Hello and questions ..................

[Sikorsky]

Hi ya'll. I'm up in Prince Rupert and am suffering from an unhealthy lust about Delica's these days.

I've seen several come through town and now someone up here has one. I don't know the owner and honestly haven't even looked at the driver. Whenevet the Deli goes by I'm ogling the truck. Talking to a guy at Acklands on Friday and the owner was described as a "hippy tree planter chick" ......... hopefully this doesn't offend you, not meaning to, it was just a humorous description at the time.

Now my wife definetly doesn't like them .... but she doesn't particularly like my rusty '89 Ram van either ..... some people just can't appreciate a useful set of wheels.

I've been through most of the threads here so far and have a few questions. If you can provide some answers I'd really appreciate it.

1)What kind of shape can these vehicles be in mechanically when they show up? I know that it is going to be kind of a crapshoot, (I'm a helicopter engineer by trade) but it seems there are quite a few water pump/glow plug/brake jobs/locking hubs/leaks/electrical issues and am wondering if this is a common problem. I've also noted that several of the importers do what appears t be detailed maintenace and inspections before delivery. If you can provide some of your experiences I'd be in your debt. I don't mind doing some repair work, but after twisting wrenches all day I usually have better things to do after work.

2)I've seen some of the conversion charts for filters/belts/brake pads. Do you people have any trouble sourcing your consumables such as these in BC?

3) Interior dimensions ..... height from floor to roof inside, height at the door and maximum length in the cargo area. The reason for this question is for hauling a motorcycle in the back. I wouldn't be surprised to hear it is too small but still once aware of the size I could get a feel for the inside. As a comparison, a '92 Astro van is 43" at the door and just shy of 8' at the longest. Thankfully since they are big enough and there are hitches available, too small inside doesn't rule it out. I just realized I forgot something and had to hit the edit button ........... interior dimensions for the P35 version please.


Thanks ahead of time and kudo's to the site admins. This is quite a detailed and thorough place for information and was truly a surprise to find at a .ca address.

[Adrock]

same sikorsky from bcsb?

a bike will fit lengthwise for sure, pretty likely 2 side by side owuld fit, height would be my biggest concern... i remember my bike was always taller than I estimated haha.

When I get my van to a point where I am for sure keeping it forever and turning it into a beast i will be ripping out the interior, welding the sliding door shut, putting benches down either side (that fold up to free all the space) and modifying the rear door to fold down instead of up, like a ramp... i guess the rear window will need to be lexan or something, but I think it would be a pretty fun rig, great off road transport for mountain bikers, hikers, whatever. Its just a dream, but it sure would do wonders for pulling a race bike around. I think the supermoto I want might be a little tall, or dirt bikes haha. But we can try.

Also playing with the idea of cutting out the roof and putting in a canvas top. All this would be great for a bike a far as i'm concerned. I think i'll need a second vehicle before i tackle this.

[BCDelica]

Welcome!

1/ Deli's can be anywhere in the spectrum of vehicle conditions and maintenance levels. Of the

few water pump/glow plug/brake jobs/locking hubs/leaks/electrical issues

I have only had leak problems; that and failing rubber suspension bits are the more common items. With 500 plus members, and more then twice as many Deli's on the road here, you will always hear about the problems first in discussions around here. Overall they are a great condition for a 15 year old vehicle, and some dealers really go outta of there way to fix the known issues. Would be a safe bet to say a Deli is better built then your ram van.

2/ Nope, thanks in part to delica.ca.

3/See Adam's helpful note, I can fit a 8.5' boat in the back myself.


Sounds like your already sold.

Cheers

[Adrock]

since kev called me helpful i decided to pull out the measuring tape.

mine is a low roof, 44.5 inches top to bottom on the rear gate... inside might give you 2-4 more inches in height, if its that close i guess a tilt in could be the solution.

at the narrowest point on the floor it is 41 inches wide. that is inside of one wheel well to the other. with tires up against the wheel well (depending on how far your tail reaches over the rear tire it may not be an issue, but most likely your rear tire would be against the inside wheel well, its not a buell, at least I hope.) looks like bikes side by side would be no problem. Maybe for dirt bikes i'll have to remove the front wheel mountain bike style haha.

