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Are bike racks the new bullbars?

Romke

Making the Most of our Coast
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546
Location
Vanzay, France
Vehicle
T6 Coast 150 4Motion
Those who owned a Defender or early Discovery in the 80s and 90s will remember the one-and-only obligatory accessory: a bullbar. Even if you never went to Finland (where there’s a reindeer on every corner) or North Africa (where free-range goats and donkeys are rife) you had to have a bullbar. I was as guilty as everyone; all my five Defenders (and their predecessors) were armed with one. Why? I admit without shame: it looked macho and a Defender without one just looked naked.
Naked bike racks everywhere...

It seems to me that bike racks fulfill the same role on today's Californias. Over the years that I’ve been on this forum I noticed that the original VW bike rack decorates probably 9 out of 10 Calis. But looking at the pics of those Calis there’s hardly ever one with bikes on the rack! Do those people actually have bikes I wonder? Or is a bike rack just a must-have accessory like the old bullbar on a 4X4? (Recently I even read a post by someone who claimed that they only bought a bike rack because it “just finishes off” their van.)

Living on the continent I notice that the original (expensive) VW bike rack is mostly installed on British Calis; Europeans tend to use cheaper removable racks (mostly Thule) that come off when not in use. Is it a cultural thing? Is a British Cali only a “real” Cali if it has a rack on the back, even unused? Is that why people photograph their Cali from the back (see above) if they have a rack?

Just wondering...
 
Interesting... I have a California Beach and my wife and I have 4 bikes between us but.... no bike rack...
Not sure i’d Want to put bikes on the back then travel around with them in a vulnerable position. I know you can lock them on but some of the locks are next to useless (pish in fact) and wouldn’t stop a determined thief taking several hundred (in fact more than that) off the back of the bus.
They do look cool though....
Farl
 
Horses for courses....
For some, a very valuable lifestyle accessory for others perhaps its more about the looks.
Then there are people like me where it suits both purposes.
As for looks the same can be said for a lot of things, bigger wheels, tint levels, side bars etc.
All a matter of taste.
 
We are very close to 45,000 km in our Cali. Probably 35,000 km with four bikes, and a big chunk of that 35,000 with four bikes plus a child trailer.

I expect we are an exception.

We lock the bikes with two independent and different locking systems. The VW rack locks which need a hacksaw to break, and a 2.5m cable and padlock that would need bolt cutters to break.

While a bike thief may well come prepared with either hacksaw or bolt cutters, they are unlikely to come prepared with both.

My hope is that most bike thieves would take one look and decide to look for a softer target.


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Looks like one in ten use it for bikes.... my bike always go inside but it isn’t cheap I compete in races so sleep with her to!
 
Ours is used only for drying the washing on when wild camping, no muddy wheels on Kylie thanks! (See mountain pic of SusiBus on forum header)
 
Ours is used only for drying the washing on when wild camping, no muddy wheels on Kylie thanks! (See mountain pic of SusiBus on forum header)
Thats a great picture, where is it taken ?
 
We have also made 45.000 km and most of them with a bike rack on. I guess 20.000 km probably with bikes on the rack. But the rack on the tailgate is meant to stay. It is not necessary to remove it and handy to have in place. Actually, I also use it for other stuff than bikes. i.e. surfboards, etc.. So probably why you see many without a bike on it.

In fact, we have two racks. And the Thule that goes on the knob always comes off when not in use. And I (until now) newer had two racks on, at the same time ;-)
 
20180414_205922.jpg Naked here also.

I will say, without a bike rack and without an awning, we rarely get waves back from other Calis...
 
Naked here also.

I will say, without a bike rack and without an awning, we rarely get waves back from other Calis...
Lack of awning confuses me...I don't like waving to plumbers :eek:
 
Europeans tend to use cheaper removable racks (mostly Thule) that come off when not in use.

I'm hoping it will be not too difficult to remove when not in use. Mine is coming with a rack mostly because it was a freebe I was able to swindle the dealer out of. Also seems like it makes a great spare wheel/gas can/luggage rack.
 
Easy to put on I found, so easy to remove as well :thumb
A bit of a lump to store though.
 
Ours is used only for drying the washing on when wild camping, no muddy wheels on Kylie thanks! (See mountain pic of SusiBus on forum header)
Obviously goes without saying it's a beautiful shot and stunning location. Where was that??
 
Wahhhhh..naughty
:shocked
 
We are a 1 in 10 as well then. Bruce mostly rides round naked as he is my daily, and we use a detachable Thule hitch when we take the bikes out.

I’m not a fan of how they look at all and being a short ass, I do wonder how I’d cope getting my bike all the way up there o_O
 
Ours is on most of the time in the UK and I do use it for the bikes although not often. When we're on a long trip and aren't taking the bikes I take it off.

This was our first camper and like someone else mentioned, ours came free from the dealer for all the hassle they caused with our order. Having had nearly 4 years with this set up I would in future fit a towbar and get a thule next time round. Seems daft to have the bikes poking above the roofline on the tailgate rack. And the e-MTB takes some serious hefting to get it up on the rack even without the battery!
 
Looks like from Raasay looking over towards Isle of Skye, Portree Bay.
Photo taken on the road from Torridon to Lower Diabaig in those wonderful West Highlands of Scotland. The exact spot is just before you start to descend down into Lower Diabaig, it is looking east towards Beinn Alligin.
Bad news.
In the morning when we went to move on the central control panel failed and we couldn't lower the roof, thank goodness we had the velcro tie-down kit because we had to drive across to Inverness to get it fixed.
Good news.
The washing was dry.
 
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