On Wed, 2 Aug 1995, Mr Andy Smith wrote:
> Also I was thinking more about racks and stuff to hang on the outside,
> I imagine driving to Wales or somewhere in winter on a rainy friday after work
> would be a disaster with no roof and a bike behind the seat !
>
> I used to have a natty roof rack on my old ford which the bike clampled onto
> upright. That one took the bike down to the Pyrenees no problem, but in a
> midget there's no roof of course, hence no roof rack.
>
> I did consider attatching something to the top of the windscreen and the
> roll bar at the back to suspend the bike above my head, but gave up on that
>one
> on grounds of insane danger etc. etc.
>
> I think the boot lid may be the only option, maybe a custom made rack is a
> possibility (maybe even marketable ?)
Commercial racks are available (here, anyway) that attach to a trailer
hitch, and carry 2 bikes without attachments to the body sheet metal. I
have a trunk mount carrier, but it interferes (i.e. prevents) opening the
trunk. Also the trunk flexes a bit under the weight of the bikes. The
carrier is worth $70 or so, so when I get the bikes off, I think it's
advisable to remove the carrier and lock it in the trunk. That's a pain.
I already have a trailer hitch on my Accord, so I am going to buy or make
a hitch mount carrier. I will use 1 or 1.5 inch square steel tubing and
bolt it with a single strong bolt through the hole intended for the ball
mount.
I have considered roof top carriers, but I am classically professorially
absent-minded, and worry I will roll into the garage with the bikes still
inplace. Expensive.
Of course, hitches for midgets are probably thin on the ground, but it
should be possible to have something made up that's sturdy enough for
bikes. After all, there's a guy who occasionally comes to shows here
with a ratty looking XK-120 pulling a small camper trailer.
Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
|