Wow, one of the few REAL school buses left on the road. I admire you and that bus. When I started driving school bus in 1998, my bus was a 76 Gillig transit with a 3208 Caterpillar (pusher) that was driving an Eaton RTO-910. It was one of two 10speed manuals left in our school district. Then the California Air police came and replaced it with an 01 BlueBird CNG with that ridiculous Allison keypad automatic. Needless to say, I never was the same after that.
@@bikdav Most of the newer busses are equipped with Alison Automatic transmissions. What you do is steer, push the gas, step on the brake. You don't have to shift or use the clutch pedal. Most busses are now equipped with disc brakes.
Had a loaner dump truck years ago DT466 with the Spicer 6+1, started off with the clutch, was then able to "float" the gears(no clutch) great set up. Local gravel pit over loaded me with 39,880lbs of gravel, handled the load no problems even with juice brakes. My personal favorite is my 1987 S1900 with a DT466 and a 5+2 trans, air brakes and oh yeah the turbo sound!
I've been driving school bus for 25yrs I started when I was 19 in 1997 , the first 5 yrs I drove I had a stick shift , I loved it . I wish I still had one today 😪
When I was in elementary school (94-00) all the school buses my district used were manual. After that they started becoming really scarce quickly, and by 9th grade (04) they were mostly gone. 😢
Awsome....I can remember those manual transmission school buses as a kid and also manual transmission in Trailways and Greyhound buses👍🏿....but sadly driving a manual transmission is a lost art but makes a good anti theft device
Man, I would love to see what it's like to drive a manual bus. Ohio only allows automatic buses for all school buses now. I learned how to drive stick when I was in trucking school. Had never driven a stick shift of any kind before I went to trucking school, but insisted on learning on a manual so my CDL would not have the restriction. Now I get to tell everyone I learned how to drive stick on an eighteen-wheeler.
Back when I was still driving school bus, our company bought a 1992 like this that was manual. They bought it second hand as a spare. Everyone hated getting it except for us old timers. It sat alot so the stick was stiff when I'd first get going. It came from Quebec originally, so it had a camera in it, unlike the rest of our busses.
Late 2000s when buses in our city still used manual transmission, I often marveled at the bus drivers’ decisiveness and exaggerated movements in switching gears when they were making a 90° turn. Like in the video the gear shaft is connect to the floor so it’s quite long and requires a greater angle of motion to switch gears. The bus driver would sometimes make dramatic arm movements or tilt his his body forward and back to hit the right gear while his hand was spinning the stirring wheel at 30kph but his eyes were fixed on the road. It’s quite an amusing sight to behold for a kid
Estos autobuses me traen buenos recuerdos ya que en casi todas las ciudades de los Estados del norte de México se usaban para transporte público, de hecho en algunas ciudades aún se usan
I use your youtube videos as my white noise to help me sleep at night. also I am autistic. i like 15 passenger vans, and Airbus A321 aircraft as a hobby. i also like Yamaha stereo equipment.
My first school bus that I rode on was a stick. Mrs Clark was the driver and she shifted those gears beautifully. I enjoyed watching her drive the bus as a kid. This was in the early 80s. White grill b series Ford.
Awesome test driving Eric! So sad school buses for sale that are manual transmission are very unpopular! Maybe Jonny Ringo and Alex from las vegas bus sales can do a test drive if they receive a manual transmission bus!
The manual transmissions were being phased out by the late 1980's early 1990's. Ford started installing automatic transmissions about 1970 as an option. Other manufacturers followed suit and most busses are now automatics and also gasoline engines are not available anymore. They use diesel, propane, CNG or LNG. Also disc brakes are now being used.
@@superbrownsheep3777 I did check and IC which is a subsidiary of International trucks has an 8.8 litre gasoline engine and so does Blue Bird. They also have CNG and propane powered buses in lieu of the diesel engines. Most buses are equipped with Allison automatic transmissions.
