Tiffin Allegro Club Jellystone Jubilee August 20 – August 24, 2007 (Check out August 25) Yogi Bear’S Jellystone Park Camp Resort / Warrens, WI
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TIFFIN MOTORHOMES The Award-Winning Allegro Club Newsletter For Leisure & Living 3 A peak and a peek 8-9 Testing the 10 California chapter at Tiffin production: ’07 Allegro is computer savvy 13 coaches per day puts 34 TGA FRED Golden Bears boast JUne 2007 plant near optimum What the owners CD and website Volume 3 Volume Issue No.4 have to say SIDE ROADS Is published quarterly March, June, September and December by the Allegro Club, Inc. Presorted Standard U.S. Postage Paid Permit # 159, Birmingham, AL POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Allegro Club, Inc. From the P.O. Box 1429, Red Bay, AL 35582 NOTICE OF RESPONSIBILITY: driver’s seat The Allegro Club, Inc., Red Bay, AL, has designed tours, caravans, and rallies for your pleasure and enjoyment and has attempted to by Jimmy Johnson select for you the best campgrounds, accommodations, restaurants, and transportation facilities for the prices charged. Allegro Club, Inc., Jimmy and Gail Johnson, and the Board of Directors do not own or operate any of the campgrounds, hotels, restaurants or transportation What is most helpful when you’re considering – or at least dreaming facilities and, furthermore, assume no responsibility for delays, losses, accidents, or for damage to persons or property caused by any person, about – a new Tiffin motorhome? firm, corporation, or other legal entity providing the following services: Maybe it’s the model brochures and the Tiffin website, where you can campgrounds, hotels, restaurants, transportation (including but not limited to transfers and sightseeing) or any other services incident to study GVWR, torque, TVs, basement space, warranties, interior amenities, these tours, rallies, caravans or any activities of the Allegro Club, Inc. color schemes and so much more. The right is reserved to substitute campgrounds, hotels, restaurants and alter the itinerary or reverse the places to be visited. The right is Maybe it’s tire-kicking and jawing with a sales rep at a Tiffin dealership reserved to cancel the tour or caravan prior to departure. In the event or an RV show. of a tour or caravan cancellation, the Allegro Club, Inc., Jimmy and Gail Johnson, and the Board of Directors’ liability is limited to a refund of Maybe it’s easing into the labyrinth of the internet, googling for technical money received. reports from government agencies, checking out fuel economy, recalls and The Allegro Club, Inc., Jimmy and Gail Johnson, and the Board of other effective gauges of product soundness. Directors reserve the right to make any changes, with or without notice, that might become necessary with the understanding that there is no Maybe it’s thumbing through RV magazines to scan ads, test reports, and extra charge. After a tour, caravan or rally begins, any unused portions in the process, learn of idyllic places to visit in your Tiffin motorhome. of fees paid are not refundable. The Allegro Club, Inc., also reserves the right to terminate tour, caravan and rally services for any client at any The more we thought about all those approaches to evaluating motorhomes, time for good cause. the more we were convinced that another “tool” is more popular and, in The mission of the Allegro Club is: most cases, more effective. That’s the couple at the campsite next to yours, 1) To promote friendship, fellowship and camaraderie among all owners of Tiffin-built motorhomes; or at least some folks who made similar purchase decisions recently. This is 2) To provide pertinent information and assistance regarding not a bad thing like copying somebody else’s homework. It’s finding a well Tiffin-built products, their maintenance and related safety topics; 3) To promote brand loyalty to Tiffin-built motorhomes among informed, relevant source. current owners; With all this thinking, we introduce in this issue of Side Roads a new 4) To encourage ownership of Tiffin-built motorhomes among non-owners. feature. We hope you will find it sufficiently inviting for us to make it a The Allegro Club reserves the right to edit submissions for space and regular. clarity. Manuscripts, photographs, illustrations and other proposed content are welcomed and will be considered for publication. Reproduction in On pages 8 and 9, you’ll meet Rich and Pat Yasco along with Allen and whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Content, including Gwen Main. They will tell you how they like their 2007 34TGA Allegro statements of fact and opinion, do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints front-engine diesels. We think we have figured out the criteria most helpful of Tiffin Motorhomes, Inc. or the Allegro Club, Inc. Tiffin Motorhomes, Inc. and