Aloha! Leaving Hi and hitting the road with 7 kids

[9pauls]

Hey guys! My wife and I just purchased our first bus. A 1998 Prevost XL with 9 bunks and a custom shower room. We have 4 boys/3 girls aged 3-12. We lived in AK for 10 years before moving to the beautiful island of Kauai. We feel like we have had our fun, and after lots of research into different coaches, decided to purchase a used XL. We pick it up in Nashville on march 14th. Having the rear lounge converted to a stateroom as well as other odds and ends that the wife wanted. We work with an awesome company called Plexus Worldwide, helping people get healthy and lose weight, so we are going to vinyl wrap the bus down to the stainless and promote Plexus on the road. So stoked! Next step is insuring the bus. Any suggestions?

-Erik, Amy and fam
# alohaplexus

13894

[dale farley]

Erik, Welcome to the POG and congratulations on your new bus. Many of us share your enthusiasm for the XL model. There are several good insurance companies for your bus, but a significant number of us have our insurance with Explorer. If you decide to go with them, you may also want to get their Emergency Road Service that they offer with Coach Net.

Explorer Insurance
888-774-6778 (tel:888-774-6778)

[9pauls]

Thanks for the info. How does their Roadside assistance compare with Good Sam club?

[dale farley]

I've had several roadside programs, including Good Sam. There is no comparison. I just used Coach Net about a month ago, and they did things right. If you add it on to your Explorer insurance, you get a much better deal than if you purchase it straight from Coach Net. You will also find that Explorer has one of the most competitive prices when it comes to Prevost insurance.

[Gil_J]

Nice bus, I looked the listing.

A word of caution of your plan to wrap the bus. A commercial advertising wrap MAY have some law enforcement agencies looking at your bus as being commercial. The definition of what makes a bus commercial is pretty broad. Basically, if you make money from it, it's commercial. I would be particularly concerned crossing into Canada. Concerned only because I have no idea what their commercial vehicle laws.

If you do go the commercial route and I doubt you want to, you are subject to all DoT commercial requirements like logs, driving hours, weigh station stops. Your vehicle would also fall under commercial requirements. The good news, if there can be any, is your coach was an entertainer, so it should have the required roof escape that isn't required or found on motorhomes.

Just something to be aware of.

[Joe Camper]

Welcome to pog.

So I'm guessing u pulled a stack of bunks and enlarged a bathroom with a shower it didn't originally have? Most entertainer 12 bunkers dont have one. That would have left 3 stacks of bunks and 9 spots to sleep?

What about the kitchen, did it have a cook top?

Did the conversion come with very small water tanks and water heater that had to be changed too? 1 inverter 2 or 3 house batteries?

Who converted it originally? Don't mean to drill u I'm just trying to point out some of the differences in the entertainer chassis and conversions for everyone.

I see it's got otr a/c that's good cause on entertainer conversions without otr a/c it would have 2 generators.

[dale farley]

Erik,

Another tip that may be helpful now or in the future. Most Prevost owners change tires between 5 and 7 years old based on the date on the sidewall. Don't wait until you wear out the tread! If you are a member of FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association), you can use their program to purchase Michelin tires at a significant discount from numerous participating dealers. The discount is usually several hundred dollars cheaper than the normal price.

[Denny]

Nice bus, I looked the listing.

A word of caution of your plan to wrap the bus. A commercial advertising wrap MAY have some law enforcement agencies looking at your bus as being commercial. The definition of what makes a bus commercial is pretty broad. Basically, if you make money from it, it's commercial. I would be particularly concerned crossing into Canada. Concerned only because I have no idea what their commercial vehicle laws.

If you do go the commercial route and I doubt you want to, you are subject to all DoT commercial requirements like logs, driving hours, weigh station stops. Your vehicle would also fall under commercial requirements. The good news, if there can be any, is your coach was an entertainer, so it should have the required roof escape that isn't required or found on motorhomes.

Just something to be aware of.


If you go commercial you will also need a CDL, (Commercial Drivers License)

[9pauls]

Thanks for the info, Gil. It does have have a roof Escape hatch. Hopefully it won't need to go commercial even though we will have a logo on it. It has has a new 20kw Kohler Gen with bus air. Some place called Klein conversions did the initial conversion, and previous owner had a set of bunks yanked and as nice shower and changing room put in. He also added an additional 155 gal fresh water tank and 155 gal gray water tank with new 15gal water heater. Has a 2500w inverter and 4 new AGM house batteries. Tires were replaced last year and have about 20k on them, coach mileage is around 325k.. New Jake brakes, radiator, led lighting inside and new led rear-end lights. Also has new carpet and leather upholstery. I'm having the guys at busforsale.com shop make the rear lounge into into a stateroom, add a cooktop, put in a bigger undermount sink and add a second toilet back in the shower room. Looking into dezee awnings and a couple slide out trays for the storage bays. Should be fun!

[9pauls]

Here are some pics. Also...wife really wants an oven. What are the thoughts on that?

[Gil_J]

Very few buses have stand alone ovens. Instead, most have microwave/convection combo units. Keep in mind of your electrical load when looking at an oven. If I was installing an oven it would be propane. Yea I know adding propane isn't for everyone.

[Joe Camper]

I'm with u Gill not afraid of it at all. The 99 Vision on prevost-stuff for sale had a 2 burner propain cook top right next to a 2 burner gaginau electric range never saw that before.

[Seabyrd]

Best cooktop to go with is induction... draws a few amps less and stays cool.. is fast like propane and much safer... personally I would not have propane onboard my coach. Once you learn to use convection oven it works very well. An electric skillet and slow cooker would be very useful too. We also have 2 separate induction burners and a grill for outdoor cooking when possible too.

Goodluck with your travel plans... sounds like lots of fun and a once in a lifetime experience for you all !!

Cheers, Diane

[9pauls]

Thanks so much for the tips, guys! Going to have a larger micro/conv oven installed and an induction cooktop installed in the galley counter. Wife loves to cook and we have 7 kids to keep fed, so need to have that stuff in place. Hopefully we'll get to meet some of you guys on the road this summer.

Erik

[Joe Camper]

That choice would also be the best when it comes to resale time.

[9pauls]

Hey Guys! It's been a while. Got on the road March 18th and it's been great. Going through the learning curve and really enjoying life on the road. Hope to meet some of ya'll along the way.

Erik13919

[Gil_J]

I'm glad you're enjoying the journey. BTW, nice looking at wrap.