HomeBuilt

Well I am at a loss trying to find a nice clean and simple way to carry a bike or 2 in the S and cant seem to find anything. I know I can try a universal bike carrier that straps to the trunk and bumper and sits on the car with foam and straps but I would like something more stable and something that I could convert to carry my snowboard too.

I want to find a way to add a small rack to the trunk and be able to mount things to it. I think even with a short based roof rack setup you would be able to carry a bike with this sort of tray for it to rest on and let it overhang in the rear a bit.


Yes there is the option of the Chase Hitch but all in all with all parts totalled out thats $600 or more dollars for everything. I am only carrying a $500 bike so I really can't see spending more on the rack then I did on my own bike.

So right now im wondering if anyone has purchased any cross bars from like Yakima or Thule and somehow clamped them to the trunk and were able to add a bike carrier or ski rack to the car?

Do you guys think this is something that would be worth trying to peice together somehow?

takeshi

I can't see how you'd mount the crossbars to the trunk to begin with. People have used trunk-mounted bike carriers on the S (plenty of threads on those) but that obviously won't help for carrying your snowboard...

Stratocaster

So you base what you will spend on the price of your bike? What about the price of your car?

Since you really don't car about the car, just stuff the bike in the trunk and the wheel in the passenger seat.

Saki GT

I've used traditional trunk bike carriers with success, but use them upside down, or backwards, so the short part of the carrier is down by the license plate and the long part is tucked up by the window. U se towels under everything to keep the paint from getting scratched.

The result is the bike will hang farther off the car and you won't dent the trunk, but its a process to get everything strapped in, and i don't use the side straps so I don't damage the paint, so lateral support is weak.

As for using a roof rack on the trunk, I don't know if that would work. The trunk is so short, I'd be worried about putting stress on the trunk and bending it with too much bike weight hanging off the back.

I'm with you on the hitches - they are nice, but I don't carry my bike enough to justify the pricey investment.

I've seen this at a more reasonable $200, but I have some doubts how well this works for S2000s since our plate is in the bumper- http://bdi-bike-rack.com/index.htm



Miata owners seem to love it, so why not get it and let us know how it works on an S2000?

shamoo

Depending on the type of bike, you may want to take caution on using a trunk mount. The bike pictured above weighs almost 50lbs. One bump, and a trunk mount would fail and your $3K bike would be smashed on the highway.

HomeBuilt

I am willing to spend money on the this just to me $600 seems a bit extreme. I mean I am only taking the bike out once a weekend and same with snowboarding I only go on the weekend. So it just doesn't seem like going with a hitch is the wisest decision. BUT maybe its the only decision I have since yes there are various bike racks that are universal and fit our trunks but nothing that can carry a snowboard.

HomeBuilt

[QUOTE=shamoo,Jun 15 2009, 03:17 PM]

Depending on the type of bike, you may want to take caution on using a trunk mount.

HomeBuilt

Just found this setup too which is very close too what I want to do just now have to find out how they did it.

Seattle2k

What about those out there with big ricer wings?

..sorry, couldn't resist.

iam7head

on my miata

it carries two full size bikes