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Does anyone carry bikes on a sports car?

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Does anyone carry bikes on a sports car?

Old 05-03-21, 01:36 PM
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2wheelwreck
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Does anyone carry bikes on a sports car?

Is this question bizarre?
What car?

For years the wife and I have packed our bikes on a hitch rack and done countless away trips that included cycling days. Not hard core, just trails / paths.
Our other major rec travel was extended sports touring by motorcycle.
A recent health issue changes things.
Can't carry the wife on the back.
Looking for a new(er) toy to combine what's left of both passions. Replacing the big sport-touring bike with a small convertible (sports?) car.
Leave the big cage at home and tote the bikes in something small and fun.
Looking at lots of alternatives but need something that will take a hitch for the Thule, some luggage room and at least a "space saver" spare.
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Old 05-03-21, 01:44 PM
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A SRT Durango is a blast to drive & can be packed with more that 12 eggs, 1 gallon of milk, & 2 cycles.
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Old 05-03-21, 01:54 PM
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Thanks. Agree but looking for something smaller
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Old 05-03-21, 01:58 PM
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2021 Porsche 911TS with a rack?
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Old 05-03-21, 02:01 PM
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I used to disassemble my bike and put it into the back seat of my Bmw 325i. But they do make hitches for the 3 series and the convertibles are pretty reliable and there's plenty of them around.



Not my pic but from a company called Stealth Hitches that make them specifically for Bmw.
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Old 05-03-21, 02:12 PM
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I've owned sports cars most of my adult life and IMO the majority of two seaters look dumb with a rack on the back. You might not be comfortable carving corners with a few thousand dollars of bike swaying around off the rear. A couple of helmets, cycling shoes, pump, tools, etc will fill many trunks with little room left for luggage. I'd suggest separating your enthusiasms. Big vehicle for cycling trips, sports car for when the drive is priority.
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Old 05-03-21, 02:18 PM
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Old 05-03-21, 02:19 PM
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Old 05-03-21, 03:04 PM
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You got a few 100k to loan me? I have a cousin who's a Porsche fan(atic). He suggested a Boxster. I've looked at them. A possibility if I could find an older one in good shape. I'm not sure about the hitch for my Thule though. Not a fan of roof racks. I know they are great but I don't want to worry about clearance and first choice would be a convertible. The Beemer looks like a good candidate.

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Old 05-03-21, 03:19 PM
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Originally Posted by shelbyfv
I've owned sports cars most of my adult life and IMO the majority of two seaters look dumb with a rack on the back. You might not be comfortable carving corners with a few thousand dollars of bike swaying around off the rear. A couple of helmets, cycling shoes, pump, tools, etc will fill many trunks with little room left for luggage. I'd suggest separating your enthusiasms. Big vehicle for cycling trips, sports car for when the drive is priority.
I am very comfortable carving corners (this is to replace a sportbike) and it wouldn't be used hitting apexes with bikes on the back. I just really don't want two cars for the job if one will do.
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Old 05-03-21, 03:28 PM
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I'm not sure I would call it a sports car, but I have hitch rack on the back of my mini cooper convertible.
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Old 05-03-21, 03:31 PM
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What cars are under consideration?
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Old 05-03-21, 03:35 PM
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My wife's been carrying her Colnago on the back of her convertible Mustang for the last 5 summers via trailer hitch.
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Old 05-03-21, 03:47 PM
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Originally Posted by kingston
I'm not sure I would call it a sports car, but I have hitch rack on the back of my mini cooper convertible.
That's a possibility. A brother-in-law had the Cooper S and it was a blast to drive. Reminded me of my kart racing days.
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Old 05-03-21, 03:48 PM
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Originally Posted by Outrider1
What cars are under consideration?
I looked at Saturn Sky, VW Eos Volvo C70 so far
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Old 05-03-21, 03:48 PM
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Somebody hereabouts has a Cadillac CTS-V wagon with a bike rack on the roof. Not a sports car, but I suspect it goes like stink and can corner.
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Old 05-03-21, 04:15 PM
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Originally Posted by 2wheelwreck
That's a possibility. A brother-in-law had the Cooper S and it was a blast to drive. Reminded me of my kart racing days.
My wife wanted to get a convertible a few years ago. My only restriction was it had to be able to carry a bike, and this is what she picked.



