Bike racks on motorway?

Yay or nay in people’s opinions?

Just your standard bootlid bike carrier & about 30mike trip.

Yeah… Just make sure your light board works and your reg is present

The best way to use boot mounted racks is to take the wheels off the bike and put the bike, then each wheel, on the sticky out bits.

This leaves your brake lights and indicators free, and reduces the amount of wind drag on the rack…

I mainly bought the rack so I didn’t need to keep taking the wheels off.

I don’t have a light board, is this a legal requirement? I have a 09 focus so lights on the sides seem visible enough

Mate, if you’re concerned over a 30 mile trip best thing you can do is stay at home…

Not just the lights, the registration number needs to be visible – seen a few cars pulled over recently on A roads, a few families cycling trips spoiled. When the Police pull you over for the lights they will also double-check how secure the bikes are

Yes, we have yearly done 1200+ mile trips in a week with them on…

30 miles? Couldn’t you just cycle?

I’ve not been pulled yet and I’m pretty sure I have done several 200+ mile journeys with mine. I do make sure my reg plate is visible and I guess the lights can be seen through the bikes wheels. But I know that I really need a lighting board. Did find some plus connection kits on fleabay not too pricey really…

Mate, thanks for the great input there.

I do tend to keep the speed down whilst the rack is on as hate watching them on in the mirrors, but think I need to invest in the light board and plate. Thanks for the advice as always.

^ and to add to mine, ours are roof x2 bikes and 3x on bootlid Halfords advance, high enough up to see lights and reg.

Re the lights being obscured – consider what would happen if some trumpet rear ends you writing off your bikes and your car. You can bet a decent lawyer would get them off if your brake lights were obscured (regardless of whether they are actually visible or not)

Ours showing how high the bikes are held.

If you’re worried about your bike at 70 then you need a better rack. Bikes can’t budge and I’ve stood on the end of it to prove to myself it’s tough!

This ones fine at 70, it was 70 honest m’laud

http://www.aistoncycleracks.co.uk/

Mine used to wobble above 60, partly because it was on a small car and stuck out a fair way. Hated the thing, although I never lost a bike and did plenty of miles with it on. Never got pulled for lights/number plate although I wouldn’t have had much of a defence if I had been. So glad I can now fit bikes inside and don’t have to use the thing.

Towbar mounted racks are the way to go… solid as a rock on the auto bahn.

rickt tells the truth.

If I had the choice i’d opt for a tow ball mounted one but I couldn’t afford it at the time so opted for a Saris Bones RS (ratchet system). It’s on an MPV thing so gets shielded from the wind pretty well and has been fine with 3 bikes at autobahn speeds. We’ve done 1000’s of miles with it on and not had a problem.
Don’t have an additional board and should really as the lights and plate are partially obscured. Have been lucky so far…..

Just got back from 1000+ mile holiday (Wakefield- Bude) with two bikes on an old boot mounted rack on a Focus with no problems.
Took wheels off to save on drag and secured frames with a rope and Kryptonite cable lock (plus a ‘D’ lock when parked up).

Saris grand fondo good for two bikes, rear lights and reg plate fine.
Saris do a no fall off guarantee IIRC

with a cheap folding rack I added (via tailgate ‘gaps’ and rear seat belt top mounts) 2 extra 1″ motorbike hook straps, make sure rack straps in good condition, don’t rely on just rack strap clamp (put a loose knot etc in strap to help stop slippage), do up properly and if it rains it might be wrth checking as things seem to stretch/slip when wet

As said above make sure lights & reg plate aren’t obscured. I’ve been up and down the north bit of the M6 a few times recently and the police have been pulling loads of cars with racks but not light boards.

Many years ago in my late teens I forgot the bike was on a boot mounted rack and I ended up cruising along at 105mph, all was good nothing fell off. Now use a Thule tow bar mounted rack (and drive a bit more sensibly).

Strange question, why not?

Been all over Europe with bikes hanging off the car, no problems.

Lots of cars boot lids are now made of plastic, with aero spoilers and the like, which makes the standard way of latching straps very iffy. I didn’t realise on my Honda it was plastic until some dozy mare reversed into it and it needed replacing. Personally I have the Thule 3 bike towball mount carrier and it is a great bit of kit. Cant fault it for the job, other than if someone goes up the back of you and destroys the bikes. But that is less probable than me forgetting about them on a roof mount set up and a car park height barrier.

Russjp just admits to being a really crap driver.

Ive got a really cheap boot rack ive had for years, used it on a couple of sports cars and gone round corners pretty fast and never had issues.

IanW, I guide for http://www.bikingandalucia.com and got pulled by the Guardia Civil in Spain, as the bikes (firmly fixed on a tow bar mounted rack) were slightly obscuring the no. plate (100 EURO fine). I have a feeling it was as much revenue collecting as law enforcement!
I ALWAYS use a tail board now regardless if the no plate or rear light clusters are obscured.

matt_outandabout – Member
Ours showing how high the bikes are held.

I guess it could even be argued that the registration plate is not clearly visible, is that last letter a P or an F?

So glad I can now fit bikes inside and don’t have to use the thing.

I thought that when I bought the C-max, but after a winter of twice weekly night rides depositing a 3″ thick layer of mud and dog poop in the boot of the car* I bought a rack 🙂

*yes I could have washed it or used a boot liner, but that’s a half hour washing it with muk-off/dirtworker whilst cold/wet/hungry and it’d never actualy be ‘clean’. And the boot liner (unless you get one of those cutom fitted ones) always shifted or caught on a pedal, dropping all that carefully contined mud into the boot anwyay.

Mate, if you’re concerned over a 30 mile trip best thing you can do is stay at home…

I don’t often tend to agree with b r but this ^.

[clicks out of the second thread in a row mumbling to myself…]

Of course. How many bikes do you see on cars on the motorway? How many mangled bikes do you see on the hard shoulder?

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Untitled[/url] by Red Ritchie[/url], on Flickr

this was me in a previous life, now got a different car and use roof rack, but only issue with rear rack was the scratches to the boot/hatch.

Towbar mounted all the way , have done 1000`s of miles and never had an issue, rock solid even well above the speed limit 😀
Have a smaller car now and its solid on there as well

Davidisaacs-

I was looking at more from a safety point of view than compliance with the local regs.

The carrier I use is more like the one pictured above than the towbar designs. Mostly the number plate is visible, although accasionally not, depending on which bikes are on the back, whats on the roof and how carefully I have loaded them.

Either way, as you point out if you meet the wrong officer its going to cost whatever detail you can argue.

Reg boards sound like a good idea.

Nice looking business you have there btw and a lovely place by all accounts.

IW