2016 Tag Axle Berk

[gasman94]

They do have one in blue that I think will be pretty cool.


Rich

[Campin Cajun]

I see three A/Cs, Travler dish, steer axle, 5 storage bay doors, plus the water pump compartment. Man a guy can load that sucker up with stuff. I'm not crazy about the paint, but I think it will grow on me.

[gasman94]

Ok, I went to see the xlt today and will post some pics. I'll leave some impressions later.

[gasman94]

More pics...

[tmmar]

Rich,
Looks great! Any indication when they are coming out with other floor plans?
Thanks for posting!

[gasman94]

Chad (from Total Value) said that they are being mum on that now. Overall, some very nice touches on the coach. More and better space for electrical cable and looks like potential space for a cord reel there. I tried to show pics of the slide mechanisms. Different from the ones being used now.

Rich

[Paulie Boy]

Thanks Rich, great pictures.


Paul
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[5456Mich]

Looks like the options add up quickly.

[tmmar]

So Rich,
I forgot to ask. Now that you have talked with the dealer, when is yours due to come in??

[Campin Cajun]

Is that a solid plate under that one slide? Or is that just the floor of the slide?

I like what I'm see, I like the color of the furniture and the counter tops.

How big is the bathroom?

[gasman94]

Tom, as much as I would love to move up, my coach is only 2.5yrs old and if I was full timing, it would be a no brainer. The tag really adds the weight carrying capacity and the suspension upgrades are supposed to help with the handling a lot. Heated floors with the upgrade and that includes a third a/c and a 10kw genny (and whisper quiet a/c). But for my 5-6 mos. and 6-8k miles a year at present, it doesn't make financial sense right now....but there will be either a Berk xlt or Charleston sometime in my future!

Cajun, I believe that the area that you're referring to is the curbside bedroom slide. It appears to have a solid plate with rollers. That is a long slide that includes the dual sinks as well. I believe that both rear slides are electric and the fronts are hydraulic. Mine has a single hydraulic ram for both front slides. This one has three rams front streetside slide and two curbside. Just as a side note, the drawers in the kitchen and bathroom are soft close, so no plastic latches...really nice. Lots of other nice little touches!


Rich

[TwiceTheIce]

I will check tomorrow to see if any other floor plans are on display

[Campin Cajun]

Soft close drawers are a nice touch.

[gasman94]

Originally Posted by Paulie Boy

The paint is ugly. IMHO.


Paul
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Hey Paul, the picture doesn't do it justice (IMO). It does look better out in the open (in person???)

Rich

[Campin Cajun]

For some reason no coach pictures looks like it does in person.

[gasman94]

Originally Posted by Campin Cajun

How big is the bathroom?

Cajun. Bathroom has a two sink setup on the curbside that is on the slide. The toilet is in a small room with a door across from it on the streetside as is the enclosed shower with single door. The shower is square, not radiused like ours. Appears to have about the same amount of usable space, just different configuration.


Rich

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by Phil57

One of the biggest differences would be the DS is all electric. The AquaHot is almost mandatory on a Moho in that price range.
I understand the Charleston will have AquaHot for 2017?

Originally Posted by Campin Cajun

I don't know if I would like AquaHot, I read about a lot of problems with it. And the maintenance is expensive. My DW loves propane for cooking also. So having an all electric coach would not work for us.

The XLT is "Virtually" all-electric (it still has 2 propane-fired furnaces; 30K Front and 20K rear & the tankless gas hot water heater). But that's it. Everything else is electric.

Like CC, I have heard a lot of bad comments about AquaHot.

Even though the furnaces are Propane, I'm here to tell ya that the heated floor *rocks* I would not consider an XLT without one! When we toured the factory it was in the high 40's and we went in a XLT with the floors & fireplace on - it was easily 65-70 deg in the living room and that with the door open! I think it would have to be very cold outside (like below zero) befoire we would need to turn on the furnaces.

Don't know if I posted it before, but here is a photo of the XLT Induction cooktop. CC - I think your DW would LOVE this. I got a portable Induction that Anne-Marie used in our 5er at BamaGanza and she is hooked (good thing we will be selling the house in 2016 or I would be installing a Induction cooktop in the S&B )

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by gasman94

Cajun. Bathroom has a two sink setup on the curbside that is on the slide. The toilet is in a small room with a door across from it on the streetside as is the enclosed shower with single door. The shower is square, not radiused like ours. Appears to have about the same amount of usable space, just different configuration.

CC - What Rich said

Initially I was not too wild about the his n her sinks - DW was absolutely in love with them & won me over after we started opening doors, drawers and mirrors on the sink. Here is one cool feature most every woman will like: the mirrors have opposing hinges so that you can position them so you can see the back of your head. And the sheer storage volume in the cabinet is pretty amazing! All 4 mirrors open to a very spacious medicine cabinet -- in fact we won't have that much storage in our S&B medicine cabinet!

The shower is indeed square - I do wish they had made the shower door flush with the toilet compartment, but the upside is that space is used for towel racks. Of course the shower has a seat.

The toilet closet is very roomy and there are cabinets and a toilet paper holder installed. The only thing I did not like is they are still using a flimsy, cheap, plastic toilet seat. We suggested they start using the Dometic wooden seat instead - sure hope they do so!

No good way to photo the shower & toilet closet - but you can see them in the mirror in the 3rd photo

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by gasman94

I've got to go along with some earlier posts and say that the Berk tag (XLT) comparison is more in line with the Ventana than the Dutch Star. This is my comparison basis
2016 Newmar Ventana 4037, Class A - Diesel RV For Sale in Orlando-Winter Garden, Florida | Independence RV 8736 | RVT.com - 108625 Moving the Berk up in price range will make for greater scrutiny. One of the strong points of the Berk to many of us was the price to standard amenities ratio. I wonder what the new strategy will be? Anyway, I'm still extremely interested in this new offering.

When we were at the factory we were told that the 'plan' was to compete with the Dutch Star & Ventana - I must have gotten things mixed up

I was also told that the focus was to provide comparable quality while keeping the price point significantly lower than the Ventana & Dutch Star. So far, that seems to be the case as Dennis' post illustrates.

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by Paulie Boy

The paint is ugly. IMHO.


Paul
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Originally Posted by gasman94

Ya, that grey lower strip and upper one are kind of busy. Rich

OK that is officially hilarious!

We were shown this unit at the factory.
Our first comment?
Wow that's not very attractive
Plus folks going to the South & Southwest will not like all that black paint --it's a huge heat sink.

We got the distinct impression that the guys at the factory did not believe us.

Oh Well