Random Thoughts My 1st Year with THE BUS!!

[bumpersbird]

Things I have done for my bus and a few I'd like to do!

Hi, I'm bumpersbird. A couple of guys asked. Who are you? I am Kurt
Horvath South Central Tenn. A Coach Nut, Certifiable according to
some. I have never coveted
anything in my life until I saw my first Bird. That was 35 years ago
with my folks in Miami. When I married in '83 we mover to a trailer
park in Odessa Fla. Lived in a 28' Terry Taurus. It was grand, all
our friends were in their 60's and 70's. I don't have that trailer
anymore but, I do have my '81 Avion 34V, and my '99 Bigfoot truck
camper with a '01 Ford CC DW which I use to pull everything and let's
not forget the '95 24' Haulmark Edge Car trailer, I have watched the
internet for years. I have bugged bus people in Nashville for years.
Hello Detroit Deisel I got that wired from Fla to Texas to Quebec. I
will admitt it has been the only reoccurring distraction in my
life. One of my goals for the Indulgence is to make her my second
greatest joy in life, well third or forth, but it's right up there.
So far it's working the wife the kids and friends have had nothing
but FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! When your in Yellowstone, and the guy on the
Harley in front of you is walking his Thunder behind a Bull Bison,
and he cranks on the gas bbbrrrroooommmm that Bison may decides he's
the Thunder in the Park. Unless you have train horns! Well Priceless!

Since I have been the owner of The Indulgence a 1995 PT 42¡¦
Bluebird
Wanderlodge WLWB, Series 60 D.D., Allison 6 Speed Motor Coach new to
me at 130,000 miles and now on her anniversary she is up to 145,000
miles young.

Picked her up in Clearwater, Fla. Flight, car, hotel, one night then,
moved to the coach ASAP

8 days of prep and a lot of man hours at Parliament Coach She's
looking proud.

Parliament Coach was GREAT! Service outstanding! John their resident
BB Man is top notch and answered every question before I could ask!!!
All the nuancies BAM BAM that boy is cooking with grease!!!!! Dan
Service Mgr. You want, it you got it! The owner Steve Mitchell was to
say the least, very gracious after cutting me a KILLER DEAL!!!!!! Way
under book!! The 8 days I spent with Parliament. I guess there were
at least 79 shop hours, and I don¡¦t want to think of the parts,
filled fuel tank to the tune of $901 washed and waxed. All he would
say was have a nice trip, come back and stay anytime! I will!

I was informed that a Blue Bird is a BUS, not a motor home. If you
cannot bring yourself to call it a bus then the only other proper
term to use is COACH. You have that right by ownership

First fill up 276 gallons yea she was on the red low fuel light. It
was exhilarating to see the pump read $$$$$ 901.00 WHOA!! 901.00
$$$$$$ ChaChing! Now that will get your attention. Thanks Steve!

If fuel is an issue; you are on the wrong site!

Meet a Prevost on the way home in my baby. The Prevost was named the
Screaming Orgasm. Hi Bernie! Or course this had to be addressed.
After the compensatory nice bus yours to, we spent a few hours
talking and several hours driving together. He was towing a flatbed
with a Ford/New Holland tractor with an 8'bushog mounted on it.Well
the S.O. is an '88
one owner coach; she was named after the cocktail. Seems as though
Bernie and his wife were to fly home from a vacation and there was an
incident on the airline they were to fly on. The Misses being
somewhat shaken by this news, Bernie suggested a cocktail before the
flight. Now being people that rarely indulged in spirits, they were
at loss as to what to order. Suddenly a voice from down the bar rang
out give her Screaming Orgasm. A very strong drink indeed. Well it
worked. When arriving home the Misses declared, never will I fly
again, go buy a bus! Bernie being a diligent husband got the bus. On
the first day, unbeknownst to Bernie, when arriving home from work
the sign painter was just leaving, as his wife proudly pointed out
his handy work. Large Orange script stacked on top of each other
about 2 1/2 X 7 feet in size for the entire world to see. Moral of
the story even Prevost people can be fun and most of them like Birds
to.Overheated a few times chasing Bernie drove too fast, but I
learned a lot on that first drive. The most important is that size
does matter and most cars think their large but their not! It's like
waking threw a herd of puppies. Watch your step!

Now for the good stuff. Some of the thing I fixed on my bus:

