[raj_5004]

yes buddy, i was about to update it here.

We have bought the AL stag & the body is being built at Sisira Kalady, kerela. though i would have preferred prakash again, this time we were left with no other option. Its a 29 seater mini bus. It will be a look-alike (as far as possible) to our vikings. even the paint colour & graphics will be kept similar.

the ICE of the bus has been discussed here.

Power steering has been fitted from the AL dealer- TVS.

[amitk26]

Congratulations on your purchase.

I have no knowledge of heavy vehicles ( or even technicalities or vehicles in general) so should not be commenting here.
As seen from picture the PS fluid is above max mark. I was advised by SA not to fill above max mark as that can cause leakage in PS system.
The max level should be checked while engine is running. When pump is not running fluid should be slightly below the max mark.

[silversteed]

That's great to hear, raj. Congrats, and wish you many more (s)miles with the Stag.

A few doubts: Don't you have Air suspension for the Stag? Don't they fit the potentiometric sensor type Accelerator pedal in the new buses? Are your vikings fitted with these, or the old-school mechanical type?

Hoping to see more WIP pics from the bodyshop...

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by amitk26

Congratulations on your purchase.

I have no knowledge of heavy vehicles ( or even technicalities or vehicles in general) so should not be commenting here.
As seen from picture the PS fluid is above max mark. I was advised by SA not to fill above max mark as that can cause leakage in PS system.
The max level should be checked while engine is running. When pump is not running fluid should be slightly below the max mark.

thanks amit. yes, now that you have mentioned, even i noticed that PS fluid!

Originally Posted by silversteed

That's great to hear, raj. Congrats, and wish you many more (s)miles with the Stag.

A few doubts: Don't you have Air suspension for the Stag? Don't they fit the potentiometric sensor type Accelerator pedal in the new buses? Are your vikings fitted with these, or the old-school mechanical type?

Hoping to see more WIP pics from the bodyshop...

thanks a lot buddy. no, air suspension is fitted generally only in the big buses, its not needed in mini buses.
i think even the vikings are fitted with the mechanical types, however the experts here can confirm.



by the way guys, i have a query. i did a small research on the STAG & its reliability, common issues, etc. the general opinion is that it is very much reliable & has none of the problems of its bigger brother Viking like brake pads overheating, etc. the only known issue with STAGs according to one owner is that its wheel bolts are fragile compared to vikings, in the sense, that it does NOT need excessive tightening using a big lever/torque wrench like the vikings. if anybody does that, it breaks. all it needs is a light tightening like in SUVs/tempo travellers. anybody heard of that?

also, a general question, does the mini bus require a speed governer as per law?

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

also, a general question, does the mini bus require a speed governer as per law?

AFAIK, ALL Commercial vehicles require to have a speed governor installed. The vehicles cannot be registered (or CF Renewed) without having a speed governor installed (thats the catch here: "Installed" not "working").

[TheARUN]

Good choice of Chassis.

The body costs 6.5, request you to kindly mentioned what the chassis cost?

Your bigger busses cost 25 lakhs each, this one might come up to 15 lakhs I guess

The USP of the Stag is its width. None of the competition is built this way, they are all pretty narrow.

Raj - One peice of advice. If I was in your place, I would have gone for push back seats. Its possible to get 28 seats on a STAG since it is wide. Just check, it'll add awesome value to the bus

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by binaiks

AFAIK, ALL Commercial vehicles require to have a speed governor installed. The vehicles cannot be registered (or CF Renewed) without having a speed governor installed (thats the catch here: "Installed" not "working").

thanks buddy.

Originally Posted by TheARUN

Good choice of Chassis.

thanks arun.

Your bigger busses cost 25 lakhs each, this one might come up to 15 lakhs I guess

yes, including all expenses, this one will cost around 16L.

The USP of the Stag is its width. None of the competition is built this way, they are all pretty narrow.

i think the lynx is wider than the stag.

Raj - One peice of advice. If I was in your place, I would have gone for push back seats. Its possible to get 28 seats on a STAG since it is wide. Just check, it'll add awesome value to the bus

there are many reasons why we dint opt for pushback seats-
1) this is a non-AC bus, so pushback seats are not needed.
2) tax appilcable for pushback seat is higher. we wont be getting any extra fare for the pushback seats from the customer in a non-AC bus.
3) in non-AC bus, maximum demand is for 30 seater buses. with pushback seats, the number of seats would go down to 19.

AFAIK, its not possible to build a 28 pushback seater on the stag. i sat in sisira's 29 seater bus built on the stag (non-pushback) & legroom was very tight (i am 6'2").

[Ashley2]

My Heartiest Congratulations for your new purchase Raj

Originally Posted by silversteed

Don't they fit the potentiometric sensor type Accelerator pedal in the new buses? Are your vikings fitted with these, or the old-school mechanical type?

The potentiometric sensor type accelerators are for BSIII version only.
If Raj has got a BSII version,they dont have this.