Anyone with a high roof could chime in if the gate height is any different, looks like it might be able to squeeze a few more inches.

Question is, you think bucket seats facing rear all the way up against the front would be functional with 2 bikes in there? 4 seater with 2 bikes really would be a testament to how amazing the delica is.

and a trailer is also an option... just not as fun... no gas fumes sounds lame.

[Sikorsky]

Yeah, I'm that Sikorsky ......... unless you hate that guy and then I'm someone else!

44.5 inches high? That's much higher than I would have thought .... sounds good in that aspect. Once the preload is cranked down I find a bike will settle quite a bit.

The pic with the 8.5' boat shows promise. Looks like the bow wasn't all the way to the dash so it appears good that a bike will fit.

Funny about the Buell. I've got a buddies XB9R Firebolt in my shop right now. He had his drive belt break 100' from my house so it's waiting for me to get it to the curb for him to pick up. Right now I'm on a ST1300A, the only van that beast will fit in is one of those Dodge Sprinters! It's for sale/trade right now if you know anyone looking for one. A sweet little VFR400 from jpgreybikes would fit the bill quite nicely.

Thanks for the quick responses, and yeah, I'm already sold. Since the Mrs has a very nice '06 Jetta diesel, as long as the ST goes away, there won't be a problem. And for the Ram, the old girl has served me for 4 years and 42000 kms with less than $600 in repair costs - pretty good for a beastie that cost me $159 at an auction! But build quality has never been a #1 item at Dodge.

Feel free to keep chiming in with any more info and I can ask more dumb questions in the other forums.

As an aside, I was talking with an ICBC adjuster the other day. You are well aware of the concerns ICBC has with RHD vehicles, however the policy now is to write off any RHD vehicles with no chance to purchase the 'wreck'; and this is regardless of the amount of damage done. A crunched fender or a roll-over, they are to be crushed once assessed. Feel free to correct me if anyone has heard different.

[Adrock]

As an aside, I was talking with an ICBC adjuster the other day. You are well aware of the concerns ICBC has with RHD vehicles, however the policy now is to write off any RHD vehicles with no chance to purchase the 'wreck'; and this is regardless of the amount of damage done. A crunched fender or a roll-over, they are to be crushed once assessed. Feel free to correct me if anyone has heard different.

not positive that icbc is quite at that point yet, although they may want that. I guess its possible, and it is fairly easy to get a JDM vehicle written off because of shop time/parts cost (could get expensive fast if icbc, or one of t heir shops is looking for the parts, we're much more resourceful since we love these things so much) As long as the rule doesn't change i would almost be ok with my van being written off, yes I love it, but market value is way up since I bought mine, and if i got in an accident i'd be on the phone getting someone to bring my stock wheels and tires to swap out roadside haha. Not actually, but i'll be damned if i don't do everything in my power to keep the mud terrains for my next delica.

[BCDelica]

Do they sell those VFR400 in Canada? They were the 'big' bikes I saw in Thailand this year, and was quite impressed with the way they had been tricked out.

The back seats are in the van (in that picture and set up the way Adam described)) and there's room for kids in the rear facing seat, but barely. Also my van there has been driven into twice and resulted in two different ICBC claims, the last being in August. Once on each side! Since I like pictures so, here's a link to the first crunch - http://farm1.static.flickr.com/103/2815 ... 56a7_o.jpg
No problems at all with ICBC, though each hit was clearly the other drivers fault. No pictures of this summers dent, it was behind the drivers door and repaired the same week, but the body shop charges were amazingly high. Also don't know why people seem to like driving into me?

[Sikorsky]

Do they sell those VFR400 in Canada? They were the 'big' bikes I saw in Thailand this year, and was quite impressed with the way they had been tricked out.

No, never sold over here. However this place, http://jpgreybike.com/location.html , imports and sells a ton of Japanese only bikes. A perfect trip south would consist of me picking up a Super Exceed and VFR400 at the same time!

[josh]

Talking to a guy at Acklands on Friday and the owner was described as a "hippy tree planter chick" ......... hopefully this doesn't offend you, not meaning to, it was just a humorous description at the time.

I am sure Renny wont be offended HE seems to be a pretty low key guy... Welcome to the club, it sounds like you'll be an owner in no time.

Josh