I wonder if you have to order it. I found a video of a 2010 Thomas C2 with a manual transmission th-cam.com/video/Y-bq9NoFaf8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Fo5LIyuHfjFb5b2O
Very good video. Very good transmission, fully synchronized in all forward gears. Did part of my cdl training on a GMC top kick flatbed truck that had a spicer 6 speed manual tranny.
When I was in elementary school in iowa around 08 one of our spare busses was a Chevy bluebird with a manual, my bus driver was very rough driving that 🤣
back in the 1980's there were 2 yellow school buses like this that would take us from the high school over the hill and drop us off about 2 miles from the school at our bus stop.the 2 drivers would race each other on the 2 lane road over the hill and through the twists and turns with all of us kids on the bus. good times. the 1980's was a great time to be a kid
what a nice smooth looking bus, i used to drive a 1969 manual crown school bus 10 years ago for the San Bernadino unified schools in indio ca not sure if they still have them but fun ole times
For all the people terrified/curious about 40-year-old buses transporting kids: Crowns and Gilligs were THE school bus. OTR truck chassis & drivetrain and overbuilt bodies make for a long-lived bus in hard service. The Crown Supercoach alone lasted from the late-'40s to the closure of Crown in '91. The low-backed seats wouldn't pass muster these days, but that's a simple fix. They were expensive though--at least twice the price of a typical Bluebird at the time.
WERE manual transmissions? How long ago are you talking and in what parts of WV? I know they used to like up into the early eighties. They were being phased out by the mid,late eighties except for the old couple spare buses they would bring out every once in a great while. In my neck of WV. Born,raised and still there. They have had automatic since the eighties an they have been gone since the early ninties in my area.
The school bus I rode in 2003 got a new bus and it was a manual international Bluebird. After that in 2005 they started purchasing all automatic. They went to Navistar IC and now they have all Thomas Saf-T-Liner.
@@pianogospel05 That's awesome! What county in WV? Berkeley and Jefferson were as I described. Hard to believe they were ALL manual or even mostly manual in 2004.I have no reason to doubt you though. In any case that's cool.
you guys did excellent video i love it how you driving that school bus blue bird i can't wait to see more driving videos about your school busses keep it up my friend
I drove several old fire department vehicles that were straight shift and no synchronizers so we had to double-clutch the things. They were ladder trucks and pumpers.
I love it. My family had a bus when i was a kid. I could see eight slot on the dash gear chart. Is that crawl and reverse plus six? Can these be converted to motor homes? Can a towbar be fitted? In australia we convert some of these to have a fold down door at the back. When the door is down it becomes the ramp for loading. Old buses feel very homely.
Mmm, crawling in a bus. :D All the conventionals & the lone Crown in my K-12 district had real transmissions; the lone Thomas & all the Bluebirds had Allisons. Hell, even the two Suburbans had 4spds!
The real test of the Blue Bird's performance is to load up the kids to the bus's capacity (for which it was designed for) and then do the same road trip that you just did.
We use to have a bunch of 5 speeds with 2 speed rear ends. Problem is wearing out throw out bearings with all the stop go. 99 percent of my 75 buses are 83 passengers autos. Best up grade yet. Still can't get drivers to stay. But no more cluch problem. Now if I can save on brakes.
Is a nice test and nice bus, we love this cane buses because what we do is swap the engine 8.3 Cummins or 5.9 and run like champion, thanks for the video amigo!👌🏽👋
@@ChristinaHutton-c5t the engines are banned. The emissions are too dirty and California won’t let you renew registration. Thousand and thousand of good trucks made illegal.
Long live stick shift. They're holding on for dear life over here in the EU. But even over here, there's talk that they'll be phased out of all new models in the coming years.
It's a synchronized transmission so floating can cause lots of damage over time. Hes putting the clutch to the floor to shift so definitely synchronized.
It's good smooth shifting though. Where I used to work we had sync 6&7 speed spicers in 5 tons. Tandems had 10&13 speeds. Tractors were 10, 13&18. Had to keep in mind what you were driving from shift to shift. Both work shift and transmission shift
The American companies should keep their stickshift line going for the export markets in the Caribbean, Latin American, African and Asian countries that uses manual gearboxes more than automatic transmission to handle the rugged terrain of countries
I miss that generation of trucks. Styling, engine sounds, manual shifters. These new trucks are boring, and they all come with the same boring Cummins. That engine is too quiet, sounds like it’s all choked up and knocking rods.