Originally Posted by raj_5004

.....the only known issue with STAGs according to one owner is that its wheel bolts are fragile compared to vikings, in the sense, that it does NOT need excessive tightening using a big lever/torque wrench like the vikings. if anybody does that, it breaks. all it needs is a light tightening like in SUVs/tempo travellers. anybody heard of that?

also, a general question, does the mini bus require a speed governor as per law?

Yes Raj.. this is true..There were some failures wrt wheel bolt loosening/breakage in early days (not only in stag but also in Cargo/Ecomet as well).But this issue has been addressed in recent past.Also for your comfortness do check for the recent updates from the dealer as well as from your friends.There should be no issues for you.

And Raj, time to change your signature.

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

My Heartiest Congratulations for your new purchase Raj

thanks buddy.

The potentiometric sensor type accelerators are for BSIII version only.
If Raj has got a BSII version,they dont have this.

yes, we have the BSII version.

Yes Raj.. this is true..There were some failures wrt wheel bolt loosening/breakage in early days (not only in stag but also in Cargo/Ecomet as well).But this issue has been addressed in recent past.Also for your comfortness do check for the recent updates from the dealer as well as from your friends.There should be no issues for you.

ok, i will check this with the dealer.

And Raj, time to change your signature.

Done!

[urzdeepu]

Raj....my heartiest congrats to your latest possession!!

btw some peice of information regarding the H4Cti engine. this one is one of the best engines from AL stable providing 120Ps of power. comparatively with all other LCVs i bet you will have the least maintainance with this vehicle.
today while coming back from office i had a heavily loaded Ecomet( with iron tmt) in my front. believe me with all these load that thing was just a childs play and was cruising at 70kmph.
So once again congrats for your choice..wish you all the best.

[tsk13]

Congrats Raj. In the fourth pic, I see a bus with Steel Wheel Covers with Sutlej's logo in the center. Can you confirm the same?

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by urzdeepu

Raj....my heartiest congrats to your latest possession!!

btw some peice of information regarding the H4Cti engine. this one is one of the best engines from AL stable providing 120Ps of power. comparatively with all other LCVs i bet you will have the least maintainance with this vehicle.
today while coming back from office i had a heavily loaded Ecomet( with iron tmt) in my front. believe me with all these load that thing was just a childs play and was cruising at 70kmph.
So once again congrats for your choice..wish you all the best.

thanks buddy. reliability is of utmost importance in this field & thats what goes in favour of AL.

Originally Posted by tsk13

Congrats Raj. In the fourth pic, I see a bus with Steel Wheel Covers with Sutlej's logo in the center. Can you confirm the same?

yes, that bus' body is built by sutlej, looks very cool. by the way, that bus has come there for accident repairs. its entire front end was smashed in a head on collision. sisira is doing the repairs & they have done a very neat job. since the dies & mouldings of sutlej are very different from the coach builders of south- prakash/veera/sisira etc, they have to order many parts (like front windshield) directly from sutlej.

[TheARUN]

Sorry to keep the discussion going Mate,

A push back seat needs 950mm of space and is 435mm wide.

Now since the STAG is 2500mm wide, its possible to fit 4 push-back seats in 1 row.

With the STAG's wheelbase and 60% rear overhang, its possible to have 7.5 rows which is 31 seats.

Imagine what a USP it would be for your bus since I presume all other 30 seaters are with rigid seats

[raj_5004]

why say sorry arun? you are just helping me with your suggestions.

Also, i did ask sisira about P/B seats, he said only 19 seats would be possible. i dont know about the calculations, but what i see is, if only 29 normal seats can be fitted, then number of P/B seats would obviously be less, since P/B seats demands more legroom. i know the bus is wide enough to fit P/B seats, but is it that long enough to fit 31 P/B seats? i think it can take around 22P/B seats, though i admit, i am not an expert in this. infact, even prakash said that 32 P/B seats can be fitted only in the 12M vikings. so i dont think thats possible in a stag. also, are you considering the seperate driver cabin with partition in your calculation?

Also, do consider that we will be at loss offering P/B seats in a non-AC bus! as mentioned above, the tax applicable for a P/B seat bus is double to that of a normal bus. i wont be getting any extra fare from the customers, just for the seats. yes, if my bus was AC, then i could charge a premium, but its not so in my case. so how would that do good for my business?

[TheARUN]

Logical answer RAJ, I think its sealed now. Rigid seats are the best.

The bus I guess is going to be registered as a Contract Carriage/Maxi Cab so that tax is less, and they all have rigid seats. If you had push-back then it becomes AITOB and double the tax. So good decision. (I was only thinking about how to make the passengers choose your Bus out of the competition)

You said you had huge demand for a 30 seater. If you are getting into the Tourist transport business and can afford only 1 bus, which would you suggest, Mini-Bus or Big Bus? What's more in demand?