I agree with whoever said it on the last page, carrying bikes on racks is just mad unless you really have no alternattive, saving the boot from a little bit of mud is not worth risking a very expensive bike for. Parking damage, minor prangs, road debris, salt and of course coming off racks. My bikes are going nowhere near one.
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useful bit for the OP: if you are worried about the frame ask very nicely at your local RAF base, some have big x-ray machines for checking wings and things for stress, can be used to inspect bike frames too. My old Marin went through the one at RAf Leuchars.

Rscott. Sounds like you where very unlucky. Like I said I ride with a lot of officers doesn’t mean some of em aren’t jobs worths!! But if they did that all the time I’m sure people who owned estates would run that risk every time they carried something in the back! You were right just to take the points even if it felt wrong!

can’t understand people who drive around in an otherwise empty car with a bike strapped like a trophy on the outside.

carrying bikes on racks is just mad

Hmm. I do have an estate and if its just me and the bike it does go inside. I dread to think of the consequences of ~15kg of spiky angular metal flying around the inside of the car in an accident though, even a minor rear end shunt. If I’ve got my children or any other passengers bikes always go securely mounted on a tow ball rack.

Bencooper, when metal is dropped it does different things, alloy tends to crack, steel tends to bend. This is caused by the way the molicules move within the density of the metirial. Its not always visible.

Interesting – do you have any references?

Just my friends opinions then.

Yes as the traffic officer I use to ride with regular was never bothered by them or the one that stopped me from speeding, he asked where I got it as he wanted one.

It was one of those halfords boot mounted racks as far as I know, you know the frame ones with hooks that go in panel gaps.

Other than that I know very little as I wasn’t there at the time

I did something very similar with my bike on the A40. Just needed a new front wheel, saddle, grips and rear mech. I was amazed…forks and frame were a little scratched but perfectly fine. You’re bro in law should get the bike shop to take a look, the frame and forks could be fine.

Believe me, that’s a scary thing to happen. The new Thule foot fitting had sheared so my bike ended up in the middle of a dual carriageway in Yorkshire. Still attached to the carrier.

Contacted Thule who wanted the part sent to them, 6 month old car had some nice damage of around £700. Insurance company said that an engineer’s report had to be submitted, at our expense despite having legal cover. Thule claimed there was nothing wrong with the part, an absolute lie. Insurance company wouldn’t pay out for damage to the car.

I was extremely distraught by the accident, had visions of people being injured by bits of bike in the road. In the end we decided to put it all behind us, it’s not something one wants to remember.

I agree with whoever said it on the last page, carrying bikes on racks is just mad unless you really have no alternattive, saving the boot from a little bit of mud is not worth risking a very expensive bike for. Parking damage, minor prangs, road debris, salt and of course coming off racks. My bikes are going nowhere near one.

See, I disagree, after thoroughly trashing my car over the last winter loading bikes covered in frozen shit (often literally) and unloading it again a few hours later when it’s defrosted, no matter how many layers of boot lining and tarpaulin went it the mud/water found it’s way through and the boot carpet developed it’s own ecosystem!

Maybe if I only took the bike in the car once a week it’d have been OK but 3 or 4 it just proved impossible to keep the car clean.

Got an Aiston rack now so hopefully a thing of the past!

risking a very expensive bike for. Parking damage, minor prangs,

This is how my missus explains all the damage on her car, some of us just look where were going while reversing!

I would rather trash my car than risk my bike. If you are that fussed about the inside of the car a dirtworker is great. I have one but that’s just to help me care for my bikes.
cars are only a couple of hundred quid, and easy to replace, bikes are several thousand and much harder to replace. After a house a bike is most people’s most expensive possesion, look after it!
I have heard that are some weird people who have cars which cost more than a bike but not many on here I guess.

I’d rather risk my bike. Bikes are only a few hundred pounds car are over £20k.

He’s lucky it didn’t hit a child’s face.

Or a Mauritius Kestrel!

To explain my earlier Post.

I was pulled over for a check as car was apparently Not insured, It was a new car and the weekend, I showed all documents and all was fine. they looked around my car. And told me the bikes were at risk of damaging a window and they were classing this as an insecure load.

I tried to explain they were tied down and couldn’t move but the officer said that it wasn’t his place to decide and that I would have to go to the police station with the producer.

In the end it wasn’t worth the hassel arguing it and only put my insurance up but £3.

I’m more confused now. The officer says your bikes were insecure, when you explained they were tied down he says it wasn’t his place to decide if they were secure or not 😕

Producer???