This is really a 7 speed manual,i don't know why american car companies does lable the gear pattern differently from the rest of the world when the L gear is a forward moving gear
How nice are these manual transmissions? What I mean is, some old simple transmissions shift like a piece of farm equipment, and do not feel like modern, "automotive-like" shifting. Are these Spicers more like shifting a F-350, or more like the sloppy, worn-out shifter of a some old John Deer tractor from the '50s?
Now let's do it with a non-synchromesh transmission. When I was a kid we had Internationals with 5-speed non-synchro, manual steering and turn signals.
All school buses should still be stick and air brake they should be full CDL and air brake qualified drivers, I mean after all they carry the most precious cargo of all.
![NISAMANEE - TADA (ท้าดา) [ OFFICIAL MV ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/hcQHEPMmJpU/mqdefault.jpg)
Wow, one of the few REAL school buses left on the road.
I admire you and that bus.
When I started driving school bus in 1998, my bus was a 76 Gillig transit with a 3208 Caterpillar (pusher) that was driving an Eaton RTO-910. It was one of two 10speed manuals left in our school district.
Then the California Air police came and replaced it with an 01 BlueBird CNG with that ridiculous Allison keypad automatic.
Needless to say, I never was the same after that.
Driving stick is a lost art!!! Daggummit, Eric!!!!! You and Jack are the MEN!!!!!! Roll that bus!!!! LOL Lovin it man!!!!!
You’re so right about that. I’ve been away for a long time.
@@bikdav Most of the newer busses are equipped with Alison Automatic transmissions.
What you do is steer, push the gas, step on the brake.
You don't have to shift or use the clutch pedal. Most busses are now equipped with disc brakes.
@@frankdenardo8684 Yes, I’ve seen the disc brakes.
@@bikdav You can get about 500.000 miles before changing them.
We have plenty of manual bus drivers here in Malaysia
Had a loaner dump truck years ago DT466 with the Spicer 6+1, started off with the clutch, was then able to "float" the gears(no clutch) great set up. Local gravel pit over loaded me with 39,880lbs of gravel, handled the load no problems even with juice brakes. My personal favorite is my 1987 S1900 with a DT466 and a 5+2 trans, air brakes and oh yeah the turbo sound!
But I love the clutch
@Ozzie1st_ Ours were rentals. Always use the clutch on my '87.
You shouldn't float gears on a synchronized transmission
@user-wj9wq7mk4h Eh, it was a rental!
Long Live the Manuals!
As a kid,I was weirdly mesmerized by watching our bus driver operate the stick. Almost asmr-y!😮
That bus shakes like it has a DT466. Amazing to see a stick school bus still out there.
You don't see a lot of school busses with that Transmission but Eric is shifting like a boss
looks like that tranny is a synchromesh, no need double clutch
I've been driving school bus for 25yrs I started when I was 19 in 1997 , the first 5 yrs I drove I had a stick shift , I loved it . I wish I still had one today 😪
When I was in elementary school (94-00) all the school buses my district used were manual. After that they started becoming really scarce quickly, and by 9th grade (04) they were mostly gone. 😢
My school district had International Thomas school buses with the 9.0 liter V8 and manual transmissions. They sounded incredible!
Best combo, Bird , Binder and a DT.
Awsome....I can remember those manual transmission school buses as a kid and also manual transmission in Trailways and Greyhound buses👍🏿....but sadly driving a manual transmission is a lost art but makes a good anti theft device
Man, I would love to see what it's like to drive a manual bus. Ohio only allows automatic buses for all school buses now. I learned how to drive stick when I was in trucking school. Had never driven a stick shift of any kind before I went to trucking school, but insisted on learning on a manual so my CDL would not have the restriction. Now I get to tell everyone I learned how to drive stick on an eighteen-wheeler.
