Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 16:04:01 -0500
Reply-To: Carl Hansen <carl_hansen@IEEE.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Carl Hansen <carl_hansen@IEEE.ORG>
Subject: vertical bike mounts
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Here's my set up. I've bounced around the Badlands and the Blackhills of
South Dakota a couple of times carrying two mountain bikes with it, that
included 75 mph both ways across the great S.D. Dessert, I-90 from MN
border to Western S.D.
So it seems to work well.
1. Bike rack by Enflite originally made to be used on a hatch back. It's
a simple affair, just a loop of pipe, with fork skewers mount up top (is
that the correct terminology??) to mount the bike upright, front to back,
minus the front tire, on the trunk of your hatchback or Jetta or whatever.
2. Mounted on the back hatch of the Vanagon, it hangs down, rather than at
an angle as originally intended.
3. My original set up used Canoe foam pillow blocks (3" x 3" x 4") to set
the rack off the hatch a bit. This was less than effective since I like to
use the wiper, and there wasn't really room to clear the wiper. (Also, the
pillow blocks moved around in the Badlands once and I ended up wearing the
paint with the rack. oops)
4. To prevent this problem, and give clearance for the wiper to work, I
mounted a standard Yakima bar using standard Yakima towers across the back
of the hatch, just below the back window. Had to do a little bit of pick
and choose to find the right tower.
5. Bikes hang straight down from top edge of roof. I use a bungy cord or
two to secure the tire to the lower part of the rack. They don't swing
around, and seem to be stable. They don't block the tail lights, and you
can lift the hatch to open up, although it's too heavy for ANY hatch shock
to hold, no matter how good Ron or Kyle might think their's are. Have
traveled quite a bit without problem.
6. I don't remember how much I paid, only that I got the rack from REI.
It's been close on to 6 years with this set up now, first on my '90 Carat,
now on my '89 Syncro. If someone wants, I could take a picture.
Ch
'87 16V GTI
'87 16V GTI with hail damage
'89 16V GTI with hatched engine. anyone need parts?
'89 SyncroBeast Vanagon
'86 Scirocco (8 valve w/ auto)
Prior Lake, MinneSnowta
well, ok, it's summer
Land of Sky Blue Waters
