[Wmcmanus]

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Originally Posted by dgbiker1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif This may seem silly... but why would you use 96 octane race gas on a motorhome?

The 96 octane will be kept in a separate fuel tank that is being incorporated into the trailer's design. It's for my Ariel Atom, which I need to put more pics of at the Atom Club: Atom Club Gallery - Wayne McManus If you can shift fast enough, it will do 0-60 in 2.8 seconds. Maybe 3.5 for me because I'm a bit of a clutz with the clutch. Were it not for how much I miss my Atom, I would have never come up with the idea of getting a motorhome. So the 83' of motorhome/trailer is really an elaborate rolling garage.

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roastpuff /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wayne, if you don't mind me asking, what is your profession?

I'm semi retired now, but my background is in accounting, law, and finance. I've spent most of my career teaching at the college level, writing textbooks, and playing Santa. I've lucked out in some other ways, but all based on where my hard work and passion led me.

Quote:

Also... are you going to get this baby on a ferry/ship across to the US for a roadtrip? Take it to Canada, man. I want to see it. All the way diagonally across the continent. I can see it now: "RV, Head-fi Remake" with you as the Dad, Boomana as the mom, and assorted Young'un Head-Fiers as the kids.

I'm hoping to spend a lot of time over the next several years hanging out with Head-Fi'ers and also with other Atom owners, as well as family, friends and former students from the States. Cayman will still be my main home and the motorhome will just go into storage wherever I've roamed to last, until I can get back to the States to pick it up again. Most of my work these days is online, so while I'm roaming I'll also be running an office of sorts.

 

[PenDragon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm semi retired now, but my background is in accounting, law, and finance. I've spent most of my career teaching at the college level, writing textbooks, and playing Santa. I've lucked out in some other ways, but all based on where my hard work and passion led me. I'm hoping to spend a lot of time over the next several years hanging out with Head-Fi'ers and also with other Atom owners, as well as family, friends and former students from the States. Cayman will still be my main home and the motorhome will just go into storage wherever I've roamed to last, until I can get back to the States to pick it up again. Most of my work these days is online, so while I'm roaming I'll also be running an office of sorts.

I get the feeling you're just the kind of person that deserves all the cash you've got. I'm aiming towards where you're at I think ^^ Hard work mixed with some good luck is the way to go.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Staggering! There will be no question when you roll into town!

 

[manaox2]

haha, the face at the end of that video is priceless!

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by webbie64 /img/forum/go_quote.gif So, Wayne, I take it this is the transportable rig within which you fit the ultraportable - Ariel Atom - rig It all looks too easy - far easier than getting the perfect portable audio rig

No doubt about it! The Atom is what prompted all of this motorhome stuff! I was thinking about doing something sensible like having a second home that I could rent out to someone (a friend of some sort) who could also keep an eye on my Atom, Dodge RAM and the 20' enclosed trailer that I use to haul the Atom on longer trips. Maybe somewhere in Tampa.

But then I thought to myself: "What do I know or care about Tampa?" I mean, nothing against Tampa. It's a nice community and a heck of a lot more safe and secure than the other side of South Florida, but it's kind of flat! How many times could I take the Atom out to the hilly areas near Dade City that I've been hearing about. Not that it wouldn't be fun, mind you, but it would be so limited.

Yet, I'd be investing in an appreciating asset and would be making money every month (nice, rational, positive cash flow kind of thing that I've been trained to look for all my life). Lots of plus factors there.

Then the motorhome bug hit and the blasted internet is not your friend when you get a hair brained idea like that! About the only good thing I can think of is that by doing a ton of research on specific companies and reading like mad for several months about the RV market in general, I lucked upon the "truck conversion" segment of the market.

At that point I started looking at companies like Renegade, Showhauler, Optima, NRC, and the like, all of which do things that are quite similar in many ways to Powerhouse, but not exactly. As compared to mass produced Class A motorhomes, the products that these companies make are much more durable, more solidly built, and made to last. As a result, they don't depreciate nearly as fast!

Eventually, I found Powerhouse and knew instantly it was a match. You deal directly with the founder of the company. He's converted about 45 trucks into motorhomes during the past 10 years and does all sorts of innovative things that really sets his product apart. Plus he'e a great guy and someone you feel good about doing business with.

He's never price gouged on his way up, and as a result the cost of "new builds" done by Powerhouse keeps going up each year, meaning that the resale value of the very limited supply of used coaches that they've built will hold their value exceptionally well. In fact, one customer recently sold a 2 year old Powerhouse coach for $50k more than he paid for it because it would cost nearly $100k more to have the same coach built today.

So who knows whether that will hold true for me, but it's a much prettier picture than is being painted across the web on the horrors of trading in a typical Class A motorhome. The typical story is this: the thing is priced at $400k MSPR, but anyone who is in the market for a new motorhome will know that they all sell for 25% off of MSPR. So you buy the thing for $300k. Then 3 years later you decide to sell it, either to cash out, or to upgrade. At that point, pretty much without regard to the make and model or the options that you paid for, or how low the mileage is, it will sell for $200k, if that. That's right! You're talking at least 33% depreciation in 3 years, usually more.

I'm not saying that I'll be immune from this phenomenon, but the coach I'm getting falls into a much narrower market space and the history of this company in particular suggests that the resale value will hold much more firmly than is customary in the more mass produced RVs that are made out of plywood and fiberglass. A lot of them look awesome (inside and out, and especially inside) and some of them are reasonably well built, but with rare exception, they really don't hold their value very well.

I figure that I'll either tire of it after 3-4 years and cash out as best I can, or I'll be ready to upgrade to a 4 slide 52' Powerhouse with all of the whistles and bells and then maybe become a full timer for a while.