I agree about the restriction 100%!!
Back when I was still driving school bus, our company bought a 1992 like this that was manual. They bought it second hand as a spare. Everyone hated getting it except for us old timers. It sat alot so the stick was stiff when I'd first get going. It came from Quebec originally, so it had a camera in it, unlike the rest of our busses.
Late 2000s when buses in our city still used manual transmission, I often marveled at the bus drivers’ decisiveness and exaggerated movements in switching gears when they were making a 90° turn. Like in the video the gear shaft is connect to the floor so it’s quite long and requires a greater angle of motion to switch gears. The bus driver would sometimes make dramatic arm movements or tilt his his body forward and back to hit the right gear while his hand was spinning the stirring wheel at 30kph but his eyes were fixed on the road. It’s quite an amusing sight to behold for a kid
Love it. That baby’s got some Torque!!!
Go Erick!!! Thanks for uploading a test drive!
Estos autobuses me traen buenos recuerdos ya que en casi todas las ciudades de los Estados del norte de México se usaban para transporte público, de hecho en algunas ciudades aún se usan
I use your youtube videos as my white noise to help me sleep at night. also I am autistic. i like 15 passenger vans, and Airbus A321 aircraft as a hobby. i also like Yamaha stereo equipment.
We are very happy that you enjoy our videos! Thank you for watching!
My first school bus that I rode on was a stick. Mrs Clark was the driver and she shifted those gears beautifully. I enjoyed watching her drive the bus as a kid. This was in the early 80s. White grill b series Ford.
Awesome test driving Eric! So sad school buses for sale that are manual transmission are very unpopular! Maybe Jonny Ringo and Alex from las vegas bus sales can do a test drive if they receive a manual transmission bus!
The manual transmissions were being phased out by the late 1980's early 1990's. Ford started installing automatic transmissions about 1970 as an option. Other manufacturers followed suit and most busses are now automatics and also gasoline engines are not available anymore. They use diesel, propane, CNG or LNG. Also disc brakes are now being used.
@@frankdenardo8684 You sure about that? Because from what I heard, Bluebird and IC provides a gasoline option for their Conventional school buses now
@@superbrownsheep3777 I did check and IC which is a subsidiary of International trucks has an 8.8 litre gasoline engine and so does Blue Bird. They also have CNG and propane powered buses in lieu of the diesel engines. Most buses are equipped with Allison automatic transmissions.
I didn't know they still had manual transmission busses into the 2000's.
I wonder if you have to order it. I found a video of a 2010 Thomas C2 with a manual transmission
th-cam.com/video/Y-bq9NoFaf8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Fo5LIyuHfjFb5b2O
I didn't either...this is blowing my mind! I thought manual school buses went out of vogue back in the late '70s.
Very good video. Very good transmission, fully synchronized in all forward gears. Did part of my cdl training on a GMC top kick flatbed truck that had a spicer 6 speed manual tranny.
When I went to school old ladies would drive those. The only thing missing is the manual door handle.
When I was in elementary school in iowa around 08 one of our spare busses was a Chevy bluebird with a manual, my bus driver was very rough driving that 🤣
back in the 1980's there were 2 yellow school buses like this that would take us from the high school over the hill and drop us off about 2 miles from the school at our bus stop.the 2 drivers would race each other on the 2 lane road over the hill and through the twists and turns with all of us kids on the bus. good times. the 1980's was a great time to be a kid
Great video! Can you please do more bus test drive videos?
I concur!
Wish the seats had more cushioning and confort.
what a nice smooth looking bus, i used to drive a 1969 manual crown school bus 10 years ago for the San Bernadino unified schools in indio ca not sure if they still have them but fun ole times
They ran 40 year old busses?
You where driving kids to school in a 40 year old bus?
Might have been a spare bus. Seems smart to have a few if they can as long as they run well and are well maintained.
I too would like to know if they actually transported kids on 40 year old busses.
