Bike racks

[Hawcara]

We are thinking of taking our bikes away with us.

We do not have a bike carrier attached to the motorhome, but I do have one of those things that attaches to a towball, sort of clamps on. Has anyone used one of these on a motorhome, which does not have a rear window (to see if they have fallen off)? Are there any problems with this. Don't think they will go in the garage, as they are too big and there is too much stuff in there already.

We do have a tow ball on the rear of the van.

Thank you :-D

[Tracker]

If you are up Norfolk way at all I have a used Fiamma two bike rack with a new pack of fittings sitting in the shed collecting dust that I am sure we could agree terms on?

 

It may well be that as you have a garage in your van fitting would be simples as you may not need to worry about intrusive looking bolts inside the van and I would be happy to help you (or anyone else if it's no good for you!) fit it here as long as you know where the holes need to go on your particular van.

[crbtaylor]

WE use a tow ball mounted rack for 2 reasons. We have electric bikes that are heavier than standard bikes so lifting them onto a rack mounted on the back panel was difficult, secondly we were concerned about the weight on the back panel. We have a twin lens camera at the rear which allows us to check on the bikes occasionally, but so far, fingers crossed never had a proble,

[Sydney1]

We have recently bought an Atera 3 bike carrier for mounting on the towbar. There are a number of different makes around(Thule etc) and all seem pretty well engineered and I'd suggest much more robust than a Fiamma type which we have on another vehicle, especially when you think of the leverage of heavy bikes or the jolt you get when going over speed bumps or pot holes.The mounting is very positive and the retaining straps and poles are very secure. I don't give it another thought once fitted. We needed the towbar option due to weight limitations on the rear panel and the ladder

[derek pringle]

crbtaylor - 2013-05-02 7:19 PM

 

WE use a tow ball mounted rack for 2 reasons. We have electric bikes that are heavier than standard bikes so lifting them onto a rack mounted on the back panel was difficult, secondly we were concerned about the weight on the back panel. We have a twin lens camera at the rear which allows us to check on the bikes occasionally, but so far, fingers crossed never had a proble,

 

Hi Hawcara,

We are in exactly the same position as this poster and fully endorse his comments re usage etc. Up to now no probs and brilliant to use.

chhers and good luck

derek

[dencol]

I'm also thinking of a tow bar carrier for my electric bike, but have at the back of my mind reading somewhere about the downward weight on the tow bar being too much and a tow bar coming adrift.

 

Would I need to find out how much my tow bar can take or am I mistaken thanks

 

 

[Guest JudgeMental]

dencol - 2013-05-03 1:41 PM

 

I'm also thinking of a tow bar carrier for my electric bike, but have at the back of my mind reading somewhere about the downward weight on the tow bar being too much and a tow bar coming adrift.

 

Would I need to find out how much my tow bar can take or am I mistaken thanks

 

 

You are right you need to check before going ahead, but a couple of bikes on a rack should be fine....

[crbtaylor]

I might be wrong on this but most towbars have a downward rating of 50-70kg depending on the manufacturer, so as long as the total weight of bikes and bike rack doesnt exceed this you should be OK. Our bikes, minus batteries weigh 21kg each and the towbar cycle carrier has a limit of 60kg.

 

The Caravan club quotes 50 - 70 kg for cars and 100kg for 4x4's

 

 

[dencol]

thanks for the replies, will try and find the limits for my tow bar although the sticker with the company name appears to be missing

[Hawcara]

Thank you all for the replies.

We bought ours a few years ago from Kevin Cooper, it was about £40 and is a sort of scissor job that clamps onto the towball itself, with two arms that come off it that you hang the bikes on. Anyway with the positive comments received will give it a go. :-D

[tonyishuk]

might help ?

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Bike-Rack-for-Towbar/30989/

 

Rgds

[flicka]

For anyone with an AL-KO Chassis or Chassis extension the new AL-KO sawiko/Mikro Load Carrier(s), (advertised in June 2012 MMM) should be of interest, as it look to be fixed directly to the Chassis (without the need for a Towbar) so should reduce overall weight.

The Mikro (4 bike or 1 scooter + 1bike) has a capacity of 130kg.

http://www.al-ko.co.uk/pages/motorhome-accessories.html

 

Looks like it will also fit all the current "sevel" vans, as the advert in MMM, also shows one mounted on an Adria PVC.