Question for Ryan

[Ddaybc]

Hi Ryan,
I posted this a few days ago in the RW forum but you haven't seen it yet. Maybe you will see it here, I hope?

I have a RW4 and I see you do also. You tend to use the Hollywood bike rack on your vehicle don't you? I weighed my RW4 and, with the front basket, the large rear basket, the floorboards and the Ballard Cargo Bags my bike weighs 90 lbs. Naturally the weight is without the battery as I wouldn't transport my bike with it installed. Most bike racks are not designed to be used with such heavy bikes. How do you do it or what do you do to compensate for the weight?
We need a way to transport our bikes to and from various trails so we can enjoy the rides more often.

Thank you

Dave

[mrgold35]

I decided to upgrade my +7 year old solid steel +60lbs Saris Superclamp 4 bike rack.  The Saris rack was bulky, heavy, hard to store, required tools, and lifting the ebikes into the trays was getting increasing more difficult as I got older. I was pushing the weight limits with two 2016 Radrovers and/or 2018 Radcity (always only 1-2 ebikes at most or 2 ebikes+1 or 2 pedal bikes).  Noticed ebikes are starting to get heavier with longer wheelbase since my original purchase. 

Planning to upgrade my old Radrovers soon and might jump ship to Himiway Cobra or Cobra Pro at 88lbs and 51" wheelbase.  Narrowed down my choices for dual rack system for 2" hitch to a dirt bike rack like from Black Widow or Quik Rack Mach2 from QuikRstuff.  Decided on the QuikRack with 120lbs weight limit for each of the two racks, no tools needed to install, no bike prep like removing battery/seat/rack bag, no additional straps, only a few minutes to take on/off, folds for storage at home or trunk/hatch, and an option for a ramp that attaches to the rack.  Expensive and long wait times of 6-8 weeks.  Not expecting to get the new rack until the end of Sept or Oct; but, still have the Saris until then.

[inoxa]

Look at the Specs and reviews on the Wired bike.  1000 watt motor peaking at 2000 watts and a huge battery.
Smaller company but always making positive upgrades.  Out of Chicago.  I have one on order to replace my RR5.
My rover is on it's last leg with power issues that I am still trying to sort out.  I think the battery is finally about to die.

[Ddaybc]

Mrgold35, I am also leaning towards the Quikr Mach 2 rack although the price is kind of scary. I thought of the Saris but for the reasons you stated I don't think it is a good option for us.
I was also thinking of the Hollywood rack that Rad sells. I spoke to the Rad store in Vancouver, BC and they simply don't sell the Hollywood rack for a 1 1/4 inch receiver hitch although I see it available on the Hollywood web site. If I remember correctly, it has the same weight design as the 2 inch receiver although they say one shouldn't use more than the two bike system for e bikes or use more than three for conventional bikes. I couldn't get a definitive answer from the Vancouver Rad store about the weight limit verses my bike as mine is 90 lbs and the limit is 80 for the first tray and 120 for both trays.
I see Ryan has a new video about adapting the Hollywood rack to carry a trike and an additional bike on the 1st tray. I've examined the video and see Hollywood now sells the adapters for loading a trike on their bike rack and the rating is the same as my bike, 90 lbs. It also takes up the equivalent of the second and third positions. It's rated at 90 lbs and the first tray is rated at 80 lbs while the Hollywood rack has an overall rating of 170 lbs for a class lll hitch.
I think my hitch will be fine for two bikes as it's got a higher rating (it's a class ll) than a normal 1 1/4 receiver with a class l rating. I just have to decide which one to buy. The Hollywood rack or the Quickr Mach 2.

[mrgold35]

I would also double-check the tow rating and tongue weigh limits of your vehicle. Usually; but, not always the tongue limit is about 10% of max towing (1500lbs towing/150lbs tongue limit).  Sometimes the same racks come in 1 1/4 or 2" sizes and others only have one size with and adapter for the different size hitches.  Those adapters can lower the max weight and max tongue limits sometimes depending how long they are.  You might have to add anti-sway/anti rattle device and extra hitch lock for some adapters.

I just worry too much and tend to be be overly cautious. I figured if a rack max weight is 60lbs per tray and I have two ebikes would equal 120lbs resting weight.  Then I worry about driving +70 mph on the hwy or hitting bumps/dips and how much stress and fatigue on main arm on the maxed out bike rack. A 120lbs of ebikes might feel like 180lbs sporadically on the rack on a bumpy washboard trail.  I'm just not certain if 2X60lbs is the absolute max or did Saris build-in a buffer of +/- 30lbs for extreme conditions.  One of my reason for upgrading to Quikrack with 240lbs limit for 140-160lbs of ebikes.