For all the people terrified/curious about 40-year-old buses transporting kids: Crowns and Gilligs were THE school bus. OTR truck chassis & drivetrain and overbuilt bodies make for a long-lived bus in hard service. The Crown Supercoach alone lasted from the late-'40s to the closure of Crown in '91. The low-backed seats wouldn't pass muster these days, but that's a simple fix.
They were expensive though--at least twice the price of a typical Bluebird at the time.
Gorgeous shifting rod
Yay Eric's back
Man I would love to own a bus like this.
All our county busses in West Virginia were Manual Transmissions. B700 and International BlueBirds.
WERE manual transmissions? How long ago are you talking and in what parts of WV? I know they used to like up into the early eighties. They were being phased out by the mid,late eighties except for the old couple spare buses they would bring out every once in a great while. In my neck of WV. Born,raised and still there. They have had automatic since the eighties an they have been gone since the early ninties in my area.
The school bus I rode in 2003 got a new bus and it was a manual international Bluebird. After that in 2005 they started purchasing all automatic. They went to Navistar IC and now they have all Thomas Saf-T-Liner.
@@pianogospel05 That's awesome! What county in WV? Berkeley and Jefferson were as I described. Hard to believe they were ALL manual or even mostly manual in 2004.I have no reason to doubt you though. In any case that's cool.
Back in the early 90s, I drove school bus for a company that had a few busses with manuals and air brakes.
This guy: "Hyuk! Hyuk! Gen-Z can't drive stick. Nobody can drive stick no more."
Also this guy: **shifts from second to fifth**
Great gearing for that hill!!
DAYUM dats a sweet ride... And in a '00 model ❤️❤️❤️❤️... I want one!
you guys did excellent video i love it how you driving that school bus blue bird i can't wait to see more driving videos about your school busses keep it up my friend
I drove several old fire department vehicles that were straight shift and no synchronizers so we had to double-clutch the things. They were ladder trucks and pumpers.
"don't call me Jack" "look, i don't mean anything by it" "it just happens to be my name!"
I love it. My family had a bus when i was a kid. I could see eight slot on the dash gear chart. Is that crawl and reverse plus six? Can these be converted to motor homes? Can a towbar be fitted? In australia we convert some of these to have a fold down door at the back. When the door is down it becomes the ramp for loading. Old buses feel very homely.
A manual transmission compensates for a sedentary lifestyle, because the driver moves much more😂
Years ago I would drive snow plow 3208 Catapiller and a 10 speed Fuller Roadranger.
I Use To Drive School Bus in 1973 Blue Bird Chevy 6 CLY 4 Spd Stick use to Start Off In Granny And Pop 2nd Those Kids Love IT😂
Love my 1990 F-150 4.9L /300ci Mazda 5 speed top loader!
This would make for an awesome skoolie!
Very nice bluebird with the side emergency door thoses are nice sounds good 👍
Mmm, crawling in a bus. :D
All the conventionals & the lone Crown in my K-12 district had real transmissions; the lone Thomas & all the Bluebirds had Allisons. Hell, even the two Suburbans had 4spds!
Stick shifts in international 3800 school buses are vary rare now. sadly its a lost art now.
Good driving skills
You should do this with ALL your buses
I'm hoping to get my own Bluebird international school bus after I get a driver's license from Northwest Bus sale
The real test of the Blue Bird's performance is to load up the kids to the bus's capacity (for which it was designed for) and then do the same road trip that you just did.
We use to have a bunch of 5 speeds with 2 speed rear ends. Problem is wearing out throw out bearings with all the stop go. 99 percent of my 75 buses are 83 passengers autos. Best up grade yet. Still can't get drivers to stay. But no more cluch problem. Now if I can save on brakes.
Is a nice test and nice bus, we love this cane buses because what we do is swap the engine 8.3 Cummins or 5.9 and run like champion, thanks for the video amigo!👌🏽👋
Wish my school buses were manual back when I was driving em
I reamber I went to school all old buses we 5 speed both gas and diesel manuals love ride them bus 184 Gas 210 diesel we're manals
Regardless of what the placard says it's a 7-speed.
