Bike Rack, or how to transport a trike?

Jerry ? wrote:

Subject- Bike Rack, or how to transport a trike? I have a 2008 Yaris
and just had a trailer hitch installed on it. I also have a Sun Bike
EZ-3SX which I really enjoy. I'm looking for ways to transport my
trike to Rapid City to take advantage of some of the bike trails. I
live about 15 miles from Rapid City and no where really neat to ride
here. I want to be able to do some of the bike rides and trails in the
Black Hills. I'm diebetic, need the excerise, and the EZ-3 is my way
of doing it. I'm up to 2 miles each day and working on increasing it.
So I need sugguestions on how to transport my bike. My wife has a
regular bike and by taking the front and rear tires off we can get it
in the car. Either plans for a homemade carrier, or a commericial
one, any sugguestions??

Any roof rack that you can attach 3 channel sections to would work. One
channel for each wheel track, and strap down well.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"People who had no mercy will find none." - Anon.

"Tom Sherman" wrote: Any roof rack that you can attach 3 channel sections
to would work. One
channel for each wheel track, and strap down well.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That would certainly take care of the hauling, but what about the loading
and unloading? I would consider building some sort of crane, that plugs
into the trailer hitch, and swings from behind the car to over the car.
This would make an interesting design/welding project, but, alas, I live too
far from you.

Leo Lichtman wrote:
"Tom Sherman" wrote: Any roof rack that you can attach 3 channel sections
to would work. One
channel for each wheel track, and strap down well.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That would certainly take care of the hauling, but what about the loading
and unloading? I would consider building some sort of crane, that plugs
into the trailer hitch, and swings from behind the car to over the car.
This would make an interesting design/welding project, but, alas, I live too
far from you.


Such as the hinged ATOC racks? http://www.atoc.com/

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"People who had no mercy will find none." - Anon.

"Tom Sherman" wrote: Such as the hinged ATOC racks? http://www.atoc.com/
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That is certainly a neat design (which I didn't know about.) But I can't
see how it could be adapted to a three wheeler. Rather, what I visualize is
a mast plugged into or bolted onto the trailer hitch, It would have a boom
that can swing behind the car, and then be revolved over the car. So,
having installed the three rails on top of the car, that you suggested, you
would lift the trike (by hand or with a pulley), so that it hangs high
enough to clear the rails. It could then be positioned over the rails, and
then lowered.

It's easy to visualize, a little tricky to build and a pleasure to use.

"Tom Sherman" wrote in message
...
Jerry ? wrote:
I have a 2008 Yaris
and just had a trailer hitch installed on it. I also have a Sun Bike
EZ-3SX which I really enjoy. I'm looking for ways to transport my
trike to Rapid City to take advantage of some of the bike trails. Either
plans for a homemade carrier, or a commericial
one, any sugguestions?

Duh, U have trailer hitch, attach trailer to it, thus have way to transport
bikes. A Yaris can pull small trailer. I've an Chevy Aveo, thats how I
transport my Cat trike n other bikes.
..

"trailgalore" wrote in message
...

"Tom Sherman" wrote in message
...
Jerry ? wrote:
I have a 2008 Yaris
and just had a trailer hitch installed on it. I also have a Sun Bike
EZ-3SX which I really enjoy. I'm looking for ways to transport my
trike to Rapid City to take advantage of some of the bike trails.
Either plans for a homemade carrier, or a commericial
one, any sugguestions?

Duh, U have trailer hitch, attach trailer to it, thus have way to
transport bikes. A Yaris can pull small trailer. I've an Chevy Aveo, thats
how I transport my Cat trike n other bikes.
.


A trailer would be a good solution if there is a place to store it. I saw a
light trailer that IIRC folded to reduce width, was light and easy to move
around by hand and was designed to be stored sitting on the tailgate so it
took up little precious floor space. Don't remember cost or maker...sorry.
FWIW, I have a Subaru Forester and a trike which fits inside if I fold down
the rear seats. I have also carried a trike on the roof of the car using one
crossbar and a couple of tie-down cargo straps. Bit of a PITA and requires
enough strength to lift the trike to the roof. That would have been a
perfect opportunity to have used a trailer.

gotbent aka FRVT rider

gotbent wrote:

A trailer would be a good solution if there is a place to store it. I saw a
light trailer that IIRC folded to reduce width, was light and easy to move
around by hand and was designed to be stored sitting on the tailgate so it
took up little precious floor space. Don't remember cost or maker...sorry.
FWIW, I have a Subaru Forester and a trike which fits inside if I fold down
the rear seats. I have also carried a trike on the roof of the car using one
crossbar and a couple of tie-down cargo straps. Bit of a PITA and requires
enough strength to lift the trike to the roof. That would have been a
perfect opportunity to have used a trailer.

