Madmax1993
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I've been wanting a van for hauling bikes for a while now, and in January, I found one in my budget, that needed the right sort of work doing: it has an MOT until August meaning I can use it and get work done each month ready for the next MOT.
The Fiat Ducato has a nice square payload area, and is surprisingly wide compared to Vitos and T4s I was looking at. This one came as a bundle with a Kawasaki KLF220 quad bike in need of some TLC, and the quad fitted in the side door, across the width of the van.
I sold the quad quick, as I didn't need another project and I wanted to free up space in the van and regain some capital for accessories and repairs on the van.
Then I got some mechanical work done, including a tyre, wheel hub and bearing, drop links, ball joint and CV boot on the front axle, the most pressing issues.
I bought three pairs of roof at footpacks on eBay, and used some square section steel to make some roof bars, with the intention of attaching a lightbar/spotlights and possibly a solar panel on the roof. I ran out of steel after two bars, so the third will have to wait.
Next I procured a decent sized tool box for inside the van, to work towards a mobile bike workshop for biking trips with friends.
The drawers are two and a bit times bigger than my old four drawer box, so lots of room for all my tools going forward. The top section, under the lid, is going to be a charging station for anything and everything including nightriding lights, Garmins, GoPros, phones and even power tools. This will require a split charger and a leisure battery to be fitted in the van, as well as an inverter for the power tool battery charger. More on that when I get round to it.
The Fiat Ducato has a nice square payload area, and is surprisingly wide compared to Vitos and T4s I was looking at. This one came as a bundle with a Kawasaki KLF220 quad bike in need of some TLC, and the quad fitted in the side door, across the width of the van.
I sold the quad quick, as I didn't need another project and I wanted to free up space in the van and regain some capital for accessories and repairs on the van.
Then I got some mechanical work done, including a tyre, wheel hub and bearing, drop links, ball joint and CV boot on the front axle, the most pressing issues.
I bought three pairs of roof at footpacks on eBay, and used some square section steel to make some roof bars, with the intention of attaching a lightbar/spotlights and possibly a solar panel on the roof. I ran out of steel after two bars, so the third will have to wait.
Next I procured a decent sized tool box for inside the van, to work towards a mobile bike workshop for biking trips with friends.
The drawers are two and a bit times bigger than my old four drawer box, so lots of room for all my tools going forward. The top section, under the lid, is going to be a charging station for anything and everything including nightriding lights, Garmins, GoPros, phones and even power tools. This will require a split charger and a leisure battery to be fitted in the van, as well as an inverter for the power tool battery charger. More on that when I get round to it.