Bikes outside, never I owned a van and before that an estate car that fitted bikes with only the front wheel out.
Now the missus went and got a bloody forrester when we got to Oz and my bike doesn’t fit upright and there’s not that much room for stuff inside anyway.

I got a tow bar online and fitted that, then got a rack for it (fits in the 50mm box with a heafty pin same way the tow ball does. Now it’s rated way more than the weight of the rack & 3 big DH bikes so 2 trail bikes are fine. Strapped down so they can’t move, no salt, never left unattended and parked on the drive in a dead end street where you can’t see. I’m happy enough, my insurance covers it fine so long as there is a lock round the tow bar mounts then onto the bikes. Works for me.

I still don’t get it either.
It’s a bank holiday Monday. Half the cars traveling back up the M5 to Birmingham tonight are going to have gazebos, tents, kids toys and all sorts of other rubbish crammed in the back with just the glass holding it in. They’re not all going to get producers.

I don’t get this idea of being precious about the inside of a car either.
I drive a 23 year old Land Rover with dents on every panel.
What’s so serious about getting a bit of mud on the inside of a car that’s going to get weighed in for scrap in ~5 years anyway ?

Very odd.

They *should* pull people with badly fitted strap on racks with the weight resting on plastic bumpers and straps flapping loose.

Tow ball racks and Thule fork mount seem really solid. I’d not trust anything else

Bikes are only a few hundred pounds car are over £20k.

Odd priority. What’s the point of a posh car? A banger will still you from A-B just as quickly. You could have had really nice bike for £20k, maybe even two, and a lot more fun.

Odd priority. What’s the point of a posh car? A banger will still you from A-B just as quickly. You could have had really nice bike for £20k, maybe even two, and a lot more fun.

Odd priority a cheap secondhand bike will get you from A-B just a quickly.

I stopped someone leaving the carpark at the office the other day with a bike rack barely secured and wobbling all over. Apparently it was ‘normal’. 😐
I showed them how to really tighten it up, and to tie off the buckles as they do slowly release. Cue happier driver.
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There are boot mounted racks and there are badly designed, poorly tied off or mounted racks – of which I see a few.
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Ours in a rebadged Thule by Halfords, that clamps onto the two boot edges (not my pic) – the attachments are steel strips, and when winched and clamped tight, I can swing my whole bodyweight off the arms and the only movement is car suspension and minor flex in in the arms.

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Compare this with this – cheap webbing and buckles, pull from top webbing is close to angle of rack support, most weight on plastic bumper and glass, bottom webbing is not even fitted, and even if you did it has to go around the bottom of a flexible bumper to attach to..? This would be a challenge to get secure.

Compare this with this – cheap webbing and buckles, pull from top webbing is close to angle of rack support, most weight on plastic bumper and glass, bottom webbing is not even fitted, and even if you did it has to go around the bottom of a flexible bumper to attach to..? This would be a challenge to get secure.

Nah, that will be solid in that pic, bottom straps on boot lid, even then attachment to chassis is easy under bumper (but yes, some idiots may attach one to plastic bumper).

Used to run this on mates old clio with 2+ DH bikes, never moved once.

I’ve lost a bike off the back rack. A Rockhopper. Gale force winds managed to snap the retaining straps. We should never have been out in those conditions anyway, with hindsight. It bounced down the middle lane of the M60, then got run over by an artic. The only thing salvageable part was the front brake

20 grand car……

thats a house deposit that is.

the only thing ill trade my van for is a bigger van. SOOOO handy – not just for riding , i dont understand how folks can go through life not having a van – i guess those that have never experianced the joy of van ownership wouldnt understand.

going on riding trips , no bother , muddy bike , no bother , getting changed in the back no bother , going to the tip once instead of 5 times , picking up building supplies , getting a forklift to chuck a pallet of what ever into the back.

plus the bikes are nice and safe + insured ….

To explain my earlier Post.
I was pulled over for a check as car was apparently Not insured, It was a new car and the weekend, I showed all documents and all was fine. they looked around my car. And told me the bikes were at risk of damaging a window and they were classing this as an insecure load.
I tried to explain they were tied down and couldn’t move but the officer said that it wasn’t his place to decide and that I would have to go to the police station with the producer.
In the end it wasn’t worth the hassel arguing it and only put my insurance up but £3.

Firstly, why did you get a “producer” if you had already showed him all the documents and everything was fine ?
Producers are for when the documents are at home, and they don’t show up on the database.

Secondly, if the officer said it “wasn’t his place to decide” then who’s place was it ?

Sounds like a confused tale to me.

