What van do you use for taking the bike racing?

Considering getting a van to move the bike to and from track days and hopefully eventually take me racing. I suppose the bigger the better but I'm limited to 3.5 tonnes. I was thinking a LWB transit from the late 90's.

What do you use?

Stu

Mercedes Sprinter Racehome --sleeps 4 Fridge,telly heating cooker water shower and toilet.Carrying 2 bikes in rear If you are looking you can pick-up a tidy Transit/Iveco or such all fitted out for £10,000,expensive but worth it in my opinion

The only way to go---------------

Sounds great but that's my budget for my first year racing!

Renault Espace serves me well, have to take the fairing off though.

I started off with a 1996 SWB Ford Transit which I bought for £300. However... buy cheap, buy twice!!! It lasted just shy of 6 months and cost me nearly £500 extra to keep going until a lot went wrong in one go!!!

So I bit the bullet and bough a 2002 plate MWB Extra HiRoof Transit for just shy of £5k.

It has been faultless and is the perfect vehicle.

I would just advise to buy the best you can afford but if there is a cheap van, there is usually a reason for it! Also try and get a turbo'd van as with the extra weight and the caravan it makes getting to meets a dammed sight easier.

I'd personally stay away from anthing French or Italian and stick to Ford, Mercedes or Vauxhall.

What sort of budget do you have and what is your insurance like, if you dont mind me asking?

I was looking to spend between £500 and £1000 for my first van. Insurance is going to cost around £400 for a LWB transit. More if I go Turbo.

I will take on board what you said about buying cheap. There are loads of beaten up vans with good engines around but many of them are caned from day 1 and made mostly from rust. I'm in no rush so I'll jsut see what's about and if I need to up my budget I'll just start selling non-essential body parts.

Thanks for the advice.

[flymo]

Originally Posted by Sideshow#36

I started off with a 1996 SWB Ford Transit which I bought for £300. However... buy cheap, buy twice!!! It lasted just shy of 6 months and cost me nearly £500 extra to keep going until a lot went wrong in one go!!!

So I bit the bullet and bough a 2002 plate MWB Extra HiRoof Transit for just shy of £5k.

It has been faultless and is the perfect vehicle.

I would just advise to buy the best you can afford but if there is a cheap van, there is usually a reason for it! Also try and get a turbo'd van as with the extra weight and the caravan it makes getting to meets a dammed sight easier.

I'd personally stay away from anthing French or Italian and stick to Ford, Mercedes or Vauxhall.

What sort of budget do you have and what is your insurance like, if you dont mind me asking?

+1 I've had cheap Transits that cost me a fortune to run, and currently a 2001 Transit thats perfect for the job.

If you plan on using a caravan then aim for a van that has a tow bar.

[Dave20046]

morris minor pickup

Tow-a-van. Assuming you already have a car that is.

For the past year and a half we've been using a 2000 model LDV Convoy we got cheap on ebay - 900 quid. It has silly low mileage and is in excellent condition. It has Transit 2.5 non-turbo running gear so reliability is good. It takes two bikes plus spares and tools in the back and with just one bike in there's plenty of room to sleep. It's hard to fault it at that price cos it drives like new