The Best RV Tour: The Hottest Road Trip Ever

Posted Wednesday 12th December

And a whole lot of fun.

When you work for the hottest brand in the kitesurfing industry, you expect to jump into the frying pan every now and again. But when US Sales Rep Sean Lee jumped aboard to drive the RV up to Montana for start of the 08 Winter Tour, little did he know that he'd be getting hot under the collar ... literally.

Back in 06 when we were considering the best way to preach the Best message to kiters around the US, we decided that we needed to put the show on the road in a way befitting the largest kitesurfing company in the world.

Thoughts of a summer road trip soon turned into a year long, continent-wide spectacular, and we quickly realised that a Ford Pinto, an expense account and an Exxon gas card was not going to make the cut. The Waroo 06 had just been launched, everybody wanted to try one, and we wanted as many kiters as possible try all our latest gear. So, the decision was made to invest in a vehicle that everyone could recognise, to act as a focal point for our US-based promotional activities, and after much searching, the Best RV for the task was found.

We settled on a Gulf Stream Friendship 102, a 40-foot + luxury recreational vehicle, with 4 berths, a radio, a TV, and washing and cooking facilities. All it needed was a new suit of clothes and the Best RV Tour was born.

All dressed up and ready for action.

The RV hit the road for the first time on March 31st, 2006, and with a keen crew of kiters and pilots, it headed off on a non-stop journey that lasted 20 months.

To give you some idea of just how big a commitment the RV tour has been, here are some of the figures: we've driven over 70,000 miles, used up over $50k in gas, been through 3 sets of tires, 3 windscreens, 4 sets of brakes, mountains of linen, and we've dumped 100's of litres from the 'poop tank' on the way.

The RV has had 11 drivers from 3 different continents, we've used up over 100 different demo kites, we've gone through 28 boards, 12 harnesses and over 40 bar and line sets. The RV has made over 180 stops, only 2 of which included 'Hooters,' and we've demo'd kites to over 5000 kiters across more than half of the USA.

While heading cross country through South Dakota, on the Thursday, December 7th, under the careful guidance of US sales rep, Sean Lee (who proudly blew a .00 on the breathalyser), the RV developed a problem that proved to be fatal. We'll pick up the story with Sean.

Sean "bkb_sml" Lee reports live from the field, Friday, December 7th:

Sean, on a happier RV Adventure, the Velocity Games, May '07

On Wednesday, Graham (Goodwin) and I had just gone through Sioux City, Iowa, crossing the border into South Dakota. About 72 miles in, we started smelling something, so we pulled over. Sure enough, it was a smoke show coming out of the back of the bus, so we called a tow company and had the guy come out and look at it and see if he could fix it on the spot.

What had happened was the brakes had locked up. Fortunately, he was able to give us a temporary fix, and we were able to follow him to the shop. Right when we got to the shop, it locked up, but no big deal, since we were right there. The guys at the shop took care of us and expedited the service ... although on second thought maybe it was a little too expedited. They fixed the air brakes, the dryer fan, a couple seals, a couple of drums, and a couple of shoes and assured us we were good to go.

We got on the road at about 2:30 in the afternoon, drove for about 140 miles and then started smelling that same thing again, so we pulled over and let it cool down. I called the guys from the repair shop who said, "Sometimes new brake shoes rub a little bit and they need to be worn in."

So Graham and I just sat there and relaxed and I made some lasagna in the microwave, and after an hour we figured that the brakes had cooled down enough, since it was about minus a million degrees outside. When we'd talked to the guys at the shop, they'd said it could just be the brake shoes rubbing, but that down the road about 40 miles was a town called Chamberlain, and that we could stop there. The shop wouldn't be opened but we could stay the night there, and get it looked at in the morning.

Well, Chamberlain was actually only about 10 miles away, and at that point, the Bus was running like a champion again, just like it was when we left the shop earlier that day, so we bypassed Chamberlain, figuring if it's running like it was before, maybe the guys were right, maybe the brake shoes were just rubbing a little bit.

WRONG! Within another 20 miles or so, the Bus started lagging a little, like the brake was locked up. We let off the gas a bit and there was an exit within half a mile. We took the exit, and all it is is a gas station, right in the middle of South Dakota. There's no city around, nothing. It's a place called Vivian, right off I-90, right between Sioux Falls and Rapid City, right smack in the middle of the state.

We pulled in there and we're like, "Oh SH^%t, there's smoke coming out of the back again." And keep in mind, this is within no time whatsoever. Graham has a look outside as I'm pulling up slowly, and he's like "Sh%&!t, there's sparks, dude!" and the next thing you know ... BOOOM! Little explosions start going off in the back, and we don't even know what it was, whether it was an airbag in the suspension, or the battery, or a seal. We stopped and Graham got out quick to have a look at it and got out the fire extinguisher, and in the meantime, I'm grabbing all our stuff ... which thankfully wasn't in the back bedroom, it was on the couch ... and the rest is history. The rest is history.

We had just enough time to get our stuff out before the entire bus filled with smoke. After Graham tried to put the fire out ... there was fire underneath the whole bus ... he got his video camera and started filming. I was a little hysterical, freaking out. I called JeffG, and said, "The bus is on fire, the bus is on fire!" I guess he didn't believe me (Bucky had called in the same rumour last year) and was kind of laughing. I was like, "Dude, I'm serious ... the bus is on fire! Don't laugh!" I got a text message from Jake, saying, "See you tomorrow, but I said, "No no no, you won't see us tomorrow, the bus burned down."

A truck driver had put in the 911 at 7:24PM, and it took the firetrucks about 10 minutes at least to get to us. It's such a small town, and the first firetruck that showed up was like a pickup truck with a hose in the back. They were putting out the fire for at least half an hour. Everything's gone ... all of the kites, boards, etc. There's a decent amount left of the bus, but it's not salvagabale to ever drive again. Ironically, about an hour before this went down, we were talking about how cold it was inside the bus, how the bus is freezing, how the heater sucks, and Graham and I were talking about how we should build a fire inside. I blame Graham :) .

From Delray Beach, Florida, to Pierre, South Dakota ... we made it 1999 miles. Godspeed to anyone who tries to drive it next!

Jake Buzianis, on the death of the RV:

I'd been planning on meeting up with the Best RV on Thursday, for the start of the 07-08 Winter Snowkite season, which was going to be the biggest and baddest winter tour of the year, so I'm seriously bummed out that there's no more RV. We had a trailer filled with slider and Sleds (snowmobiles) to introduce to the Best RV, so right now, we trying to figure out a backup plan. Last night, we had a moment to think about the Best RV what we all have lost and all the great moments the RV has given us.

This weekend is the First Annual Georgetown Snowkite Open Event, and we'll be there with demo kites and sliders to ride on. We're going to give our BEST vibe to the event and make it as best as possible!

Adam Hollins: Uk Driver:

When I heard the RV had gone up in flames I couldn't believe it.

I spent a month on the bus last year and drove around four states meeting some of the coolest kiteboarders and shop owners on the planet. There's something about being the RV driver, having 40 foot of goodwill, with you loaded with the best kiteboarding gear on the planet. People are always pleased to see you.

With the Nemesis HP, 08 Waroo and Bularoo taking the kitesurfing and snowkiting markets by storm, there's no way we can let the story end here. While we might not be sure what to do to replace the RV, you can be sure that whatever we do it's going to be epic.