Mike:

I dont think I have ever been so disappointed . My road trip to
find " The Right Bird" did not go well. 2 of the units I went to see
were real rough. I saw 4 units at Bleakely's and one 2003 was
gorgeous. But it had 2 slides and a horrible drop down Plasma TV. Of
course the price was ridiculous. I think the asking was over $450. I
liked it
so much I was offered $350 even though it was too much. I
guess it is still there. I also saw a similar unit at the factory. I
understand from talking to anothr forum member it can be had for
$250. It needed a little loving and it has been there so long they
have been robbing parts to fix other units. While looking at these
units I came to realize that something about these BB's was
different. I know that Brad and David are not going to like what I
am about to say. They seemed to lack that "BB" feel that I got while
looking at the units @ Q. These were all built when BB started to
become concerned about weight. None had tile floors. 2 of them had
this cheap compressed paper with a veneer and one had some sort of
composite tile. Reminded me of those self sticking ones. @ of the
units I looked at had a decorative ceiling panel in the bathroom
similar to what they use in the living room. In both cases they

partially covered the fantastic fan. That is the kind of design
error you expect in one of the plastic MH's not a BB. Every unit I
saw needed upgrades to the audio video systems. By 2001 a CD , DVD
and a satellite system should have been standard eqpt. Only one had
this equipment. Somehow a cassette player does not cut it! There is
an upright steel member in the engine compartment. I dont remember
which side. All of them had rusting problems. Hard to explain but
this piece is a steel tube with a cap on top. The cap has a raised
lip that holds water and maybe snow in the winter. The drawer
construction on these units was no different than any entry level
motorhome. I dont know what type of plwood they use but it is very
light. The joints were some type of half lap. Even our Monaco has
dovetial joints. The drawer catches on our FC are the bulletproof
aircraft type. These BB's all use the same plastic
latches you see
on every MH. I would have looked at at some earlier 90's units but
really wanted a DD60 engine. Of course I am an impatient person and
perhaps if I was willing to wait another 6 months the right BB might
have appeared. A renowkned BB expert told me he thinks the 97's are
the best. I also did not want to do any "fixing". One BB that
requires more than maintenace is all I can handle. To make he rest
of this long story short. We bought an 08 Monaco Dyansty. Certainly
not a BB buit it is very nice. We still have our 88 FC and will
continue to use it for Mexico travel and maybe to Q in 09.

Bruce
1988 FC35

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To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
From: birdshill123@...
Date: Wed, 28 May 2008 11:02:03 +0000
Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: RV Park near Atlanta

Brad:

I am pleased that you did not tke offense at my comments as none
was intended. Perhpas some of the problesm are that many of the
coaches were specially ordered by the big BB dealers. That makes
many of them quite different. And of course when buying used the
previous owner can be the problem. I looked at one Bird that was
full of food crumbs and mouse droppings. When I asked for the
service records the dealer ( consignment) gave me a line about they
cannot be released due to privacy laws. Where do they get these
ideas?? I kept notes on all the places I visited and all the birds
but threw them away in frustration. I should have kept them and
written a novel " Bird Quest". I did make an error in my original
post> Bleakely did want over $400 for that 03 but my offer was just
under $300 and they wanted over $300. In retrospect it really was
not worth over $250. Many of the people who buy new RV's do not
even know how to hold a screwdriver. They go back to the dealer to
have a cabinet latch adjusted!

Maybe the lesson to be learned for anyone looking for a Bird is to
buy it from a forum member !!

Bruce
1988 FC35