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Post by galwhv69 on Aug 27, 2022 12:00:54 GMT
Abellio offer parking at Battersea which is £35 per day IIRC which works out over 5x more expensive than BBPG But can the bus be kept there overnight when most of the reds are in? Their website does state they can do permanent spaces so I assume that involves nights as well?
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Post by M1104 on Aug 27, 2022 12:05:20 GMT
But can the bus be kept there overnight when most of the reds are in? Their website does state they can do permanent spaces so I assume that involves nights as well? Fair enough.
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Post by Transportman91 on Feb 1, 2023 13:57:37 GMT
Hello. I don't know if this question has already been answered. Let's say you are busy at your full-time job and you have a preserved bus. On average how many times you have too maintain your bus and drive it as well ?
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Post by allentc on Feb 1, 2023 14:50:19 GMT
Let's say you are busy at your full-time job and you have a preserved bus. On average how many times you have too maintain your bus and drive it as well ? If you buy a good bus and are lucky you could get away with minimal servicing perhaps as little as once a year especially pre-MOT. If a bad one you could be working on the bus every weekend doing things to it! The answer lies somewhere in between. Buses, especially modern ones with lots of electronics, are complicated things and can suffer from unexpected gremlins which may require a mobile mechanic to come out who has the necessary diagnostic kit to plug in.
As to how often to drive it I would say at least once a month to keep seals from perishing and generally to keep the components exercised. Like any vehicle they will go bad if left to sit for prolonged periods so ideally you'd give it a run as often as you can time and money (for diesel!) permitting. A jump pack will be necessary accessory because even with a monthly run it won't be enough to keep the batteries topped up. If driven more frequently you could probably get away without needing a jump pack assuming it was a decent run each time and that the batteries are fairly new - firing it up and leaving it to idle for a few minutes at a time does not count as a decent run(!)
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Post by Transportman91 on Feb 1, 2023 21:57:39 GMT
Let's say you are busy at your full-time job and you have a preserved bus. On average how many times you have too maintain your bus and drive it as well ? If you buy a good bus and are lucky you could get away with minimal servicing perhaps as little as once a year especially pre-MOT. If a bad one you could be working on the bus every weekend doing things to it! The answer lies somewhere in between. Buses, especially modern ones with lots of electronics, are complicated things and can suffer from unexpected gremlins which may require a mobile mechanic to come out who has the necessary diagnostic kit to plug in.
As to how often to drive it I would say at least once a month to keep seals from perishing and generally to keep the components exercised. Like any vehicle they will go bad if left to sit for prolonged periods so ideally you'd give it a run as often as you can time and money (for diesel!) permitting. A jump pack will be necessary accessory because even with a monthly run it won't be enough to keep the batteries topped up. If driven more frequently you could probably get away without needing a jump pack assuming it was a decent run each time and that the batteries are fairly new - firing it up and leaving it to idle for a few minutes at a time does not count as a decent run(!)
appreciated it thank you. I always thought you have to maintain your bus like every weekend and stuff. I never knew that if I had a good bus and it's pre MOT that's good that maintenance can be done once a year.
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Post by VPL630 on Feb 12, 2023 14:33:38 GMT
Hello. I don't know if this question has already been answered. Let's say you are busy at your full-time job and you have a preserved bus. On average how many times you have too maintain your bus and drive it as well ? I have a full-time job and a preserved bus, as of this post there is nothing that needs attending to on the bus and I have no plans of driving it anytime soon, so it's currently sitting in a yard costing me money This bus does very few miles a year and there is no legal requirement for it to be inspected other than its annual MOT of which it has passed each year. The bus however does move every few months/weeks to either enable other vehicles to leave the yard and/or just to give it a run every now and then, parking buses up for long periods of time isn't the best thing for them. The bus does undergo inspections to make sure it is in complete working order and safe mainly before it's going to go out for a running day etc It has had various jobs done to it to keep it in good condition, but they are things that get done when there is money available/time and reason to get it done, for example, it could do with having new advert framework fitted, but at the moment I don't have the money, effort or time, so it'll make do, however, it's still had all the Oil and Filters changed. It could also do with a full repaint but I don't have a spare £3-4K sitting around. If I wanted to go take it out for a spin, I could jump in it now, tax it and we'd be good to go. There isn't a set list of tasks you need to do. Whatever you do it's going to cost you more money than it is probably worth, I've come out of a job to take on a new role and a result of that is that currently, I've taken a pay cut of around £15K for my first year, this obviously allows me less money to get the bus out, as it's also about a good £3/400 to fill it up with diesel.
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Post by Transportman91 on Feb 12, 2023 17:31:05 GMT
If its okay for me to ask how much a month do you pay for storage?
