In a short period of time I've taken up hiking, running, biking, and kayaking. I've got the bikes and the kayaks, but haven't come up with a good system of transportation besides inside my SUV, which definitely won't work when I'm camping.
How do you haul your toys when you camp, how about when you don't camp? Hitch rack, roof system (what kind)?
Do you have a roof rack on the camper or tow vehicle? If you have cross bars, you can add a kayak and bike holder since they are only about 40 lbs or less each. Yakima and Thule and the two most popular makers. You can also go a cheaper option and put foam blocks on and strap the kayak down.
I don't recommend but you could just pile it all on and run a strap across them.
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When we had the popup we had the Thule bars on the top of it, we could carry 2 kayaks and 2 bikes at the same time. Could also carry 4 bikes. We'd bring a hitch mount bike rack with us for transporting the bikes from the campground to the trail head.
Now that we have a pickup and a hybrid...the front wheel comes off the bikes and they go into the truck bed secured with fork mounts, we're able to bring uo to 4 bikes inside the truck. The kayaks really posed a problem, as I've really had issues with helping Joe lift anything heavy over my head after dual shoulder surgery last year. So that basically rulled out outting the kayaks on the roof of the truck. Thankfully friends of ours gave us a 2-man inflatable kayak that we are going to try. Hopefully that will give us the bike and float options we enjoy.
It wikk be interesting to see what you go wih, as it is always a challenge to figure out the best way to bring the toys.
I use a sleeve mount 3 bike rack, Swagman I believe, from Amazon. It has a bracket that you attach to the drawbar. You need 3.5 inches for the bracket from the bumper to the gusset of the ball mount. I didn't need a longer ball mount though. Bikes sit as close to the vehicle as possible without scratching so you have the clearance for battery boxes or LP tanks. Works awesome for us.
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Here's a pic of what it looks like with one of my bikes on it. It also tilts down if you need more access to the trunk.
2011 Coleman Sun Valley Pop Up Camper bike rack by Ryanincc, on Flickr
If your pup has a GVWR of 3500 lbs or less, you can get a "towable bike rack" on sale right now on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Buyers-P.....+bike+rack
It's basically a bike rack that you can put a tow ball on and tow directly from the bike rack. Just remember the bar is straight. For me, I need a 2 inch drop for my pup to be level.
My phone did this using Tapatalk
[img width=640 height=360]http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/xx205/PAthwacker/Facebook/Mobile%20Uploads/194296_3154370238294_1787270456_o.jpg[/img]
Here was only front bike hitch setup but it was the last trip with my k3500 srw long bed. It had a hitop cap with Thule rain gutter towers. The front hitch carried 3 bikes. On Labor Day weekend 2012 I was in suburban New Jersey returning from a trip. Approaching a green light in a valley light cruising at 30 mph in a 50 mph zone. As I came over the hill a car cut in front of me and braked hard to turn right at light. They had to check mirror to move from left lane to right my lane to turn lane(3). At same time of panic brake two cars moved at once to avoid stalled at green Yukon. It was wet and the trailer locked up I had less than 3 lengths to panic stop 12000lbs at 30 mph. It didn't stop.
Now have a racked up k2500 sub. My bikes are jammed in the camper. Canoe, kids bike or roof pod on the sub. I use an oak orchard mega canoe and kayak roller to solo the canoe onto the sub.
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