Front Bicycle Rack?

[firehart2]

Sent: 8/28/2007 9:38 AM


Has anybody used a bike rack on the front? How does it effect engine cooling? I have a 73 Brave with a 413.

[DanD2Soon]

Sent: 9/5/2007 12:43 PM


Wayne (firehart2),  Have you seen (78Brave1) Wayne's Photo Montage Yet?     YouTube - Classic Winnebagos Montage 
9th Rig shown has a front mounted Bike Rack.  Maybe 78Brave1 can tell you where he found it.

[78brave1]

Sent: 9/5/2007 5:28 PM


The 9th rig was clydesdalekevins rig if you want to get in touch with him.

[Slantsixness]

Sent: 9/7/2007 12:47 PM

This is a rear Bike rack that goes into a hitch receiver. There was a hitch receiver mounted to the front bumper (which was a square tube).

Valley makes the receiver, and the bike mount bar. As I'm sure other hitch companies make them too.

Tom

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Sent: 9/11/2007 9:22 AM


Hey guys,

We also installed a front bike rack on Excalibur, our 77 Itasca...and it's easy!

Tom is right, we installed a reciever hitch on both of the rig's front bumpers.  On the Ark, since it needed a new bumper anyway, I had the guy who welded the new bumper on also weld on a 2" reciever hitch.  You can buy them at Walmart cheap (made by Reece I think).  They come with mounting bolts to bolt them on, but on the Ark I had it welded.

On the Itasca, I drilled holes in the front bumper support crossmember and simply bolted the new hitch on with grade 8 bolts (the bolts in the kit weren't marked, and I wasn't sure what grade they were, so I bought grade 8 bolts, nuts and washers at Lowes...The last thing I wanted was to hit a bump, have the bolts break, and then run over my precious bicycles on the highway!).

The bike rack on the Ark was a Graber...cheap and dirty, well made, and an old workhorse.  It went with the Ark when we sold it.  The rack on Excalibur is made by Saris...more expensive, but holds the bikes more securely, keeps them from banging into each other, and eliminates the need for additional straps and ropes.

As far as effecting engine cooling, I never noticed any difference, bikes on or off.  The bikes of course are mere frames, and air flows through them.  I wouldn't recommend keeping them covered while driving, though...lol...so if you do a lot of travel with your bikes in the rain, either get aluminum or carbon bike frames (we have Raleigh Technium aluminum bikes...sweet rides for Aluminum), or else coat the inside of your steel bicycle frames with J.P.Wiegel Framesaver, available at any good bike shop.

Kev

[ibdilbert01]

May 07, 2012, 11:25 PM »  In the mist (or fog) of some research regarding bike racks, I came accross an ebay auction that might interest some folks looking for bike rack options.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sportsworks-DL2-Stainless-Steel-Bus-Dual-Bike-Rack-/300574863474?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45fba87072
(City Bus Bike Rack)

A Youtube Video of how they work....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2rQCvoBVjk