Hello All,

Well, this thread sure got a fire lit under it after my post this morning. A couple of comments:

1. Jon, Yes a coach is complex, but in terms of getting things worked on, my house is not in the same league. Things cost less to get done, there are people all over that can do it, and rarely is much needed. OK, so every so often you decide to replace the carpet and it costs more than a coach, but geez, we are talking 3000 feet of carpet for my house and only 300 for the coach.

As for working on my plane, well I do it all myself because it is such a pain to take it anywhere and have it done right. But that is just me and I live on the airport so it is pretty easy for me. Plus, installing a new 300 hp engine at 300 pounds is simple compared to installing a 3500 pound Series 60 in a bus. And avgas smells so much better than diesel on your hands.

2. Jon, as for the proprietary information, I have had some questions of Marathon that were wiring related, and they were immediately answered by them giving me a photocopy of the diagram for the item in question from the build book of MY coach. They do not hand out the whole book, but they are perfectly willing to give me the portion that will solve my problem. Liberty does not do that, according to my friend Brian.

3. Sure, each converter copies the good ideas of the others. If the ideas are really special they can patent them. Some systems are complicated enough that you can only justify the engineering if you can amortize it over a larger number of coaches which would limit those things to the bigger converters. Marathon's Tech Link is an example of that.

4. I have not changed any air bags yet, but I have changed a windshield, door seal, some electronics, house batteries and a host of smaller repairs. After 5 years my Marathon has not needed much else. Yes I could hire it done. Yes I have fun doing it myself. Yes, the POG group helps guide the process so you can decide if you want to tackle it yourself or get professional help.

5. Mango Mike, please do not start suggesting that Poggers ask the wives about their husbands. We do not want this site to devolve into some kind of cross between Oprah and Jerry Springer!

6. Friendship among the group is important. If someone feels alienated they will simply stop contributing and that helps no one. Besides, the fun of the get togethers ( Santa Fe, Kerrville) would be nowhere without the friendships. Now, that does not mean we should not rib each other as much as possible!

7. RFOSTER, you mentioned I should get my acquaintance into POG. Actually, he is a member and he got me into it. He has been working on his Liberty so hard for the past 8 weeks trying to get it ready for a long trip that he has apparently not had time to post lately. Now, my Marathon sits in the garage and all we do is add food and off we go. With Liberty coaches it seems to require more polishing, dirt removal from the wheel wells, and general bling elbow grease.

8. Which brings me to my last question for this post. What is the story on the POG membership. Most names are listed as "Senior Member", and some are listed as just " Member" or "Junior Member". When I joined, without having to show my AARP card (Which I do not have!) or anything else, I was instantly a Senior Member. What's up with that?

If we are to have more than one 'rank', maybe we should get some better choices like GeneralAdmiralissimo, WagonMaster, SuperMechanic, MultiBusOwner or some such.

Peter VS
94 Marathon XLV