Any others chosen "no toad"?

[lostagain]

I have taken a motorcycle in a trailer. That is great,as long as the weather is nice... I always have the folding bicycle on the bus.


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[Lostranger]

Diblasi is cute, but it's not something that interests us. One of the "no toad" joys is not having another motor (or two) to feed and care for. Not interested in hauling a motorcycle, either.

I do love a good bicycle, though. I'm amazed at how many people never experience one because they buy a piece of junk from a big box and then leave it in the garage after a couple of frustrating attempts. Even worse is the trend of buying a cheap mountain bike when what one needs is a touring/commuting bicycle to use on the road. Sitting straight up in the wind, pushing big knobby tires on hard surfaces and not having additional hand positions is enough to discourage anyone. The difference between that and riding a GOOD road bike is night and day. Touring/commuting bikes have all the low gears of a mountain bike, but they are meant to be ridden on roads rather than trails.

Of course, good bikes cost more....

Jim

[Lin]

If you don't need a car, why pull one?  If you want to go places a bus won't go, you will need a toad.  I really dislike towing one, but I sure do like the flexibility of having the Jeep when we get somewhere.

[Iceni John]

Jim,

I'm with you on this one.   I have a fleet of custom bicycles, (OK, only six now, down from a dozen or so earlier!), each of which is set up for a specific purpose.   I've been thinking for the last twenty years or more of making a simple folding trailer that can attach to any of my bikes, and it would be big enough to transport two propane cylinders or a useful amount of groceries or several 5-gallons of water.   I will have space set aside in the bus behind the driver's seat to store at least four bikes, so they will be my toads.   The trailer will have easily-detachable wheels and a folding tongue, so it won't take much space when not in use.

I've ridden across the USA and up into Canada, and across India and Nepal, and I've got well into six-digits of miles in my legs by now, so another few miles won't faze me at this point!   What's better than the two best pleasures in life  -  riding a bike, and having a bus.   (OK, I can think of some others . . .)

John   

[oltrunt]

I suppose it all boils down to what you have and where you want to go.  My little skoolie conversion provides only 12.5' of living space which translates into no extra storage space and no bike in the bus.  However, since the bus has a 205 hp turbo diesel that provides 441 ft. lbs of torque, my combination "toad and trailer" are really a necessity for any but the shortest trips.  My toad weighs in at 2700# (Morris Minor woody wagon on a Geo Tracker 4X4 chassis) and on test runs at least I'm not able to feel that I am towing anything.  The toad has a trailer hitch set up to carry my Giant VT/2 mountain bike.  Wiffys Pugeot folding bike stores in the toad along with whatever gear won't fit in the bus.  If the bus quits I'll use the toad.  If the toad quits I'll use the bike-------Jack

[luvrbus]

LOL a good bike cost as much a toad we both have bikes my wife's Cattrike Recumbent bike goes on the rear on the carrier and I have a Giant that rides on the front on a bike carrier

We both have street tires in fact I just put a set of new Michelin's on mine we will see how that works out  The west is very friendly to bikes even Scottsdale. 

It was a everyday deal when we were in Boise to ride 30 or 40 miles they have great bike paths there you can go anywhere on a bike with no traffic took me awhile to adjust to a bike but I love it now and don't miss the tow vehicle 

[Lostranger]

If the bus quits I'll use the toad.  If the toad quits I'll use the bike-------Jack

Jack! Here you are! Always great to see your handle, even if it seems out of place. Of course you have a toad — and a gorgeous one at that. You need the space.

Any paint work on the bus? I'm inching closer to the reskin, and then other stuff can happen.

Jim

[bevans6]

For us it depends on what kind of trip we are going on, and it falls into two kinds.  One, we are going to a spot and we are going to stay in that spot, then come home.  Example race track.  We go in on Thursday, we come out on Sunday.  No toad because we have a race car trailer, but our driver has a car and can run errands or ferry us to a restaurant.  Other kind of trip is exploring.  We tend to go all over, looking at stuff and use the bus as a base.  It's common for us to drive a couple of hundred kilometers in a day of exploring, and go places that you wouldn't want to take a bus.  For these trips we bring a road car, towed on a dolly.  We never tend to take trips where we drive the bus to a campsite and just stay in the camp site, not of interest to us.  We live in the country, if I want to take a nature walk or look at trees I can go out my side door and walk 20 feet, I'll be in a forest...

Brian

[saddleup]

LOL a good bike cost as much a toad we both have bikes my wife's Cattrike Recumbent bike goes on the rear on the carrier and I have a Giant that rides on the front on a bike carrier

We both have street tires in fact I just put a set of new Michelin's on mine we will see how that works out  The west is very friendly to bikes even Scottsdale. 

It was a everyday deal when we were in Boise to ride 30 or 40 miles they have great bike paths there you can go anywhere on a bike with no traffic took me awhile to adjust to a bike but I love it now and don't miss the tow vehicle 

Clifford, were you able to get the new Michelins on a FMCA discount?

[luvrbus]

No but I did ask

[technomadia]

We did our first few months of bus life without a toad or any other mode of transportation but the bus, and it was for sure an interesting experiment and completely do-able.  We stopped for grocery stock-ups enroute, found laundromats with parking lots, planned our campgrounds to be in walking distance of the things we wanted to see and rented cars when we needed to.

For us however, we ultimately decided to pull a vehicle and acquired a MINI Cooper. It's been a great setup for us - lightweight, gets about 35mpg and fun to drive.  It's given us a lot of flexibility to park the bus and base camp somewhere, using the car to get around an explore. We also like the back-up option of having a shuttlecraft should/when the bus breaks down and we need to go for parts.  And if one of us needs to go another direction (family emergency, work obligation), we have the flexibility.

Here's a post we wrote about our toad-free time:
http://www.technomadia.com/2011/11/to-tow-or-not-to-tow/

- Cherie

[saddleup]

I travel with two toads,cant have to many toads or air compessers..lol