I am looking for a 6 window, and a manual would be neat but then I would need AIR HORNS. Edmonton Alberta.
I love your vids!!
I wish they brought back that body style. Love the manuals. Those engines are now banned here in California.
The engines are banned or the transmission? There is a manual transmission not a manual engine. No such thing.
@@ChristinaHutton-c5t the engines are banned. The emissions are too dirty and California won’t let you renew registration. Thousand and thousand of good trucks made illegal.
i love drving stick! im soo addicted!
What’s the price for this bus do you have more in interest
A 2000 with Stick?? Wow!
I’d love to have a manual transmission in my bus.
That's odd that bus having that transmission
Do u guys still have manual buses?
That was oddly therapeutic.
Is it a Weller Reman unit?
Long live stick shift. They're holding on for dear life over here in the EU. But even over here, there's talk that they'll be phased out of all new models in the coming years.
Thanks for the video!!
I wonder of that's like an Eaton Fuller where you can float it 🤔
It's a synchronized transmission so floating can cause lots of damage over time. Hes putting the clutch to the floor to shift so definitely synchronized.
It's good smooth shifting though. Where I used to work we had sync 6&7 speed spicers in 5 tons. Tandems had 10&13 speeds. Tractors were 10, 13&18. Had to keep in mind what you were driving from shift to shift. Both work shift and transmission shift
The American companies should keep their stickshift line going for the export markets in the Caribbean, Latin American, African and Asian countries that uses manual gearboxes more than automatic transmission to handle the rugged terrain of countries
My International truck was like that. They listed it as a “6 plus.” I miss the manual.
I miss that generation of trucks. Styling, engine sounds, manual shifters. These new trucks are boring, and they all come with the same boring Cummins. That engine is too quiet, sounds like it’s all choked up and knocking rods.
@@callofdutyguy9 Those Cummins are boring. But, they made a good name for themselves.
@@bikdav they’re good engines. But I think someone should take a shot at them and make them earn their spot properly.
@@callofdutyguy9 That's a good point all right.
That transmission is the one that you have to double clutch like the semi truck?
Nope
Partridge Family bus?
2000 huh
When I was in school 10 years ago I always thought they were 2005-07 models because they just look that new
They stopped making this model in 2002
@@seanthe100 well then I guess they were used old ones then
My girlfriend learned how to drive stick on a video game at the age of 41
What video game was this?
Am I dreaming right now🎉
This is really a 7 speed manual,i don't know why american car companies does lable the gear pattern differently from the rest of the world when the L gear is a forward moving gear
🔥🔥🔥
Where's the incandescent light monitor on tge top left side of tge inside of this school bus?
How nice are these manual transmissions? What I mean is, some old simple transmissions shift like a piece of farm equipment, and do not feel like modern, "automotive-like" shifting. Are these Spicers more like shifting a F-350, or more like the sloppy, worn-out shifter of a some old John Deer tractor from the '50s?
Nice bus!
En Colombia los international muy buenos con dt 360/466 .
How much for the bus 🤔
I'd love to be able to hold a gear, especially when it snows. But I could live without all the shifting I would be doing.
Hello buses are for sale ??
Bobs and vagíne yes
Now let's do it with a non-synchromesh transmission. When I was a kid we had Internationals with 5-speed non-synchro, manual steering and turn signals.
This guy is everything but a smooth shifter
Good morning Beast Eric Northwest Bus sales candna Ontario TH-cam video 🇨🇦🇨🇦🍀🍀🌱🌱🍃🍃
All school buses should still be stick and air brake they should be full CDL and air brake qualified drivers, I mean after all they carry the most precious cargo of all.
Grind em till ya find em
Nobody will steal that bus cause no young person knows how to shift a manual transmission.
no heel/toe rev-matching?
i now know what i wanna do lol
Teach this guy how to hold a stick shift ;- )
I’ve driven a many of those transmissions. The only problem with them are the gears are very far forward and to reach. Annoying!
Hi guys, anyone how much this would go for?
42 school bus first day of school 2022