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65,000 miles riding the Silverwing 600cc beast SF to work. Your one tough scooter groupie to take on that trip on a little 200. I lashed a duffle bag behind me for a few trips, made for a nice back rest. Though fully loaded my scoot would do 85mph cruise all day long. Have a great trip!

25yr rule was a compromise. The german auto makers were crying about people undercutting their business by importing cars into the US from Europe. They wanted it blocked 100%. US congress thought that was extreme and settled on the 25yr rule. 25yrs and older import to your hearts content. It had...

Yes but dump the Aligator clips and just put a plug on it. The controllers dont care whats plugged in as long as they are seeing amps within their rating. 190watts is no biggie. Its a great idea to keep the suitcase rig. Many places we camp I need to locate the panels where we have sun.

If an urbanite type does a flatbed camper, 9 times out of 10 its a dedicated camper rig. And floor plan space being a big plus. Former rancher types living big city like me typically have a small trailer stashed some place to haul crap. ;-)

We use the efoy systems on small racing sailboats. They are low output units that use a methenol type fuel for the fuelcell. Solar is a much bigger bang for the $ "IF" you have both space and weather to have enough solar generation for your needs. I recall they work best as a charging system...

The most durable cover material is old school pvc coated stuff like boat seat material, it costs less than sun brella and lasts longer. Most sail makers and apolstry shops can easily make a cover for you. Just be sure they use UV stable thread.

The main bonus to covering panels. They are always generating power. In vehicles / boats sitting unused with solar panels cranking out power you can see some issues. Vs simply just covering them and killing the power generation.

Regarding stones vs roof mounted panels. Its a pretty low risk on a van. Maybe traveling Alaska day in day out raises the risk. Not sure if a 3M security coat would be worth the trouble or impact solar gen, but it would make the panel near bullet proof.

Regarding PC on the racing sailboats we run laptops nearly 24/7 with our plotting apps. They dont pull much. The power hogs are big screens and inefficient high power inverters. You basically avoid those. The most wattage I generally see on a race rig regarding solar is 100-200watts. Big...

Mix and match. What the heck are you running in your Transit that needs 200watts? AC and a walk up blended Margarita bar?

I recall reading that FWC really liked the Flatbed design given it let them position the heavy stuff farther forward in the camper, further improving the weight distribution that is typically a big challenge with slide in campers. Given pop up campers like FWC dont carry weight up high I think...

470 is a landcruiser just jazzed up for the Lexus name plate. There is a reason the Land Cruiser is considered the King of SUVs. I really liked mine, but needed more seating so swapped to a Sequoia. The LC is wider and far far superior to your smaller narrower SUVs you had in the past regarding...

Glass is easier to break than gorrilla tape, around here glass is a zero security factor unless it has the 3m security coating. So if the lack of a rear view doesnt bother you, I wouldnt let the Security fear impact your trip.

Ford Transit is rear wheel Drive. I've read about on old dude thats done a few big trips in his converted Promaster. He keeps to typical paved and maintained gravel roads. His deal was stealth campability in a compact size. Which case his van has been pretty good for him. I think it was 3.2L...

Lots of ship work in the Seattle area. Little secret, Anacortes weather is nearly identical to San Francisco weather except they get less fog in Anacortes. Read up on the Olympic Mt range rain shadow. ;-) little PNW inside info. Portland area would be the only Or area with some level of ship...

Flippac? They are the lightest, simplest set up that lets you use the truck to haul stuff with your popup installed.

A person who moves from CA to NC wasnt a CA native to start with. Just sayn. NC is a cool place but far far too different in both weather and EDU / politics for a native CA to move there. Though I know plenty of strike it rich in CA then move back to NC to be close to family types. They were...

Dirt roads are no biggie for mini vans. Tires just go with a good solid AT tire. I have BFG At Touring tires on the Subaru. Possibly the best Tire Ive ever run on it. Strong side walls no impact on highway mileage and have held up really well on dirt. Traction on wet, dry and dirt has been good...

My dad didnt teach me. But youtube and forums have proven indespensible to trouble shoot, ID issues and best approach for a fix. The amount of shared knowedge today is awesome!!! My professional and formal College background is Corporate training with distance learning / technology. Today...

Just an added interesting side note. The harness on my house system at the panels is 12 guage. Max allowed is 16 panels at 285 watts with micro inverters under each panel. I would say 12 guage for a single or two panels is perfectly fine. My longest harness is 40ft long. Total system is 29...