It's not the highest performance car you can buy, but it is fun to drive. The ride is so harsh and loud it feels like you're going fast even when you're not. The back seats fold down so I put a couple of plastic totes back there with my bike gear when I travel for brevets. Super easy to access everything with the top down. I have the mini-fini sport-link so there's just a couple of holes when the hitch isn't on there. Expensive and not the easiest to install, but a really solid system.
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Old 05-03-21, 05:46 PM
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Many years ago, I bought a new FIAT SPIDER way back more than a decade before the Miata came out. It was marginally better than the MGB, the AlfaRomeo Spider, TR6, Spitfire, and every other competitor in its class including the 914. The Fiat Spider had an upholstered "imitation" back seat, that was officially a parcel shelf area, but you could fit dogs, golf bags, kids under 11, co-eds coming in at 125 pounds or less........ well if you angled the bike slightly and with the ski tow rope permanently borrowed from my parents' boat, I would secure the bike to at least the front passenger seatback because I was concerned that there might be potential for the bicycle to bounce out if I hit a pothole or raised manhole cover at speed. It was a fun car, with A/C too.......underdash install by the dealer as they weren't available with factory installed A/C at that time. Heck, you knew that about the most you'd get out of anything POS like from FIAT, British Leyland, Alfa, Porsche before you needed serious repairs would be about 55k to 70k miles. I got 86k good miles out of the Fiat Spider, and then with the help of my brother who has a Masters in Mechanical Engineering, we transplanted a very low mileage Toyota 2TC 1600cc hemi and the T-50 five speed from a totalled 1978 SR5 Corolla liftback that was only two months old at the time. It was extremely simple other than that the Spider had a mechanical (cable) clutch linkeage set-up, and the Toyota used a juice (hydraulic) clutch linkeage with slave cylinder. The 2TC is a tiny package and very lightweight and though stock net Hp was about about 77hp, you can easily extract 125hp or more. Mine was modified only slightly to give 100hp which sounds like nothing but remember that is more than the brand new Celica, MGB, FIAT SPIDER, ALFA SPIDER, Mustang II, and Chevy Monza were pumping out from their stock 4 cylinders. My brother had been racing all through the seventies, since the late sixties, mainly campaigning a Datsun 510, but also a 911 and a BMW 2002 , and a Ford V8 powered 260Z .

Another convertible, although not what you'd call a sports car, many decades ago I had a 1966 Corvair Monza 110 Convertible. I would often stick my Varsity in the back seat when the top was down. The Corvair got about 75 miles to the Quart...........................you never had to really change the oil, because you were always adding oil because it leaked oil so much................it didn't burn oil.....the engine compression was good and otherwise in decent shape......it is just that the overall engineering tolerances and engineering execution and crappy materials and horrible GM factory workmanship at the time made it beyond junky by even the worst standard since caveman times. The Corvair was a beautiful car but sheesh, very few cars were ever built as poorly as those things were! The Vega was Chevrolet's replacement in the line-up after the Corvair. Only stupid idiot fools ever bought a Chevrolet Corvair! I am one! There are faithful fanatics of the Corvair today but those folks (Corvair Society of America members) have figured out most all the needed modifications & fixes to make them reliable and closer to 600 miles to the Quart(nearly leak free). No joke, there is a guy in South Carolina that developed an Electronic Fuel Injection system about 15 years ago for the Corvair. It is quite good and is sold by the world's largest Corvair parts supplier, as you may have imagined there is only one, CLARKS CORVAIR PARTS, in Massachusetts. It makes the Corvair into a reliable decent car as long as you make the needed modifications & fixes to stop the oil leaks and to repair other factory GM defects.
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Old 05-03-21, 05:58 PM
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^^^The ultimate Corvair- UltraVan. Lots of room for bikes.



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Old 05-03-21, 08:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Troul
A SRT Durango is a blast to drive & can be packed with more that 12 eggs, 1 gallon of milk, & 2 cycles.
You just have to learn how to pack like its a game of tetris, and nothing will shift when I blow past a durango around the corners without slowing down.




I'm loving my Mazda MX5, it is a true Roadster, doesn't have huge HP, the newest does have 180hp, after my tax refund I'll be dropping 2k into getting it to about 200hp which is plenty in a 2300lb car. So not the fastest in a straight line but designed around the idea that there aren't a lot of straight roads and curves are meant to be fun. It is a driving experience. As for bikes, my youngest approves.



Buzz Lightyear hit up Cunningham park in Queens with me and is advancing past the local beginner trails. Yup, in the costume the whole time. A nice hitch rack will do the job, now I just need more performance springs to keep it flatter and get the back to where it should be, my wife's optimism that the hitch rack would come off regularly was highly misplaced.
Should point out the Club edition starts at around 28k which includes big brakes, a limited slip and seat warmers. So also not too expensive.
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Old 05-03-21, 11:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Elvo
I absolutely detest those racks. As someone who worked in a glass shop, there is no way I would put a rack on the back glass. Such a bad idea.
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Old 05-04-21, 04:08 AM
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Originally Posted by Russ Roth
I like the prioritized packing.
"Hey where's that salsa?" "In the spare tire storage area... ugh"
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Old 05-04-21, 05:21 AM
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My neighbor has his e bike and wife's bike on the back of his 2018 corvette. In this picture they are leaving for a credit card

road trip to the PNW.
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Old 05-04-21, 06:13 AM
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I have a BMW Z3 Roadster and would love to find a rack solution for weekend trips. With a lowered suspension the clearance for a hitch rack is frightfully small. Some people have fitted them with a stock suspension and have been OK. The convertible top ruins most other solutions.

Russ Roth Do you have any pictures of the hitch fitment and clearance on the Mazda that you could share?

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Old 05-04-21, 06:46 AM
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Originally Posted by redcon1
Russ Roth Do you have any pictures of the hitch fitment and clearance on the Mazda that you could share?
i don't, it's called a hard dog hidden hitch. Took me just under 3hours to install with an 8yo passing me the nuts and bolts for assembly. All the rear trim is pulled off along with the bumper and it bolts on under the bumper, no trimming of anything required. Sits about 1/2" below the trim. I did have a different rack on there that came out and up giving a lot more clearance going up and down ramps or steep driveways but didn't feel it was sturdy enough to year down the highway at 70 with 10k worth of bikes. So far this sits close enough to not be a problem but I haven't tried leaving the Kissena velodrome with it, my minivan's rack scrapes there unless leaving at an angle and making a turn, trying to leave straight is just one long scrape.
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