[JimInPT]

I see Ryan has a new video about adapting the Hollywood rack to carry a trike and an additional bike on the 1st tray.

I saw that video and the recovering mechanical engineer in my head was scared to death, thinking of that thing loaded up with a trike (much less another bike as well) out at the end of that stick, swinging up and down on a rutted road or hitting potholes.  Sooner or later, something's going to break and God help the person on the road behind it when it does.

[Radio Runner]

I see Ryan has a new video about adapting the Hollywood rack to carry a trike and an additional bike on the 1st tray.

I saw that video and the recovering mechanical engineer in my head was scared to death, thinking of that thing loaded up with a trike (much less another bike as well) out at the end of that stick, swinging up and down on a rutted road or hitting potholes.  Sooner or later, something going to break and God help the person on the road behind it when it does.

I had to watch that video with this mention. Yes and wow! That is a moving violation of physics.

[Ddaybc]

JimInPT and Radio Runner I understand your concerns. However I believe the design of the trike addition to the Hollywood rack was engineered and they have checked the weight limits, torque etc that could occur with normal use. During the video they also mention the trike addition should only be used with a class lll hitch. The tongue weight of a class lll hitch is 800 lbs so I don't think failure will be an issue. A class ll hitch has a tongue weight of 350 lbs so I can see how that could be a concern.

Having said that, I am now confident my RW4 would work fine on the Hollywood rack and a class ll receiver hitch. Now I just have to decide on which rack to purchase. The Hollywood rack or the Quikr Mach 2.

I would have liked Ryan to answer my initial question as the Hollywood rack recommends removing the floorboards on the RW before loading. I want to see if they have a "work around" for the issue as I don't want to remove mine before loading and then reinstall them once ready to ride.

[Ryan]

JimInPT and Radio Runner I understand your concerns. However I believe the design of the trike addition to the Hollywood rack was engineered and they have checked the weight limits, torque etc that could occur with normal use. During the video they also mention the trike addition should only be used with a class lll hitch. The tongue weight of a class lll hitch is 800 lbs so I don't think failure will be an issue. A class ll hitch has a tongue weight of 350 lbs so I can see how that could be a concern.

Having said that, I am now confident my RW4 would work fine on the Hollywood rack and a class ll receiver hitch. Now I just have to decide on which rack to purchase. The Hollywood rack or the Quikr Mach 2.

I would have liked Ryan to answer my initial question as the Hollywood rack recommends removing the floorboards on the RW before loading. I want to see if they have a "work around" for the issue as I don't want to remove mine before loading and then reinstall them once ready to ride.

We haven't been riding our RadWagon as much this year. We have been putting more miles on the Lectric XPedition (which is easier to load up on our QuikR rack) as well as our Xtracycle. I wonder if the new wheel adapters Hollywood Racks includes would help lift the rear tire up a bit so you didn't have to remove the boards. My brother still uses his RW4 and I gave him the Hollywood Rack - I'll check with him to see how he has managed. Not sure what to say on the weight since it's a limit. Kind of doing it at your own risk I guess.

On the Trike Adapter I will say in talking with some of these rack brands (can't speak for Hollywood) that they do really put them to the limit. From my understanding, they pretty much take them to where they fail in a worst-case scenario off-road and then pull back quite a bit from there due to liability reasons. Technically my vehicle in the video wasn't even rated for the weight of the loaded rack.

[Ddaybc]

Ryan, Thank you very much for the answer. I'm curious what your brother does with his RW4 and the floorboards. Please comment here when you find out.

I accept the weight limit is a limit and one would have to do things at their own risk. Thank you.

I live in BC, Canada and the Hollywood rack is sold by the Rad store in Vancouver. However they don't sell the 1 1/4 version so I would have to order it directly from Hollywood Racks. Their price is $747 US and, today, that converts to $1011 CAD. The Quickr Mach 2 is 679 US for a single and for an add on tray $479 US. It converts to $920 and $650 CAD so $1570 CAD.

Given that I need to order whichever one I choose, I would need to pay shipping, customs duties and taxes. I am leaning to the Hollywood racks as it's a lot cheaper than the Quickr rack, seems to work well and will eventually cost less than $1500 CAD. Whereas the Quickr rack will end up costing $2000. 

[Ddaybc]

Hi Ryan,
Any answer from your brother about what he does with the floorboards on his RW4 when he loads it on his bike rack?

[Ddaybc]

Bump so Ryan can see this and possibly answer the question of what his brother does with his floorboards when loading his RW4 on the Hollywood Rack.

[Ryan]

Sorry he hasn't tried it yet.

[Ddaybc]

Ah, OK. Thank you for checking.