newbie buying transit to transport motorcycles to races

[stuballs]

Hi

Obviously I'm new here. Looks like a great site and was hoping for some advice...

I'm looking to buy a second hand van to transport motorcycles and want to spend between £500 and £1000. I'm not bothered about looks so a few dents or a bit of rust is not a worry. Eventually I will use the van to take me and the bike to race weekends. I will therefore also be sleeping in the van for 2-3 nights at a time! So I was thinking about a mk4 or 5? An ex-BT van or something like that?

The problem is that I only passed my car test a few years ago so I'm limited to category B which restricts me to 3.5 tonnes. I believe this means I can only drive a SWB without doing another test. Am I correct? Is there any restriction on height? I'll need as much room as possible for spares, camp bed, etc.

Also, what are transits like as towing vehicles? I see many fitted with tow bars. Could one tow a horse box with half a tonne of horse in it?

Many thanks in advance.

[BigNeil]

Hello

most vans are under 3.5 tonnes so no real problems there
there are a few 4.6 tonners but these are really rare.
so LWB is not out of the question.

towing hmm have you passed a test for this though ?
yes they will tow a box with a horse as long as the train allows this and you have the right axle as there are 3 different ones all fit for different purposes.

other will add their bitty or do a few searches

[stuballs]

Thanks Big Neil. That's great news about the weight and wheelbase. I was actually just going on what a hire place told me when I hired a van to move house. They gave me a tiny VW transporter (which presented something of a challenge) and told me that I could only drive SWB vans on my licence.

Towing: No I havn't passed the test although I know I need to do it. Having a bit of trouble finding a school in Kent that does the training! That's way off though. For now I just want to get a van that I know will be able to tow when the time comes. I'm not sure I understand what you mean about 3 different types of axle for different purposes. How would you know what axle a van has?

Thanks again

[Luke]

and told me that I could only drive SWB vans on my licence.

they are wrong like neil says you can drive pritty much any transit inc. lwb's & jumbos - theres not many that are rated above 3500kg

[BigNeil]

stuballs there are to my knowledge 2 types of ratio on the rear axle.

So depending if you want to go fast or steady relates to what axle it is.

To be frankly honest get a van that suits your needs whether SWB, MWB, LWB or Jumbo and the roof height you want, then worry about the axle and towing later. this all depends on how much you want to spend and it you want a very robust Di or a turbo diesel or in fact a petrol one.

i think your insurance quotes might be the deciding factor on a lot of this

and remember we are here so with the forum there is loads of info on most subjects and generally repeated over and over !!

[stuballs]

Thanks for the help guys.

Is there much difference in insurance between SWB and LWB? Tried some searching and looks like internally the LWB is 2 feet longer and if I go for a high roof it'll be 2 foot taller too! Just wondering if the extra space would be worth the extra insurance permium. Just got some quotes and LWB is a bit more than my car to insure (Van's replacing my car)

Cheers

Stu

[onboardvideo]

Car licences obtained on or after 1 January 1997
If you passed a car test on or after 1 January 1997 you're limited to vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes maximum authorised mass towing a trailer up to 750kgs, or a vehicle and trailer combination up to 3.5 tonnes MAM providing the MAM of the trailer doesn't exceed the unladen mass of the towing vehicle. You will need to pass an additional driving test in B+E if you wish to tow a caravan or trailer combination which exceeds these weight limits.

see www.direct.gov.uk for driving details and resrtictions.