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Post by LondonExplorer316 on Feb 12, 2023 18:17:34 GMT
If its okay for me to ask how much a month do you pay for storage? I think different places offer different prices, but as said NatEx are offering permanent spaces for £35 a month or something like that
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Post by galwhv69 on Feb 12, 2023 18:30:38 GMT
If its okay for me to ask how much a month do you pay for storage? Average is £50-£175 per month depending on location, obviously for the lower price it is likely to be a grass field with no shelter, security and facilities
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Post by Transportman91 on Feb 12, 2023 19:15:55 GMT
Hello. I don't know if this question has already been answered. Let's say you are busy at your full-time job and you have a preserved bus. On average how many times you have too maintain your bus and drive it as well ? I have a full-time job and a preserved bus, as of this post there is nothing that needs attending to on the bus and I have no plans of driving it anytime soon, so it's currently sitting in a yard costing me money This bus does very few miles a year and there is no legal requirement for it to be inspected other than its annual MOT of which it has passed each year. The bus however does move every few months/weeks to either enable other vehicles to leave the yard and/or just to give it a run every now and then, parking buses up for long periods of time isn't the best thing for them. The bus does undergo inspections to make sure it is in complete working order and safe mainly before it's going to go out for a running day etc It has had various jobs done to it to keep it in good condition, but they are things that get done when there is money available/time and reason to get it done, for example, it could do with having new advert framework fitted, but at the moment I don't have the money, effort or time, so it'll make do, however, it's still had all the Oil and Filters changed. It could also do with a full repaint but I don't have a spare £3-4K sitting around. If I wanted to go take it out for a spin, I could jump in it now, tax it and we'd be good to go. There isn't a set list of tasks you need to do. Whatever you do it's going to cost you more money than it is probably worth, I've come out of a job to take on a new role and a result of that is that currently, I've taken a pay cut of around £15K for my first year, this obviously allows me less money to get the bus out, as it's also about a good £3/400 to fill it up with diesel. yeah I understand. Buying the bus is the easy part. Maintending the bus is expensive dang. Thank you as this will help have a better understanding on how bus preservation business works. When I'm older I want to be a train driver and work full-time also make videos on YouTube whiles getting money. I know that I need like 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours in order for me to get Money. With this living crisis it's going hard but it won't stop from buying my own preserved bus one day. Since London is a expensive place to live in. Does that mean storage space outside London will be cheaper.
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Post by Transportman91 on Feb 25, 2023 1:26:09 GMT
Some few questions to ask. 1. With your own preserved bus are you allowed to make your own iBus Annuocment and programme it from scratch?
2. When having a preserved bus can you upgrade your bus to go at 65mph or more?
3. When I own a E400 Dennis Trident, is it possible to call Alexander Dennis and get them to refurbish all the seats as,I want all the seats to have a really comfortable seats like the ones on the GAL W15 newer batch ones. I know it could cost a over 45K not sure.
4.Last question,when for example you have the free time and you want to take your bus for a spin are you allowed to pick up family and friends as a private ride. And what's the maximum number of people are you allowed to carry on your bus when you are with family and friends?
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Post by 6HP502C on Feb 25, 2023 8:19:16 GMT
Some few questions to ask. 1. With your own preserved bus are you allowed to make your own iBus Annuocment and programme it from scratch? 2. When having a preserved bus can you upgrade your bus to go at 65mph or more? 3. When I own a E400 Dennis Trident, is it possible to call Alexander Dennis and get them to refurbish all the seats as,I want all the seats to have a really comfortable seats like the ones on the GAL W15 newer batch ones. I know it could cost a over 45K not sure. 4.Last question,when for example you have the free time and you want to take your bus for a spin are you allowed to pick up family and friends as a private ride. And what's the maximum number of people are you allowed to carry on your bus when you are with family and friends? 1. Buses can have information systems fitted and you can programme it however you wish. 2. Legally speed limiters for buses shouldn’t be set higher than 62mph. 3. There are a few businesses out there who refurbish buses. ADL do have a bodyshop in Harlow that can carry out that work. 4. You can carry whatever the legal capacity allows, then whatever your insurance policy allows. A tachograph is required for this type of trip so you’ll need to make sure whoever is driving has the right bits to work one.
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Post by allentc on Feb 28, 2023 17:49:27 GMT
Some few questions to ask. 1. With your own preserved bus are you allowed to make your own iBus Annuocment and programme it from scratch? 2. When having a preserved bus can you upgrade your bus to go at 65mph or more? 3. When I own a E400 Dennis Trident, is it possible to call Alexander Dennis and get them to refurbish all the seats as,I want all the seats to have a really comfortable seats like the ones on the GAL W15 newer batch ones. I know it could cost a over 45K not sure. 4.Last question,when for example you have the free time and you want to take your bus for a spin are you allowed to pick up family and friends as a private ride. And what's the maximum number of people are you allowed to carry on your bus when you are with family and friends? 1. I have been thinking whether something cheap and basic like a Raspberry PI could be programmed to mimic iBus announcements based on GPS coordinates to trigger the playback of stored sound files. If you could program in each route and "way points" along the route you could trigger the appropriate sound file to be played within a certain proximity to each way point. You'd need to figure a way of outputting the sound to the bus sound system and have some kind of basic user interface in the cab to be able select the route and/or play ad-hoc announcements. Theoretically it should all be possible. Of course it would be pointless if you didn't take the bus into London being a GPS based solution.
