Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2002 22:12:29 -0400
Reply-To: Myron Lind <mdlind@RICA.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Myron Lind <mdlind@RICA.NET>
Subject: Re: Roof Rack Questions
In-Reply-To: <00b501c20a69$3f9701a0$6601a8c0@pacbell.net>
Jim,
I sell Thule Rack at our bike shop--for the Westy I prefer a rack that goes
into a 2 inch receiver hitch. (There are lots of opinions on this).
Depending on how fancy your bikes are and whether you care to take off the
front wheel will determine what sort of rack options you have. Thule (and
many others) make pretty nice racks that the bikes just hang off of for both
1 1/4 inch and 2 inch receivers. Thule also makes a rack with fork mount
attachment that goes into both receivers. They use the same fork mount
mechanism as the roof rack. They have basically made an adapter to get them
to connect to the 2 inch receiver. You can do up to four bikes. For more
money you can have the whole thing pull directly back from the van, or all
the less expensive models will tilt away. Yakima has one that hinges off to
the side).
If you have tandems or recumbents, Draftmaster makes a rack that uses fork
mounts and the bikes are carried with the nose up in the air and the rear
wheel down near the bumper. Think of a roof rack mounted almost vertically
on the back of you van. This one also pulls away from the van. The linkage
is somewhat like a vise-grip with a pin to lock it. It pulls back far enough
to open the hatch. I have carried a recumbent tandem on a rack like this. It
stuck about 10 feet or so into the air, but rode along very nicely. I may
have a picture of this somewhere if you would be interested.
Gary and some other list members sell some racks that look pretty good as
well, but I prefer to mount into the hitch. The hitch racks usually tilt or
swing away and allow you to open the door and they don't hang a lot of extra
weight on the door. The downside is the really nice hitch racks cost about
2-3 times what a door mount rack costs.
Myron Lind
81 Westy
82 Westy getting mechanical TDI, 5 speed, and AC
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of Jim Rohrer
Sent: Sunday, June 02, 2002 3:11 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Roof Rack Questions
I'm in the market for a mounting system for my 86 Westy also. Would like to
be able to mount four bikes. Can you tell me which Thule setup you got? Is
this mounting on the gutters with risers to position the rails above the
pop-top?
Anybody else have opinions on the best system for mounting four bikes on a
Westy?
Jim
----- Original Message -----
From: "SpaceKommander" <jboldway@BEE.NET>
> Howdy!
> I purchased a Thule roof rack system for my kayak today at EMS. Got the
> #877 rollercoaster kit for the kayak. Not sure what to do for the bike -
> the Westy roof is as tall as me and my outstretched arms. Obviously I'll
> need something to stand on. Should I go for fork mount or down tube mount?
> Anybody have any experience with roof racks for a Westy?