For a Yaris, a small trailer would be the only way to go. For larger
cars with 2" hitches, there are some flat-bed racks that would work, but
they're too heavy for a Yaris and its 1.25" hitch.

Folding trailers can be purchased from Harbor Frieght. I.e. the 4' x 8',
990 lb capacity trailer sells for $210 at this time. Harbor Freight
often sends out 15% off coupons to their mailing list customers, which
brings the cost down to around $179. Assembly takes several hours.

"http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42709"
is this trailer at the mail-order division of Harbor Freight, but it's
$320 if you buy it mail-order, plus shipping. In the current sale flier
(176-19B) it's $210, and there's a 15% off coupon.

I have the foldable HF trailer with the 12" wheels
"http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90154"
and it's fine for short trips. The casters they supply are worthless, I
had to replace them with better ones.

On Jul 24, 8:09*pm, Tom Sherman
wrote:
Jerry ? wrote:
Subject- Bike Rack, or how to transport a trike? *I have a 2008 Yaris
and just had a trailer hitch installed on it. I also have a Sun Bike
EZ-3SX which I really enjoy. I'm looking for ways to transport my
trike to Rapid City to take advantage of some of the bike trails. I
live about 15 miles from Rapid City and no where really neat to ride
here. I want to be able to do some of the bike rides and trails in the
Black Hills. I'm diebetic, need the excerise, and the EZ-3 is my way
of doing it. *I'm up to 2 miles each day and working on increasing it..
So I need sugguestions on how to transport my bike. My wife has a
regular bike and by taking the front and rear tires off we can get it
in the car. *Either plans for a homemade carrier, or a commericial
one, any sugguestions??

Any roof rack that you can attach 3 channel sections to would work. One
channel for each wheel track, and strap down well.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"People who had no mercy will find none." - Anon.

http://www.sunbicycles.com/sun/
Says your bicycle has a 59.5 wheelbase (distance between axles) and 32
in width (between rear wheels).
http://www.reese-hitches.com/categor...._Capacity,477
has various platform to carry stuff. The largest I saw was 23 * 60.

Thought experiment #1 mounting bicycle on rack.
Lift the front wheel onto one side.
Lift rear and push front across carrier.
When you get the rear axle to one end of the frame, the rear tires are
going to be 6 inches outside the frame and the front tire is balanced
on the other side. Is there anyway to build a frame to secure the
rear axle to this side of the frame? The wheel on the other side
could be strapped.

Though experiment #2 alteration & mounting.
On side to hold read wheel, add a 15 inch extension to the rear.
This time, the rear wheel is atop the front corner railing and the
rear added extension, and the front wheel is atop the rail at the rear
corner on the other side. If the front wheel is turned all the way to
the front it should fit inside the railing. How can you strap down
the wheels at this point?

If they had a 36 * 66 carrier, you would be set!

www.northerntool.com sells one for a little bit more. They have pic's
of it folded. Just search their site for 'folding trailer'.

A u-build rack here http://fleettrikes.com/tth.htm#11sept2006

My Mom has a Sun Tadpole and I'm going to build her a carrier that
will slide into her 1.25" receiver. She has a '98 Accord 4dr. Still
have to buy the hitch but material to build the carrier will be dirt
cheap, probably way less than $50. A little wrench to go with it and
she can stow the thing in her trunk disassembled. I wouldn't go long
distances with it, but she doesn't like to ride on-road and the big
bike paths are too far from her house to ride to.


Keith

Mike A Schwab wrote:

http://www.reese-hitches.com/categor...._Capacity,477
has various platform to carry stuff. The largest I saw was 23 * 60.

Not for a class II hitch, which is what will be on a Yaris. For class II
the largest is 21.5" x 49.5".

What might work is buying something like:

"http://www.hitchrider.com/hrt1-2n.htm" and modifying it for the longer
wheelbase of the Sun bike by fabricating some sort of extension for the
front wheel.

Of course a folding trailer is less expensive.