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Before creating the Vanabode travel style I ran a motorcoach website. This page is one of many bus articles I wrote for coach buyers before closing that website.

Double Decker Bus

Double decker buses present special opportunities and unique obstacles for use as conversion buses, site-seeing tour buses, advertising venues, stand alone tourist shops or restaurants. Because they are so tall, so heavy, and typically so slow, they must be carefully considered before purchasing to ensure a good fit for ones needs. Scroll down if you want to explore the advantages and disadvantages of these buses for each of these purposes. Usually when US importers bring them in the Double Decker's are hand picked then renovated to meet all Federal Regulations set forth by the United States Department of Transportation.

double decker bus  double decker conversion bus

Still many of them aren't designed to travel over 40 miles per hour, this of course limits the use of double decker's to very specialized situations and locations. Usually tour operators operating in remote areas find them especially valuable due to their increased seating capacity.

Double Decker Bus as
a Stationary Tourist Attraction or Shop

Double Decker ADVANTAGES include: Many people find them intriguing, and they tend to solicit a lot of goodwill, interest, and arouse the curiosity. This of course lends itself to a great retail environment, restaurant or coffee shop arrangement, or for anything where a nostalgic or unique feeling will increase traffic.

Double Decker DISADVANTAGES include: The interior size can present special considerations for layout of space. In some states they may actually be illegal for use as a building due to lack of handicapped access.

Adding handicapped access would be nearly impossible or at the very least quite expensive. They are not particularly well insulated so heating and cooling costs should be investigated.

Many of the bodies on double deckers are traditional steel so rust should not be ignored.

Double Decker Bus as a Tour Bus Candidate

Double Decker ADVANTAGES include: these buses typically have many more seats than traditional tour buses, thus increasing profits per run. Many people find them intriguing, and they tend to solicit a lot of goodwill, interest, and arouse the curiosity. This causes people to respond positively to pictures of these buses in advertisements for tours, especially the open top variety.

Double Decker DISADVANTAGES include: Many are right hand drive meaning the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the bus that most drivers in the United states are used to. Height, weight, and maximum speeds of about 40 miles per hour limit their use to certain areas and on certain roads. Investigate insurance issues before purchasing a double decker bus.

Double Decker Bus as a Recreational Vehicle

Double Decker ADVANTAGES include: They have more room than typical RV's. Many have converted them for use as "party buses", or special venues like wedding parties, bachelor parties, etc.

Double Decker DISADVANTAGES include: Double Decker buses do not make good conversions candidates. Height, weight, and maximum speeds of about 40 miles per hour limit their use to certain areas and on certain roads. Many of the bodies on double deckers are traditional steel so rust should not be ignored. Many are right hand drive meaning the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the bus that most drivers in the United states are used to.

Double Decker Bus as an Advertising Venue

Double Decker ADVANTAGES include: the bus can be moved to the most attractive area, driven around, and left in locations where local ordinances may restrict typical billboard advertisements. They are relatively cheap per available square foot of signage area.

Double Decker DISADVANTAGES include: Because the double deckers are vehicles, insurance, permits, license plates, registration, do run up the costs of running ownership. Many are right hand drive meaning the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the bus that most drivers in the United states are used to.

Many double deckers arrive directly from service in the United Kingdom or other parts of Europe and undergo extensive renovations prior to sales in the U.S. The restoration process includes a complete mechanical inspection and repair. Parts can be more difficult to locate than other bus makes. When buying a double decker ask for spare parts, catalogs, parts manufacturer lists and suppliers.

Leyland double decker buses were manufactured for over 90 years, up till 1991. Leyland products included models such as Lion, Titan, Tiger, Leopard, Atlantean and Olympian. They were considered of high quality and tended to exhibit good reliability.

The Bristol 'K' was built from 1937 until 1940. Most were equipped with five cylinder Gardner oil engines, but some of the earlier ones had gasoline engines. Many were 'OMNIBUSES' - meaning "something for everyone". In the early days you could ride in the open upper area up top for one fifth the price of an interior seat.

The Bristol was built in Bristol England, mostly for service within the city, though some were shipped elsewhere in Europe. The last Bristol 'K' series ended active service by 1970. The ones on the Isle of White were sold to the sunshine tour Co. of London. Between 1972 through 1975 they were sold and shipped to the United States.

In 1952 many open and closed top Bristol 'K' buses were rebuilt and all made open-topped buses for limited tour duty. Some were refitted with Bristol-Gardner six cylinder oil engines and new partial resided bodies. The Bristol 'K' became outdated primarily because they needed two people to operate and could not be converted to one man operations.

RLH Buses have a low height - 13 feet 4 inches compared to about 15 foot or more for some other double deckers, and this allows access to more roads. All structural components in the body are steel rather than wood. Often the seat cushions were made of real leather, and these buses had additional air vent grilles on exterior: one above each upper deck front window. See Bus Buyers Prepurchase Checklist before buying any double decker bus.

 

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