2 Tires, Michelin of course, front end work replaced all tie rod ends
and computer alignment. Nitrogen in the tires that¡¦s a waste of
$¡¦s.
If I were to do all 8 I would use nitrogen, new camshaft for DD Ser.
60 and #6 cyl.roller bearings and they accidentally fixed the fan
override. Boy, the first time it runs, you¡¦ll know it when you hear
it. Alternator replaced and repaired once in 8 months leaked, behind
pulley not an Issue really. Allison output shaft seal, air leveling
valve, all new Firestone Airbags, Koni's all around, airstep repair
still doesn't like the cold under 50degress; all the bay lights, 50
amp switching unit for the genny and the land power blew up and fried
a satellite receiver with it on the day we headed to FLA 4 X/MASS.
Need two new windshields after the first trip. TRAIN HORNS!! They
will more game off the road. Air dump switch on panel bad. Took a
good bit or a learning curve and I had to pay to train! It took one
week short of a year to get a new window sliding
glass and screen I never thought it would happen. 4 Different water
leaks, Aqua hot leaked new Duprez cyl. rebuilds with new seals, See
YA Jeff and good luck to the new owners! New mercury switches for bay
doors, 9 new batteries, rebuilt toilet, and added fans to fridge. New
chrome exhaust stack tip, installed Wi/Fi antenna, two new
headlights, two new taillights, new bay heater installed when valves
were rebuilt. I installed an oxygen generator, came in real handy at
+12,900 ft, oxygen generator has three access points in coach, one
for the passenger seat which services the driver if needed, one at
the dine net and one in the bedroom, the O2 genny is in the bedroom.
Silver Leaf Electronic Gauges, laptop with GPS. I mounted a 7¡¨ touch
panel monitor directly in front of me and mom get¡¦s the laptop. My
wife thinks it great, you can see your map and what the coach is
doing, (Your going that FAST, or Slow depending upon her mood), on
her side of the coach, well I think that¡¦s good ? ?????? Replace
oil temp & oil pressure & water temp gauges and the senders twice
it's still not working that¡¦s why I got the Silver Leaf

TRAILER PLUG? BB WHATS WRONG BOYS? WANT TO REINVENT THE
WHEEL? Golly Gomer!


How about the front end alignment. I m watching the tech lift the
front end for aligning the tie ends and I¡¦m watching the upper shock
mount opening and closing As he lifts her up, it¡¦s tearing into the
frame mount for the shock. Call the guru, yes that is a known issue,
weld her up good boy! 12 bottle wine cooler for the entertainment
bay. How about parking, air dump and leveling at the same time? It
doesn¡¦t work well on my coach. She looked funny leaning WAY OVER!!!
That was a Prevost guy who did that one in fl. my first night alone
with the coach. Sat. dish a little finicky for me but she¡¦s on all
the time weather, channel great Nav. Aid. Replacing sliding windows
and screens, Use a butter knife it works great, a little silicon spay
helps on reinstallation. Really I almost like working on her I did
16000 miles at an avg. of 45.2 MPH 353.9823 Hours Driving Bliss.

Smacked a snow marker in NW Colorado minuscule damage to mirror
finish, Yes it will get your attention.

But if fuel is your problem better buy` a bus they are a lot cheaper
to run!

Brakes I haven¡¦t had to do anything there but now that I¡¦ve
acknowledged it will soon be an issue :{ there¡¦s more but this has
rambled on further it should. Never kept records of personal wrench
time. But it¡¦s a couple of hundred hrs. Any way. I feel bad for the
guys that can¡¦t twist a wrench. First major purchase was filling up
the tool box:} Latest mod. Racor CCV 6000 Bye, Bye Oily everything!

I would drive my bus aywhere. I have isurance that pays to tow it
back from anywhere! Make sure the driver removes your axles or you'll
be sorry.

First encounter with motor home rest area campers. Near Overland KS.

Hi, Hi, Nice Motor home, Thanks, nice BUS! Thanxs, Michelins? Yea,
I'm a Michelins Heavy Tire Dealer! REALLY!
I got Michelins. I see that. Is the huge gash in my new 3000 mile old
Michelin Tire going to be a problem? MMMMM, Ugly not fatal. That's
good news. Say have you ever heard of the Silver Leaf??? I think I
can
show this guy my new toy and he said, yea I've had mine for a while.
Would you like to see it? No, I thought I'd show you mine. Two people
I know who won't drive without it!

If you drop all your air and then hit the suspension fill leaving the
tag with no pressre, will your tag stay up or scrub the ground? Mine
stays up. If not, reason would dictate brakes should be use
sparingly, unless you like flat spots. Same for tight stearing get
her moving a little if you can, then turn the wheels. Every little
bit helps

Third Encounter with Truck Fuel Island:

If there's one thing I hate more about my coach than oil all over the
back end, it's FILLER NECK SPITTING!!!!! Let the fuel fly baby!!!! I
have been told that due to size configuration position of tank makes
for a shallow neck angle, this does not let enough backpressure build
up to stop the pump. There are a few options. I got mine from the
Corvette Specialists in TX. You can find him in Parts at Vintage
Birds. They work good, but if your fueling wide open even these will
not stop the shower you are about to take. My third fill up, TAG,
YOUR HIT. You have taken your first diesel shower. And I am dripping
wet from head to toe. I take off my glasses, look around a little and
the trucker in the next lane sez. Problem? Well not really, as I open
the Water Bay and start to take my first outside water shower! He
comments now there's an great idea! Truckers would be happier if they
had more water? Two new experiences in less than a minute, I love
this bus!

