who had owned it for a couple of years before selling it to me, so he knew the bus.  He was very confident that he could get the bus here since he had been driving it around up there.  So he starts driving it down and tells me that there is a small air leak in the brake chamber but not a problem he can still drive it.  Drives a bit more and then calls me and tells me he blew a tire (not the tire he was worried about either), so he gets it off the highway and to a truck stop.  Now I am giving my credit card number to a truck stop so they can put a used tire on there and he can get going again.  I asked, are the rest of the tires good, will they make it?  I am told, sure the guys at the truck stop said they are fine.  About 2 hours later, you guessed it, another blown tire and another truck stop that I am giving my credit card number to and another used tired on the bus.  All is good now and he is moving down the road right?  Wrong, I get another call about an hour later that he has run out of fuel on the turnpike.  So now I am calling around trying to find anyone who can bring him fuel and help him get it started.  At the same time I start driving towards him so that I can be there to help with getting it running again.  About an hour down the road I get a call that he has managed to get it running again from fuel he had in the auxiliary tank.  So I meet up with him at a turnpike rest area, I pay to put even more fuel in the tank and we are on our way, make it about another hour or so and as he is pulling out of a toll both he locks the transmission in 2nd gear.  At this point it is after midnight and he has a 7am flight back home.  So we leave the bus on the side of the road and drive home.  The next morning I find a towing company willing to come tow it the last 30 miles home on a Sunday.  So we meet the tow truck driver at the bus and after a bit of him trying different configurations he finds something that would work and we are on our way.  All is good now right?  Wrong, when turning as we got close to home he ripped one of the tow hooks off the front and the rack under the wheels had been slamming under the front wheel well and bent the trim around the wheel well.  Oh and it only cost $700 for the 30 mile tow.  And now that I am working on things, I needed bigger jacks, bigger wrenches, and the help of the great people on this list.

Oh, and I am not exactly a neophyte when it comes to working on cars.  I have changed engines, transmissions, done partial rebuilds, used to work in a body shop, etc.  But the bus world is a whole new world and it shouldn't be taken lightly.  

Had I known what I was dealing with, at minimum I would have just hired a transport company to haul the bus here, if I didn't look for a different bus.  So, take what you expect to spend and triple it.  Take the problems that you expect to have and quadruple them.  Take what you think you know and cut it in half.  Then you might begin to understand what you are getting into.  And don't even think that just because the bus looks good or someone checks it out that you won't have an issue.  No one can know everything that might go wrong.  Airlines that look good might blow out when they are stressed, motors that ran great on a run around the block can overheat on a long trip, wheel bearings can go out, transmissions fry, etc.  So, ask yourself, do you have enough money to get the bus towed from 5 miles away from where you are purchasing it home?  Because that could happen.  Do you have enough money to have a shop along the way rebuild or replace the motor?  Cause that could happen.  Hey, you might get lucky and not have a single problem and I hope that it works out.  But what is your plan to deal with things if there are issues along the way?  What are you going to do if the bus only makes it part of the way home?  Are you prepared to live on the bus no matter where you get stuck?  Are you willing to live out your days in the middle of nowhere at an RV park if you have a catastrophic failure?  If you can't do that are you willing to scrap the bus for a lot less than you paid for it?

Flame away all you want, but these are all very valid questions and I hope before you go ballistic on me, you at least think about what I am saying and know that I am very concerned for you and would feel very bad if the worst happens to you and I didn't speak up to try to help you understand some of the things that could happen to turn your dream into a nightmare.  

[MightyThor]

No hope

[oldmansax]

My Daddy use to say:

"Some folks learn by hearing, Some folks learn by seeing,..... Some have to pee on the electric fence!!!" (note: not an EXACT quote)

I know how that is 'cause I ARE one!  LOL!

Looks like there a few on this board & more coming everyday! 

TOM

[mung]

Yep, just as I expected Ros.  I didn't bother reading your rant and I am done with you.  Just so you know, my post was NOT To try to talk you out of buying a bus, only to make sure you were taking into account everything that could go wrong during the delivery and hope that you would properly prepare yourself for what could go wrong. 

Carry on, do what you want to do and I won't respond to anything you post ever again.

[sparkplug188]

Ros- What if you responded like this: Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences moving old busses. I am aware of the cost of moving a bus.  That is why I am taking the following steps.  I will try to get the seller to cover all of the cost of getting it to my doorstep. If not, I will try to get the seller to write up a warranty on the engine, drivetrain, tires, and brakes for the next 1000 miles.  I intend to use the expense and risk of moving the bus as leverage when negotiating a final price.  Also, I am looking at getting an AAA bus conversion insurance policy before the trip home that covers towing just in case it takes a dump in the middle of nowhere.

Try it out. It is just a different way of responding to people that you see as threatening or hateful. I guarantee you will make more friends and get better results.

- Spark

[mung]

And just a note on the towing policy, Spark, I couldn't get one for my delivery because I didn't own the bus the time and coverage doesn't kick in till 24 hours after you purchase the policy.  In hindsight, I should have paid the PO to purchase a towing policy before he left.

[Scott Crosby]

Do you know how when sometimes you're driving and the GPS tells you to turn, but your brain over rides it because you realize that the place it's telling you to turn isn't really a road or perhaps just not a road that your bus should be on?  Dudes, Ros just turned onto that road.

[luvrbus]

Ok as Jerry Jefferson told me a few weeks before his death if you guys don't stop this s*** "you will need a pork chop tied around your neck to get the dogs to play with you" this has been going on way to long and accomplishing O give it a rest this thread is all over the map JMO 

[eagle19952]

Vern, you've made your point .... 12 times buddy, surely you can see that your technique could be seen by some as trolling/stalking/irritating... I think you've beat the horse beyond to death

[luvrbus]

ROS has made his point over and over also so lets move on or put this in the little trash can on the screen

[eagle19952]

I thought the point of the board was to encourage ....

[John316]

I really hope he finds the right bus. I actually offered to make the drive 12hrs, each way, to inspect the bus that is somewhere in TN. He said he couldn't get it arraigned in time (today and tomorrow was the only time I could go). So there is my proof that I want to help

And I do readily admit, that buses can have issues. I just went down nostalgia lane for a bit.

Clifford, we are all happy that you have the bus, and are using it. It is awesome that you appreciate all that we put into it. That is great you are helping that group out. Makes me smile to know that our ol bus is still in a good service. You are a great guy, my friend.