We took another trip to the Parkway this week... We drove from Boone to Little Switzerland and got off in Marion to stay with Trey's Dad and to give the Bus a little bit of flat ground to work with. He hates going up those steep hills- bringing it down to second most of the time, third if we were lucky. So we traveled on route 70 and I-40 to Asheville where we went North again. Being an air-cooled machine we could really tell the difference when we were close to Mount Mitchell (the highest point East of the Mississippi river). The elevation was above 5000 feet for most of the time, but luckily it dropped back down closer to 3000 after 25 miles or so... In the Picture to the Right, Mt. Mitchell is in the background, shadowing us.
The trip was a success! The Bus, although slow, did run great. And when we were in Marion it had a better time scooting around... we think he will enjoy traveling the flat lands a lot better. But the next time we drive him off the mountain will be the last, until we reach the other side...
We are already starting to think about our next Bus... more along the lines of a Syncro.
It's okay that he's not a race bus, at least he looks good while he gets ya there! Taj is always trying to be a racecar, I think the mag wheels have gone to her head! Slow and steady would be just fine by me!
ReplyDelete-Mike
97 RT 170P "Taj Ma Trek"
HTTP://WWW.VanTramps.Com
Don't give up on the bay. Sometimes, the only thing that saves me from the hectic pace at work is getting out in my bus and topping out at 50 mph. Sure, sometimes I wish I could go faster, but in the end, I realize that slow was the reason I sought out my bus in the first place.
ReplyDeleteJust crank up the music, put it in gear, and enjoy the turning of the world. Sloooooowly.
Yeah, when we begin our travels (next week! yippiiiee!) we will be taking the back roads as much as possible :)
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful for my radio! ;)
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ReplyDeleteI'm mildly sympathetic to the attitude that slower=better, but it should be kept in mind that a Type IV engine (which your bus has, unless it's been converted) struggling to reach or maintain 65mph (at least) on a flat road is either seriously overloaded or has something wrong with it--likely it's poorly tuned, but it could be more serious. In either case, it's something to be investigated, not unquestioningly accepted (if you don't want to rebuild your engine every 15,000 miles anyway).
ReplyDeleteDon't fall into the trap of thinking old VWs have to be, or are supposed to be, slow (and by "slow", we're talking <60-65mph on flat ground). It's fine to drive them slowly, but substantial lack of power should be taken as a symptom of something bad, not as part of their charm.
Alright,
whc03grady.