FAQ’S ON BUSSES
by Ray Graeff
The wife and I have run Busses to Bluegrass Festivals for several years and no matter where we go, folks always want to know about them... sooooooo.... I thought I would share with you some of our experiences and findings. We’re not experts at the bus business, but , who is? Anyway, here are some of the things we are always asked.
WHAT KIND OF BUS IS IT
The bus we now have is a 1985 model 10 Silver Eagle and we acquired it in Febr. three years ago. The one we had just prior to this one was a 1967 Model 1 Eagle with a 1974 replacement fiberglass front cap .. to make it look newer. We also owned a 1965 MCI with a blown engine that we wound up selling before we even got it on the road.. It’s now happily plying the highways up in Iowa.
ARE THEY HARD TO DRIVE?
No.... they’re not... but very different... All of ours have been standard transmissions ... The 67 was a 4 speed manual and the newer one is a 5 speed.. much better.. Automatic transmissions in busses are extremely high dollar to repair in case anything goes wrong... but they are much easier for the girls to drive, since they don’t usually have the leg strength it takes to push the clutch... even with the air assistance. One trap that will get you.... is that they ride and drive so nicely that after a couple of hours on the road you begin to forget that you are in a BIG!! vehicle and start driving it like you are in a car. A wake up call comes when it’s time to make a curve or pass someone. I force myself to look in the rear view mirror regularly to remind myself how much responsibility I have undertaken.
Everyone has heard stories about how fast they are and think they really fly... not.... Unless a bootleg mechanic has tampered with them (the governor)... they will normally run 70 miles a hour up against the governor... (ours will do 72 max.).
WHAT KIND OF ENGINE IS THAT, AND HOW BIG....?
Most busses have Detroit engines... That is a diesel engine made by General Motors Corp.... the older ones had six cylinder engines called 671’s.... this is a 6 cylinder engine with 71 cubic inches of displacement per cylinder... Our 67 had a 871..(8 cylinders @71 cubes each). But the newer 85 has a 6V92... this is a V6 engine with 92 cubic inches per cylinder of displacement and a turbo charger... generally speaking you can put it in 5th gear and leave it there here in the midwest where we live... I’ve only encountered a couple of hills here in Missouri where I had to drop a gear to get over the top.. a turbocharger blower makes a world of difference in performance. Which is great .. until it’s time to overhaul one... Cost to overhaul an engine is approx. $7,000.00... but they are then good for about 300,000 miles of reasonable trouble free travel, if properly maintained and driven with some common sense... The horror stories you hear about breakdowns are generally due to something stupid some in-experienced driver has done to them.. If the truth be known.. I’m guilty too.
HOW MANY MILES DOES IT HAVE ON IT?
I have heard that most bus companies put approx. 1,000,000 miles on a bus before they retire it from service.. That is about 3 overhauls... This doesn’t mean that they are worn out, by any means. When a bus is re-furbished, they can be brought back to new condition and generally, they are.. our new one has 1,259,000 on it and it runs and drives like the day it was new... miles are not a problem... damage to the body and rust are the major considerations in buying a bus... A new bus now goes for $450,000 dollars and up. That is for a road coach with all seats in it... not converted into a band bus... Nashville style professional conversions can cost 1.2 million dollars and more.... These are generally pulled from road service early, before they have high miles on em.
WHAT DO TIRES FOR THAT THING COST?
They are high dollar... but they are good for 100,000 miles barring damage... A new 8 ply steel belted radial tire with 11R24.5 standard tread retails for about $390.00 each if you shop around. New take offs and slightly used ones in decent shape are usually purchased by performers of our level and usually bought for around $250.00 each.... X 8 tires if your bus has a tag axle..... ouch. A flat tire is an automatic $25.00 to repair... if you’re lucky.
HOW MANY DOES IT SLEEP?
Both of our busses sleep 10 with a combination of bunks stacked 2 high or 3 high from the floor... usually a full size bed in the rear for the boss.... the divan nearly always folds down to make a bed, and usually the dinette is built to make a double bed too..
HOW ABOUT AIR CONDITIONING?
Air conditioning is a must have in a bus. The on the road airs that the bus was born with are rarely used. The main engine must run to make them operate... you don’t want to run your bus engine for 3 or 4 days at a festival, sooooo... they nearly always have a plug in to 120 or 240 volts to run the air off of the campground or festival ground power... 240 is hard to come by in a festival ground unless you have made previous arrangements... our new bus runs on 240, and it’s a real pain to find that voltage. I have furnished a 240 volt range outlet to the regular stops we make and usually have to install the plug in myself. There is also a special adapter which uses two 30 amp. RV plugs Y’d into a range outlet, but campgrounds will usually charge you double to use it .. since you are taking up two spaces..... It takes a lot of power to run the 3 tons of air conditioning in our new bus. When we are in a new campground with no 240 volt outlet, we just run the diesel 15kw generator for the air.. and just let it run all the time... we of course do that when we are running down the road too... unless it’s really cool outside.
WHAT KIND OF MILEAGE DO YOU GET?
A decent mileage for a bus is about 10mpg... if you run the generator too this drops to maybe 7 1/2 or 8.... but most busses have 150 gallon tanks on them so that’s no big deal, until it’s time to fill it up... Our newer Model 10 has a 185 gallon tank on it, and a 30 gallon extra tank we can cut over to for the generator if there is a danger of sucking the main tank dry. Don’t ever run a diesel out of fuel... It can be up to a three hour job to get the lines all bled out and the motor running again. If you’re a novice... don’t even go there.. mechanics are expensive.
WHY BUY A BUS IN THE FIRST PLACE...?
Well, it’s a vanity thing mostly. Everyone wants to appear to be successful and a bus is a symbol. Most of us performers have an ego problem, or we wouldn’t be performers in the first place. It’s just kinda neat to pull into a show in a Silver Eagle and be considered to be doing well.. Some folks drive chevy’s and some like Cadillacs... It’s just a statement thing, mostly. The convience of a bus is of course understandable.. especially if there are five people in the band and they get cabin fever during the sometimes long hours they spend on the highway, you can get up and walk around in there, getting the kinks out. The ride is great and there is no noise.. you can’t even hear the engine run from the front of the bus, sometimes that’s a dis-advantage in shifting gears. All you hear going down the road is the hiss of the air going by the coach, and the ride is better than any luxury car you ever rode in. On the minus side.... SOMEONE IN THE BAND HAD BETTER BE A MECHANIC or the cost of running a bus is gonna eat you alive, and you’re going to suffer delays waiting for a mechanic to arrive.
One final word..... NEVER TAILGATE IN A BUS.. they will not stop quickly and if you’re on someones bumper and they stop... you’ll kiss em. You must always drive 1/4 mile ahead to avoid situations... If you don’t understand what I am saying here..... get someone else to drive it, or you’re gonna kill someone and maybe yourself in the process... See ya on the road.Ray Graeff
