Bike rack options?

[Rustymayes]

I have an E bike that I will be making part of my standard equipment on board. I am thinking of using a receiver hitch flat bed to carry firewood so was thinking of putting a reiver hitch on the front of the coach on the generator slide out frame for a bike rack. On my first trip out I put the bike on one of the slide out basement trays but as I continue to outfit the coach I am sure I will need the space. Once I get the Canyon set up as my TOAD, I'll have more options for carrying a bike as well. Just wondering what others do.

 

[JRS]

This is my setup but they're lighter regular bikes. Then can switch the bike rack to the back of the Jeep when local use is needed.

 

[lostinfla]

This was our setup when we had Ebikes using a Kuat nv2.0 rack on back of the coach above the tow bar. We went back to pedal type bikes and use the same setup now.

 

[Jim]

I'm on the hunt for a rack for our two ebikes and I'm seeing ads that say "Not for use on a motor home". But why is that? What's the difference if I have it behind a motor home or a Jeep?

 

[DennisT]

When we searched for the one we have, basically that means they have not certified for on the back of a motorhome. You will find the same thing on some that are not for use on a vehicle when towed behind a motorhome.

Personally I think it is to cover their bases since they didn’t specifically test that configuration and the overall stresses etc are a bit different depending on where you mount it.

ETrailer has some good filters for searching what they carry that are certified for those uses.

 

[widdershins]

We've been happy with this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09T9BCPNS/?tag=rvf01-20

120# capacity, sturdy and easy on/off. If we're hauling our toad and bikes.. the bike rack goes on the Jeep.

Going by carrying capacity, many racks are light weight. Put them on the rear of a coach where every bump is amplified by the distance to the rear wheels and the rack is hanging out there getting tossed about. And I'm sure some is CYA as @DennisT mentioned.

 

[Rich W.]

My bikes will ride on a hitch mounted rack on the jeep. That way I can take the bikes with me to trails or other places away from the coach. I’m combining a typical hitch-mount two-bike rack with a hitch-mount cargo rack (probably the same as what you are using for firewood) to ensure its strong and secure enough.

 

[Neal]

I'm on the hunt for a rack for our two ebikes and I'm seeing ads that say "Not for use on a motor home". But why is that? What's the difference if I have it behind a motor home or a Jeep?

Typically a rack that folds/pivots will not be "certified" for a motorhome. I went with Kuat and love it.

NV™ 2.0

The Kuat NV 2.0 2-bike hitch rack is a premium hitch rack for your car, truck, or SUV that’s thoughtfully designed with unmatched features and value.

www.kuat.com

 

[Jim]

Typically a rack that folds/pivots will not be "certified" for a motorhome. I went with Kuat and love it.

NV™ 2.0

The Kuat NV 2.0 2-bike hitch rack is a premium hitch rack for your car, truck, or SUV that’s thoughtfully designed with unmatched features and value.

www.kuat.com

I know you did. I actually did a forum search before I posted. lol How often does that happen, right? But at the end of the day, it turns out you have more disposable income than me. . .

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

From my observations, on a RV the distance from the rear axle to the bike rack creates more violent movements which will create more stress that a typical passenger vehicle.

Watching how much the rear bike racks jump around on bumps (on the back of travel trailers) makes me not want to use a bike rack on the RV, unless it was significantly strengthened.

 

[Jim]

We've been happy with this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09T9BCPNS/?tag=rvf01-20

120# capacity, sturdy and easy on/off. If we're hauling our toad and bikes.. the bike rack goes on the Jeep.

I looked at that one, but my 2 bikes combined were over the capacity limit. But thank you, @widdershins !

 

[Rich W.]

We've been happy with this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09T9BCPNS/?tag=rvf01-20

120# capacity, sturdy and easy on/off. If we're hauling our toad and bikes.. the bike rack goes on the Jeep.

Going by carrying capacity, many racks are light weight. Put them on the rear of a coach where every bump is amplified by the distance to the rear wheels and the rack is hanging out there getting tossed about. And I'm sure some is CYA as @DennisT mentioned.

I bought a rack like that used on CL for $40 for parts for the contraption Im building. It will be a little ugly, but it will carry the weight, be very lockable and have additional brake/tail lights and turn signals. Hopefully that will cover all the bases, accept appearance of course. I’d have to buy a Kuat rack for that.

 

[widdershins]

I bought a rack like that used on CL for $40 for parts for the contraption Im building. It will be a little ugly, but it will carry the weight, be very lockable and have additional brake/tail lights and turn signals. Hopefully that will cover all the bases, accept appearance of course. I’d have to buy a Kuat rack for that.

I hope you'll post up a new thread on that, always looking for fun projects!

 

[gibsito]

I use a receiver-type rack that came with my old D250 Dodge. It's not pretty but it works great. The truck has 2" receivers front and rear, so if I'm towing the bikes go up front. The rack is built out of heavy gauge steel with good welds so I don't worry about it breaking. Up until now it's only carried human-powered bikes, but I converted one of them to an e-bike so it's significantly heavier than it used to be. I haven't carried that on the rack yet but am not worried about it.

I built a homemade rack out of iron pipe once, thinking that would be more than strong enough. I didn't realize that the weak points on it would be the threaded portions of the pipe. It worked great for quite awhile, but eventually broke - twice. Both times it dropped my old Specialized MTB (chromoly) to the asphalt at 65 mph, but both times it also stayed attached to the vehicle. That bike is built like a tank. It bent the rims and one of the cranks, but the frame was (and still is) straight as an arrow.

 

[Rich W.]

I have a good stout hanging 4 bike rack but I’m a bit concerned about the weight of these. Mine is now up to 60.4lbs. My wife's is probably around 56.