the Allegro Club, Inc. are not responsible for content. Privacy laws to you. If we’ve missed something important, please let us know. and policies prevent Side Roads from publishing memorials, illnesses and In a broader sense, please give us some feedback on these home-grown test other personal information without written permission. reports. We want every page of Side Roads to be valuable to you. ON THE COVER Ah, June, the weddings month, and what better honeymoon suite Also in this issue, I call your attention to the rally schedule. We have added than a 2008 Allegro Bus? The 30-inch wide entrance well and power a couple of rallies in recent weeks: the Fall Gulf Getaway in Gulf Shores, step make it easy to bring all those wedding gifts on board. One remote controls TVs, satellite and DVD. And don’t make us blush here, but the AL, Oct. 1-5 and the Florida Fall Festival in Seffner, FL, Nov. 5-9. If you new single-piece power blackout windshield shade…. haven’t joined us for a rally yet, you might want to give the schedule and LETTERS TO THE EDITOR applications an even closer look. Want to share an experience you had in your Tiffin You will also find a different type of treat from an old friend and Allegro Motorhome? Have a comment or suggestion about Club member. Bob Poiry, the notorious Yankee Doodler cartoonist from SideRoads, the Allegro Club newsletter? Write to: Side Roads Editor, Allegro Club the Black Swamp Allegros in Toledo, OH, puts down his drawing pen P.O. Box 1429, Red Bay, AL 35582 long enough to demonstrate that he can write, too. His column debuts on Please include your name, address, email and phone page 6. number so we can contact you. I’ve been collecting and assessing feedback on our recent rallies and plan CONTACTS: to share some observations with you in the September issue of Side Roads. If Tiffin Motorhomes Parts & Service: you have any additional thoughts about our rallies, please let me know. (256) 356-0261 Allegro Club: (256) 356-8522 [email protected] Jimmy Johnson, Allegro Club president President Verbon Jones, Allegro Club office manager Allegro Club Cynthia Skinner, Allegro Club membership coordinator Janet Gober, Allegro Club administrative assistant 2 SIDE ROADS www.tiffinmotorhomes.com Tiffin boosts production near capacity Melvin Dotson hates to go slow, so it didn’t bother addition to the Allegro Bay. Both FRED models him a bit when Tiffin Motorhomes increased its were immediate successes throughout Tiffin’s production to 13 units a day in late February. 100 dealerships in the U.S. and Canada. Dotson came to Tiffin as a parts shipper For the jump to 13 units a day, Tiffin added in 1976, started the parts department, then about 20 production jobs, bringing the total to launched the doors shop eight years later. He just over 900. still manages that 26-person operation. For Dotson in the door shop, the production increase The stepped-up production enabled him to add some help, but with additional to 3,250 coaches a year staff came additional training needs. The door shop will bring the Class A builds all the basement and entry doors on the diesel motorhome manufacturer pushers and the gasser basement doors. in Red Bay, AL, within “It’s not that hard to pick up production and striking distance of a realistic our people have handled it real well,” Dotson optimum production for says. “Your job gets simplified because your job the current plant – 4,000 description gets narrowed. Each worker can’t do Allegros, Allegro Bays, as big a variety of jobs. When production slows, Phaetons, Allegro Buses it gets harder.” and Zephyrs, according to General Manager Tim Tiffin. Tim Tiffin One immutable factor blocks greater expansion, Tiffin explains: Quality control. “Our Number 1 concern is that we maintain quality standards,” Tiffin says. “We would not go up unless we were convinced of that.” For customers, the production increase is expected to decrease lead times for orders. With current demand, 8-10 weeks pass between order and delivery for diesel pushers. For the front- engine models, the lead time is now 4-6 weeks. Just last July, Tiffin reported to its dealers that production had held steady at eleven for six months, even with a number of competitors cutting production and offering incentives as fuel prices rose. The Tiffin plant went to twelve units a day last October before the latest increase. From left, Chris Stanphill, Newman Mattox and “A key to success for us was the development Melvin Dotson inspect their work in the Tiffin door shop. of separate gas and diesel production lines,” Tim “We’re building the best door we have ever had,” Tiffin adds. “We are currently building 60% diesel Dotson says with pride. “They are stronger and pushers, 10% front-engine diesels and 30% gas they shut better. We never had door delamination units a day. The gas market is coming back.” problems.