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by manaox2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif haha, the face at the end of that video is priceless!

That was me being silly the other day, playing around with the Photo Booth options on my Macbook Pro.

 

[PenDragon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus /img/forum/go_quote.gif That was me being silly the other day, playing around with the Photo Booth options on my Macbook Pro.

Haha, Photo Booth is awesome ^^ Totally pointless, but still so useful.

 

[smeggy]

Wayne, that is the biggest, baddest camper I've ever seen. I think you should get a Winnebago sticker for it. That'd make people look twice

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeggy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wayne, that is the biggest, baddest camper I've ever seen. I think you should get a Winnebago sticker for it. That'd make people look twice

Not so fast, man! You would be surprised at some of the things Winnebago is doing these days. I actually considered one of their models, but couldn't find the right deal on it. Here's an example:

2007*Winnebago*Vectra Handicapped w/3 Slides*listed on RVOnline.com

I've got a good friend from back home who has been confined to a wheelchair now for about 10 years after suffering from a brain aneurism which caused him to slip into a coma for several weeks. He can't do much these days physically but is still 99% of what he ever was mentally. We hang out whenever I'm home, and he's one of my most regular email pals despite the fact that he hunts down the keys one by one.

Thus, handicap accessible was a key for me. We're going to be able to work around it in my rig but it won't be easy. For short day trips, he'll be able to ride in the trailer (which has a TV and audio system, a/c and heat, a couple of windows, fold down bunks, etc). His mom or caretaker will ride along back there to keep him company. We'll be able to use public restrooms along the way. So it will kind of feel like living quarters (if you don't mind the vehicles in there) and will be easy to get in and out of.

For longer trips (a week long maybe once or twice per year), we'll be able to get him into and out of the coach, but it won't be so easy. They have a ramp that they use for such occasions, and the side entrance on my coach is hydraulically controlled (the steps fold in under the door and tuck away down by the outside storage lockers). So we can leave the steps folded in and use their ramp instead to get him up to door level and into the coach. Getting in and out of the very small bathroom area will pose its own set of problems but we'll figure that part out as we go. Once we have a routine, there will be other things to talk about. He doesn't fuss much. Truly an amazing guy. In his emails, he keeps saying, "Grand Canyon here we come!"

 

[Uncle Erik]

Nice truck! Have you fiddled with the power generation to fully support a stereo/headphone rig?

And come visit us out west. There are some nice places to park that by the beach in El Segundo.

 

[mbriant]

That's too nice, Wayne. Congrats !!!

I hope it finds it way to Ontario at some point.

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Pieman /img/forum/go_quote.gif I only have one question, what is the turning circle, 2 miles? cheers Simon

I'm not sure, but with a 43' coach and 40' trailer, there may be a couple of roads here and there that I'll have a hard time getting on. But that's the beauty of not being in a hurry. I'm going to rely a lot on the advice from online forums like RV.Net : RV.Net – The Leading RV Community, Club, RV Travel and Information Source for Recreational Vehicle Camping which is a great community of people.

The idea is to get on down the road with the big rig, but then camp for several days somewhere and get the Atom out to explore the area for fun rides. I'll also have a regular vehicle (Dodge RAM diesel pickup truck) to get around town in, like going to the grocery store, out to dinner and such.

I'm sure I'll get into jams from time to time, but hopefully I'll learn quickly in terms of what roads I can go down and what roads to stay away from.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice truck! Have you fiddled with the power generation to fully support a stereo/headphone rig?

Not yet, but I will in time! There is a stereo system of sorts in there but it looks pretty cheap, or at least the speakers do. I'll replace that with something that I have lying around here at the house, I'm sure. I've got a couple of pairs of B&W Signature 7 in-wall speakers that I've had for years now but have never installed. I've got a pair of Mission dipoles as well that would be great for gaming in the bedroom with a 32" flat screen. I'm thinking my old receiver would do well in the living room area. It's a B&K AVR 307. I could use zone B for the bedroom. Then of course a couple of decent headphone setups. Hmmm, might need a more hefty inverter, come to think about it.

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And come visit us out west. There are some nice places to park that by the beach in El Segundo.

Sounds cool. I'll probably be in your area at some point, but don't know exactly when.

I'll probably do a travel blog. I'm trying to figure out how to offer some courses at the college I teach at here in Cayman via distance learning, where I could essentially webcast each lecture from wherever I'm at, but preferably something that would be interactive. There is a lot you can do very simply with iChat and a couple of Macbooks. It would just be a matter of having a classroom set up with a decent sized monitor, and of course I'd need an external video feed which I should be able to do with a camcorder. All it takes these days is a little initiative.

 

[PenDragon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm not sure, but with a 43' coach and 40' trailer, there may be a couple of roads here and there that I'll have a hard time getting on. But that's the beauty of not being in a hurry. I'm going to rely a lot on the advice from online forums like RV.Net : RV.Net – The Leading RV Community, Club, RV Travel and Information Source for Recreational Vehicle Camping which is a great community of people. The idea is to get on down the road with the big rig, but then camp for several days somewhere and get the Atom out to explore the area for fun rides. I'll also have a regular vehicle (Dodge RAM diesel pickup truck) to get around town in, like going to the grocery store, out to dinner and such. I'm sure I'll get into jams from time to time, but hopefully I'll learn quickly in terms of what roads I can go down and what roads to stay away from.

Haha, it all sounds so bloody exciting ^^ Makes me wanna get on the road as well.

 

[SuperNothing]

First rolling head-fi meet here we come. Don't even have to stop. You can just keep on trucking down the road and we can hop from our car into the door or your RV. It will be fun!