I understand how stuff inside a car can be an insecure load. You have to stop suddenly at 70mph, airbags seatbelts etc might save you, but where is the bike going if not secured? Through the back of your head ??

If you carry heavy metal objects in the back of a car best to have a grill across behind the front seats, most vans do.

the only thing ill trade my van for is a bigger van. SOOOO handy – not just for riding , i dont understand how folks can go through life not having a van – i guess those that have never experianced the joy of van ownership wouldnt understand.

+1

I don’t have a ‘proper’ van (Berlingo) but it’s so much better than faffing about with racks.

I’ve had cheap strap mounted boot rack (had to stop most journeys to tighten up, was a trick to it if tied off but didn’t always work), roof racks – never had any problems, tow ball mounted rack – forgot bike was on and accelerated towards three figures to get past something at the end of a dual carriage way to see the bike hanging on by a single strap out of the three it started with.

Probably prefered the towball mounted one out of every type, came off and in the boot in seconds. Never went that kind of speed again and secured it with a solid lock as well as the straps (stop someone knicking it at traffic lights too!). Always kept a very close eye on them, roof ones with a sunroof was a good combo.

Have seen one fall off mount as some idiot raced into Inners car park over the wee drop off the road sliding on to the gravel car park. Wheel mountings were done up well enough to hold it. Really not sure how one of these comes off the mount and the wheel straps but suppose it’s a lot of force working on them.

Wouldn’t go back from having a van now.

I used to have a boot rack on a Fiat 500. You can just about get a bike in one, but not two bikes and not with other luggage, and the glass roof meant no roof rack either. I hated driving with it on. Above 60mph it felt unstable, and I once nearly lost a bike on the M1 (I saw it moving strangely, pulled over to the hard shoulder and realised that it had let go of the bike on one side). We got it to France and back like that last year (from Yorkshire) but long drives trying to stay under 60mph were tedious and I ended up watching the bikes in the mirror as much as the road ahead. Not to mention security – even if you lock the bikes to the rack, it wouldn’t take too much effort to remove the whole thing from the car.

I now have a Berlingo and it’s so much better to have the bikes inside with me!

20 grand car……

thats a house deposit that is.

I already have a house.

I had a little van and it was brilliant it was out second car but we don’t need 2 cars so it went, 2 cars was too expensive to run for us.

Think you may have got rid of the wrong one Drac 😉

If I lost a bike at 70 I’d change it to my pub frame/fork.

I once knocked a bike off my car with a carpark barrier. No biggie IMO. Rotating/kinetics at speed? No ta.

I would rather trash my car than risk my bike. If you are that fussed about the inside of the car a dirtworker is great

Got one, was useless this winter, any mud on the trails was just flicking up and freezing to the frame, not washing off.

I don’t get this idea of being precious about the inside of a car either.
I drive a 23 year old Land Rover with dents on every panel.
What’s so serious about getting a bit of mud on the inside of a car that’s going to get weighed in for scrap in ~5 years anyway ?

Landrovers have no upholstery, and surely it’s a contradiction why would you have a 23 year old car/tractor/van that you’re going to scrap in 5 years?

On a serious note, the car was composting in the rear and stank of (actual) dog shit by the end of the winter, that’s why I’ve got a rear rack!

I just brush the worst of any mud off, got a good tarpaulin in the back and another one to cover the bike.

The only marks my (fairly new) car shows of trasnporting bikes is a load of dints made by the pedal digging into the boot floor but its comsmetic only. Suppose I could have put a rubber or foam mat in there but I didn’t think of that at the time!

Definitely inside the car – much more secure, no risk of damage, no need to buy (and therefore store) a boot rack and, judging from the number of stolen bike threads where it seems people were followed home, much less risk of that too if the scumbags can’t see it immediately.

…why would you have a 23 year old car/tractor/van that you’re going to scrap in 5 years?

What I meant was, the Land Rover is already 20+ years old and will probably outlive me, yet I’m not too bothered about mud and minor damage that doesn’t affect the function.

Most cars, whatever the adverts may get you to believe, are disposable consumer items.
When you think about how quickly they go from £20000 OTR to £50 per tonne, it’s really not worth worrying about a few scratches and dirty carpets.

How about carrying whole family’s bikes on holiday with a boot full of holiday stuff. Thule tow ball mounted rack has served us well for 4 years now. Radical departure now includes adding a rear tailgate mounted rack so I could transport my road bike as well!

No your ford will be scrap in 5 years — the landy wont 😉

More so all you have to do is lift the carpet out the boot once in a while….. But mingers will be mingers