Health and the Bluebird?

[Ryan Wright]

As others have said, most of it boils down to maintenance. All coaches
require it, but most of us are driving older coaches and the older you
get, the more maintenance there will be. That's just the nature of the
beast. If you find a well maintained coach that has been used, not
left to sit, that doesn't have a bunch of little things wrong with it,
you'll be ahead of the curve in this department.

Now, here's the thing: As with any vehicle, it's an awful lot more
affordable if you can do the maintenance yourself. Last weekend, I
discovered a part on my generator has failed. The part is $45.00.
Labor to install it looks to be $1500.00. I'm going to climb under
there and try to do it myself. So, your financial situation comes into
play here and I suspect that many people selling for health reasons
are also selling for financial reasons, as in, "I can operate the
coach, but I can't climb under it and fix it anymore and it's too
expensive to pay others to fix it."

Here's what you ask yourself: Are you able to sit, stand, and/or lay
on your back for a couple hours at a time while performing basic
mechanical work akin to working on a car, or, are you able to pay
someone else $100/hr to do this work for you? If the answer to either
of these questions is yes, then you should be just fine on the
maintenance department. The only remaining question is whether you can
drive a big heavy RV. I find my coach is a joy to drive. It actually
relaxes me. My previous RV, a '66 Dodge Travco, was very taxing to
drive and tired me out quickly. My Wanderlodge is 12 feet longer than
the Dodge and 4 times the weight and is much easier to operate.

What I'm trying to say is that these coaches really are quite easy to
drive. My suggestion would be to find one, take it for a spin, and if
you're comfortable behind the wheel, buy the sucker. Given your health
history, I'd recommend your wife be comfortable driving it, too, as
having another driver on board will avoid putting you into the
position of driving somewhere you "need" to go when, for whatever
reason, you shouldn't be driving.

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92

On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 9:00 AM, Dave wrote:
>
> My question to the group: Any idea's about the physical health
> required to own and maintain a 'bird'? Major things to avoid?
>