Bike Rack

[toetoe]

Hi, I have fitted my bike rack today, for the first time, just as a trial run because i am going out on my bike for the first time at the weekend and wanted to make sure everything was ok and it fits great, the bike sits nice and it doesn't hit the back of the car or anything like that, the only thing that concerns me is, after i fit the first bar to where the tow ball is and then slot the two other pieces in to it, should their be something that stops the two pieces from jumping out, like a pin or something or do i just use ratchet straps to pull it all together.

this is a photo of the type of rack i have got.

Edited March 19, 2014 by toetoe

[lestergg2005]

Some bike racks have a pinch bolt that you tighten once the adjustment or spacing is correct for the bike you are going to carry. Once the bike is on and strapped down etc the rack shouldn't really be able to come apart. However, if there are no pinch bolts I'd be careful about travelling with the bike rack on it own ( no bike ) as the parts that slide together may come apart.

[joeninety]

The DC rack doesn't have any pin arrangment. I use 4 straps to secure bike:

1) Around rear wheel to the loop in the upright post.

2) From rear most foot rest to the rack loop that is rear most on the rack (this pulls the back of the bike down)

3) From handle bars to one of the loops next to the tow ball (this pulls the front down and the bike towards the car).

4) Again from the same place on the handle bars to the other loop (this is a back-up strap just incase the the other one fails)

I've found with this arrangment the rack ends have never moved from the part that attaches to the car.

I also sometimes put a chain lock around the swing arm through the tow bar mounting bracket if I'm planning on stopping anywhere or when I do evening trials and go to trial straight from work for security.

Also, Lestergg2005 is on the money about not travelling with rack attached and no bike as is could jump out unless you've strapped in on somehow...

Cheers,

Gary.

Edited March 20, 2014 by joeninety

[smalley250]

They wont move with the weight of the bike on them, plus the bike wheels holds it in place. Just dont look back as you go over bumps scares the hell out of me

[telecat]

Same rack that I have. I have placed some Pipe Insulation around the uprights so it does not mark the wheel and use two straps. one goes round the rear wheel about 10 times and is hooked on the loop at the front. The Rachet goes on the loop on the crossbar. Front goes around the inside fork from the Cross loop twice though the wheel round the other fork twice then down to the rachet on the same loop. any excess is brought back up around the fork once and is used to tie down the front mudguard as it can flap in the slipstream. Do not forget the light bar. I use the bungee straps to tension any slack in the tie downs by hooking them through the hoops on the tie down hooks. I have been all over the country with this arrangement and it has never fallen off.

[wobblenorbed]

Good luck at your first trial Tony, have fun bud.

[toetoe]

thanks everyone, i didn't think it could go anywhere but their so much experience on this site, i thought it wouldn't do any harm asking, Ian one of our members as kindly invited me to earl shilton for the afternoon, saturday or sunday, to get some riding time in before i go on my first trial so i'm really looking forward to it and with earl shilton being the closest club to me i will be making myself a member in a week or so.

[ross brown]

At long last, got around to adapting the Dave Cooper 4WD rack to fit my Hyundai Santa Fee. Being the 4WD version the rack was designed to step out a few extra inches to give extra space to a spare tyre hung off the rear door of a 4WD - but absent from a Santa Fee. It required two mods. First, hammer down the extruded tabs on each of the two removable outside arms, so that without the tabs sticking up the arms slide deeper back into the rack. The bike is now some 4 inches closer to rear door. It still sits further out from the car than some racks; but not by much.



Doesn't look it in this photo but the bike does not extend beyond the sides of the vehicle. Using two anchor points (one to handlebars and one frame) plus a strap around the rear tyre to hold it steady. Rock steady at motorway speeds. Should have done this years ago.

Second mod: The rack's pre-drilled UK tow mounting holes (front to back) aligned with nothing on the car. previously on a Honda CRV I had an "L" shaped plate made to bolt the rack thought the tow ball hole. But this could twist and let the rack yaw. So this time around I went for a stronger solution. An all new piece of square bar to replace the standard tow ball mount was found. The a slot out was cut out of it to let the Dave Cooper rack be 'pinched' by the top and bottom of the slot and then the whole assembly was welded it into a single piece (filling in the original mounting holes with weld). The rack is removable, should I need to restore the original toe ball. Bike rides beautifully firmly with none of the previous yaw motion.

Edited December 10, 2014 by ross brown

[redslayer]

Hiya,

I bought 4 hi-viz, weatherproof reflective metal strips (they 'snap' into a coil when the curved strip is bent) from Poundland. Great to quickly snap around the tyres either side. (You can see 'em from your wing mirrors, so on-coming traffic should too).

On the rear wheel - they don't quite reach all around the wheel and I lost one doing xx mph (erm 70 mph) on the motorway, so, I'm going back to buy another 10 (just in case).

Red ;-)