2. As per Urbanite's reponse
3. If you are going to be hardly using the bus (once a month or so) it would be a monumental waste of money getting it re-trimmed by a trim/refurb outfit - little benefit for a lot of money. That money would be best kept in the bank for storage, servicing costs or even a respray. Besides, all buses leak when standing outdoors for prolonged periods. New moquette will be spoiled in no time by mold and mildew and if parked in a sunny spot by sun bleaching. If you really want a retrim the most cost effective way would be to buy a used heavy duty sewing machine, the pre-moulded foam, a roll of moquette and learn to do it yourself using the old ones as a fabric pattern.
4. Depends on the insurance policy. For example, some preserved bus policies allow you to carry passengers as part of a running day as long as you are not charging them
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Post by Catford94 on Mar 1, 2023 20:44:22 GMT
Some few questions to ask. 1. With your own preserved bus are you allowed to make your own iBus Annuocment and programme it from scratch? 2. When having a preserved bus can you upgrade your bus to go at 65mph or more? 3. When I own a E400 Dennis Trident, is it possible to call Alexander Dennis and get them to refurbish all the seats as,I want all the seats to have a really comfortable seats like the ones on the GAL W15 newer batch ones. I know it could cost a over 45K not sure. 4.Last question,when for example you have the free time and you want to take your bus for a spin are you allowed to pick up family and friends as a private ride. And what's the maximum number of people are you allowed to carry on your bus when you are with family and friends?
I would agree with others about (1) - if you own the bus, then you can do what you like with the audio / video kit on the bus. You would need some kit to tell it what to say / display, though - with TFL buses, there's (to be very non technical) a box of tricks on the bus that belongs to TFL that talks to the central control and triggers announcements at (usually) the right place. You would need to record the announcements yourself. While a fair amount of bus schedule and location data is now open data if you know where to look, I don't think you'd be able to get access to TFL's recorded announcements. But that sort of tech is a bit modern for the preservation things I've been involved in.
2 and 3 I'm not going to touch.
4 - it depends firstly what licence you (or the driver) has. As previous, there are some circumstances where you can drive a 'historic' bus on a car licence, but you're then limited to 8 passengers. Rather than me quote the detail of what I think the law is, search for DVLA leaflet INF52 (it's online as a PDF)
then, as others have said, depends what insurance you have - some preserved bus insurance will limit you to X number of passengers (this would not over-ride the 8 passenger limit where that applies), some will allow X number of days a year where you carry full loads and you usually have to let them know in advance.
as for tachographs, there seems to be a historic vehicle exemption for tachographs as well - when vehicle is 25 years old and being used non commercially. more here. although my understanding is that drivers hours' rules may apply - so you would need to be careful with weekly limits and rest periods if you drive professionally as well. Most running day organisers take the line that running days count as 'domestic hours' rules and will issue a duty sheet accordingly.
'non commercial' is a bit fuzzy round the edges - many running day organisers will not allow donation boxes / buckets on buses at their events, some either do or don't take any notice. (I'm not sure there has been a test case in court over this, from my own perspective I don't want to be it.) Likewise, DVSA inspectors are known to do spot checks at school 'prom' events and the like, and if the same bus / person is seen too often 'doing this for a family member and not charging them' then questions are likely to be asked and they can impound buses being used illegally for hire and reward.
A question you've not asked that might be worth being aware of, when it comes to bus lanes and 'no something except buses' road signs etc, there are some bus lanes (etc) that are 'local buses only' or 'TFL buses only' - and if enforcement is by camera, the system may have know registration numbers of buses / engineering vehicles owned by the local operators, so don't assume that just because it looks like a bus, you'll be ok. (there is misleading advice out there to people who have bought 'retired' london taxis and some owners have got a shock when they have got a ticket because it's no longer a licensed taxi.)
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Post by Transportman91 on Mar 1, 2023 21:50:50 GMT
Thank everyone for answering my questions. And I never knew I could get a ticket for using my preserved bus on a bus lane. In terms of family and friends like you said I have to let someone know in advance I'll be using my preserved bus With a single decker bus I can carry a full bus with family and friends as long I've got permission from my insurance. Now let's say Because I'm a Christian, my church wants to go to a church event in Wembley for example and in my insurance its it allowed as its helping out?
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