bike rack

[colin-yorkshire1]

hi all,
I was thinking of getting a bike rack for the back of the car, but had a thought? if you have a bike on a rack while towing.
A. does the weight of the bike and rack have to be deducted from the vans noseweight
B. does it reduce the turning circle of the unit by much,
I have seen them used together but jut wondered,
colin

 

[Sproket]

If it is one that is supported / fastened to the tow bar ?

Then it will have to come off the nose weight .......

If it is one what is strapped to the back door like this

They are OK ....BUT you have to watch that you do not go over the max weight on the rear axle of the car
Your turning circle will be reduced, but only depending on what sort of rack that you decide to buy & how far the bike sticks out from the car.

 

[Martin24]

Are the strappy ones still legal??? The solution we're thinking of (and will probably only take the three bikes not five) is to get a smallish towball mounted rack for when away, travel with the bikes in the van and whack the rack on the roofrack for the journey.

 

[Sproket]

Strappy bike carrier test

 

[Tapestry]

Empty post (likely not intentional - probably an Internet Explorer issue!)

 

[Sproket]

Tapestry .......
I presume that you are using Internet Explorer 9 & that is why that your post did not load ?
Follow the instructions in this link below for a easy fix :-

http://www.practicalcaravan.com/forum/our-website/fao-internet-explorer-9-users

 

[joeby]

been travelling up the pacific highway from sydney now in the gold coast at tweed heads , all the bikes i have seen are on the back of the caravan along with the spare wheels gas bottles are carried on the a frame not in the locker some even have a metal box on the rear well ,been here 6 weeks now another 2 left

 

[Martin24]

have a look at Pendle bike racks on line, they have a section on caravan/towing racks. No good for what I need but may suit you

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

hi,
thanks guys I did look on internet for the different typs of rack all of them seem to have disadvantages either they restrict the turning circle of the van regards the ammount of overhang either side of the car or stand out too far from the boot,
a roof mount looks favorite but you have to lift it up there and of course theres the A frame one thats adds weight to the nose (bearing in mind the meriva has a low (50kg) maximum, I had thought of looking around for the type like motorhomes have on the back but not sure how this would work on a van??.
mind you I have another priority at the moment getting another satnav mine was stolen in halfords carpark while the assistant was demonstrating a couple of different boot racks we put one on but it was fiddely to adjust went inside to look at a different one and in the space of 2mins we were in the shop someone legged it with my satnav out of the unlocked car .OUCH???

 

[Martin24]

Big Ouch!!!!!!! We used to lift the girl's bikes on the roof of the rexton and it nearly killed us each time. no way we're going to try on the defender. Would avoid putting on back of van even though many will probably say it's fine, I would still worry about all that weight on the rear and stability associated with that. Good luck choosing a new sat nav!

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

hi martin,
thanks for that, yes I agree about lifting it on the car roof it is a bit unwieldy and also about the caravan carrier my thoughts were that being a lot wider than the car there would be no sticky out bits to worry about but the weight is an issue.
.it is one of the motorsave £50 jobbies so has a frame made from scaffolding poles weighs a ton. I use it for work as this is less than a mile away .too far to walk (for me) to close to get the car out, and I am trying to get a bit fitter to push the wheelchair around.
i wanted to take it away when we go as the fishing lake is about a mile from the site. none of the carriers that I have looked at seem to have a ideal locations so will probably leave it at home.
as for the satnav thats sorted

bought one off fleabay for £37 free P&P all I have to do now is wait 3 weeks for it to be delivered "FROM CHINA"
thanks for all your help
colin

 

[hunny1dog]

we use a towball bike carrier, its one where you can hitch the caravan on too. We brought it from a company called MAXXRAXX. We carry two bikes and have no problems with turning circles etc. http://www.maxxraxx.co.uk/Help/tow_and_carry.html