I made a gauge on the silver leaf. I named it

FUN FACTOR

Set it to read percentage,

It has not yet responded accordingly, must be the sender or the
solenoid I might set it up to feed from to the music volume ƒ

remember, `` Michelin sez >75¡¨ mph. but she¡¦s faster than that.
Play with that front tire pressure it does matter. A few lbs. will
make you think you have been reborn with independent front
suspension! Check them tires, I can¡¦t pin point it but somewhere in
this stuff is a chart that explains how to weigh in wheel by wheel
when fully loaded and adjust tire pressure by weight

http://www.michelintruck.com/michelintru...reInfo.do?
tread=XZE*

http://www.michelinrvtires.com/michelinr...reference-
material.jsp


By the way the true fun factor has been off the scales, she's been in
the red from day 1, old steam gauges are pegged!!!!!!!!

WARNING WARNING WARNING

SPRING BREAK!!!!

IF YOU DO COLLEDGE KIDS GONE WILD.
DO SPRING BREAK ON ANY BODY OF WATER YOU PICK,
AND YOU WILL SEE THE FUTURE OF AMERICA!

It's dim, or dimwitted. I'm scuba diving at Fort Jefferson Nat. His.
Site, a dream of a life time, back at the campground, KOA lower keys.
My neighbor camper is asked by some 20 something if he can climb up
on my coach to pick coconuts.

She said why of course not you nimrod!

A while latter, said neighbor is sunning blissfully in the spring sun
and THUD, THUD, THUD. Coconuts are falling around her Chaises Lounge!
Now alarmed she looks up and, same, said NIMROD is on my coach and
standing OFF of the catwalk.

OOOPPPPS DIDN¡¦T SEE YA!!!

SRING BREAK WARNING #2

VOLLEY BALL ALERT LEVEL RED!

All volleyballs, just by their very nature are not bound to any set
boundaries. If you are parked on the beach in your spot, and get 17
direct hits of which 6 were hits on the side glass, you must call in
for a strike! That night a covert force of commandos from Ft. Valley
took that beach and cleared the way of all said volleyballs, 4
confirmed captured and interned in the second bay driver's side for
the duration of the occupation

The next morning and some confusion. I was approached by a young man,
Sir have you seen the volleyball this morning? Why no I have not,
Coconut Boy!

GENERAL WARNINGS

People like the bus

People will think you have money.

People are not timid about asking for some of your money.

People need gas, an alternator, my wife is wait'in fer me in my
truck she needs a new starter. Your truck or your wife? Can't fix
stupid.

Typical approach at rest area / truck stop

CAN YOU SPARE A $50? WHAT!!! I'll give them points for
being BOLD!

Revised Response approved for use 10/28/2006

HEY NEIGHBOR I NEED $901 BUCKS FOR A FILL UP!

I WAS JUST GONNA COME OVER AND ASK YOU FOR IT!

ADDENDUM TO: Revised Response, Good Samaritan Approach

HEY MAYBE I CAN HELP YOU FIX IT?

IF THEY SAY NO THANKS.

THEY PROBABALY JUST NEED A MAD DOG SPRITZER!!!

My mother's favorite saying: WHAT BUS!!! It's true as big as we are
people will still step off a curb in front of you at the mall.

MOST MEMORABLE SECTION OF ROAD.

Wyoming State Hwy. 14 going west to east 14% grade up the hill from
the mid 3000 ft to about 11000 ft. SWITCH BACKS! Moose in the road!
Deer and Antelope Played. Road only opened a few days, snow and
spring flowers. Them Birdz is TOUGH! Stopped once for the view. At
the top or close to it stopped checked oil, silver leaf reading
slightly low oil pressure, checked dip stick added 4 Quarts. Pressure
back to normal, Assent was mostly 1st. and maybe 35% 2nd gear. FUN
FACTOR GAUGE 100% Decent mostly the same. Grade was flatter but twice
the switchbacks did it at night wish I had a Dream Gadget

Try that with Wife, 2 teens, Inlaws from Holland,' no habla enlasia,
PRICELESS, now that it's in the photo album!

Dream Gadget for the Indulgence:

F.L.I.R. Forward Looking Infrared

The Raytheon Infrared Thermal Imaging 4000B

FUN FACTOR WAY OVER THE TOP!!!

You Own the Night, Buhhraa!

OOOOOHHHHHAAAA there¡¦s one no two FLIR¡¦s for sale on e-bay right
now!!!!!

Two weeks ago there was a new one in the box NightDriver same as the
Cadilac and Hummer versions for $2795.00 Complete! Their 5 Grand on
the net! The 4000B is high 6 to mid 7's, Cadilac needs a core to
exchange and hummer sell a version for their trucks so does Bendix
for road trucks. It also a Kenworth option.

Raytheon Infrared Thermal Imaging System 4000B Imager
Complete with Whelen Vehicle Over Mount, Joystick & etc Item number:
190141358701
Cadillac DTS night vision thermal imaging camera
great for hunting, will fit on hummers and trucks Item number:
120153492862

One last toy would be a Satelight Internet Dish. Self deploying of
course. That's an item that should get cheeper in the years to come.