Bicycles

[Ednj]

How many carry bicycles, and how?

[El-Sonador]

May be hard to see from this photo, but I always carry two bikes on a hitch mounted bike rack on my tow vehicle. I had this bike rack on the back of the bus orginaly, but toooo much trouble getting into the engine compartment. This set-up works well for me as I take "Mini-Me" [the name I gave my tow vehicle] on shorter one and two week excursions from wherever I happen to leave the bus.

Steve

[jjrbus]

I carry a Linear recumbent in my Ford Windstar toad.
                                                                        Work?/Play safely Jim

[Merlin]

May be hard to see from this photo, but I always carry two bikes on a hitch mounted bike rack on my tow vehicle. ...
Steve

I'm concerned that carrying my bikes externally (especially on the rear of a bus) would get them covered with dirt, grit and oil.  Have you found that to be the case?

[Merlin]

I carry a Linear recumbent in my Ford Windstar toad.
                                                                   

Ah, a fellow recumbent rider !!  We are a strange lot indeed.  Took us a while to locate a nice toad that could handle two recumbents internally.  Have to remove the front wheels, but that is not a huge deal.

[Timnvt]

We carry 8 bikes (or more) on the back of the bus.  It is a double decker unit with 4 locking fixtures on the top unit and a home made unit below that the rest of them are bungeed and strapped. It is carried via the 2 in. receiver.

We did find the bikes were covered in dirt and grime and blended in well with whatever the back of the bus looked like.  Consequently we purchased 2 bike bags from Camping World which zip around up to 4 bikes to keep them from the elements and from the temptations of others.

This has worked very well for us for years.  The protection bags are a must though they can be a challenge to get around the bikes.

[Ednj]

We carry 8 bikes (or more) on the back of the bus.  It is a double decker unit with 4 locking fixtures on the top unit and a home made unit below that the rest of them are bungeed and strapped. It is carried via the 2 in. receiver.

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Can you still tow with this unit??

[Timnvt]

They do sell the bike racks with the option of having an available 2 in. receiver at the tail end of the rack. It would extend the receiver about 2 feet or so beyond what the existing hitch.  I don't know what the issues might be for trailering where there is a significant amount of tongue weight involved.

For towing 4 down without weight carrying it should be doable but I haven't any idea what the manufacturer's specs would be on that.   

[David Anderson]

I carry 3 on this rack.  It could extend for more if needed.  It's all removable and I made it out of sqaure tubing.

[FloridaCliff]

On the back in cargo rack with an insert that holds the front wheels.

I am going to heed all of your advice and cover them to avoid the DD signature oil sample.