car racks for Thorn tandem with S&S coupling

[jamessuejackson]

We have a Thorn Raven tandem (2008) with S&S couplings, so it dismantles into two pieces.   Previously, we did a lot day/weekend trips taking the bike by car to somewhere used as a base.
Dismantled, it fit in the back of our Renault Megane Scenic.  But now the car is ancient and needs replacing, and we are also too ancient (75) to want to put it on a roof rack or remove interior seats, and are thinking of a rack attached to the back of the car.  Has anyone had experience of doing that with the back 2/3 of a Raven tandem?   I expect the front 1/3 will fit in the boot of whatever car we choose, but I would appreciate any suggestions of a rack on the back of the car that would be suitable?

[Danneaux]

This is a tangential response to your question, James and Sue, but may be helpful to you...

When it came time to transport my non-separable tandem, I purchased a receiver-type (i.e "American" rather than the Euro-type hook) hitch mount rack intended for two single bicycles -- the kind with padded, ratcheting hooks that secured the top tubes while the bikes sat upright with their wheels in trays.

I then purchased a Yakima tray intended for a rooftop rack, the kind where thr tray rides on square-stock steel tubing, ending in an upright and faux front axle with a quick-release. I attached this alongside the inner tray of the hitch rack with squared u-bolts, washers, and nylock nuts. The tandem -- sans front wheel -- was loaded with the rack upright folded down, then raised to secure the bike once the tandem's fork was fastened to the Yakima faux axle using a quick-release intended for such. It made for a really secure attachment, using the fork mount as well as the padded hook on the top tube. It helped it was all at a convenient height so almost no lifting was involved.

The tandem extended a bit beyond each side of my 2012 Ford Focus hatchback but was within the outline of the external sideview mirrors, so anywhere the car would fit, the tandem would also and I could "monitor" the outboard edges of the tandem rear tire and fork end in the side mirrors when parking to make sure I didn't snag them on anything. My tandem is about 8.5ft/2.6m long overall with both wheels mounted, considerably less with the front wheel removed; that was key to making it fit within the car's sideview mirror outline.

It worked very well and was an inexpensive solution that added versatility to the rack already intended for single-bikes. Most of all, it was secure and safe.

I made sure to triangulate the mounting with sturdy nylon straps and a vinyl-dipped hook over the hatchback opening to reduce dynamic loads on the hitch mount. The tandem weighs 46lbs outfitted as usual, so about the same as two singles. Due to an abundance of caution, I avoided the temptation to add a single bike when we carried the tandem. The 1in solid bar mount in the hitch receiver didn't look robust enough to safely carry more and I'm still scarred by the sight of a collapsed hitch-mount rack dragging two very expensive bikes along the pavement at highway speeds, the owner still driving happily with the car stereo cranked to 11, oblivious till I caught their eye with frantic waves of my hands and gestures of alarm. By the time he stopped, there wasn't much left to salvage.

Maybe something in my solution will help spark an idea. Be sure to check local width regulations. I did in advance and found no flags or cautions were needed to be legal but I expect that could vary by locale.

Best, Dan.

[mickeg]

The hitch mount type rack that Dan is talking about looks like the one in my attached photo, except that mine is folded down, it is normally vertical.  You can see two bars that would be horizontal if it was upright, the bike top tube sits in plastic brackets on those bars.  There are elastic straps that hold the bike to those brackets on the horizontal bars.

This rack attaches to the vehicle with a "receiver" hitch.  On my vehicle there is a square shaped hole that is 2 inches (50mm) across that the hitch is inserted into.  This particular rack is from an American company, I doubt that it is sold in the UK, but I would assume something similar is available.

In my case, I had that receiver hitch installed on my Volvo, the hitch was not made by Volvo, was made by an American company specifically to bolt onto my Volvo model.

Maybe you can hang the two halves of the bike on that type of rack from the top tubes?

I have no clue if your tandem would be short enough with both wheels removed to hang from that rack without disassembling the couplers, maybe?  I have never been on a tandem or looked at one closely.

Same type of rack but of a different make that a friend of mine had on his Jeep in second photo.  My Thorn Sherpa is on that rack, photo from 2010.

ADDENDUM:

I added a third photo, this was cropped from the second photo so it is easier to see the two bikes on that rack.

[Danneaux]

George had a good idea, posting photos; one is worth a thousand Dan-words. Here is my setup...

I mated the receiver bike rack (A) with the tandem tray (B), both shown in the photos below.

The tandem tray replaced the inner set of wheel hoops used for a single bike. The hoops are adjustable and unbolt to slide off if desired. Swapping the rack back and forth between configurations takes about 10 minutes.

Prices have soared astronomically of late. I got by cheap roughly a decade ago, paying USD$159 new for the receiver rack and the tandem tray was a Cragislist (America's Gumtree) find, costing $20. U-bolts and fasteners added maybe $12, bringing the total to about $192.

Best, Dan.

[mickeg]

I did look at a few images of tandems, I suspect that pulling off the wheels would not make it short enough to put on the back of a vehicle without unthreading the couplers.  So, looks like you need to split the frame if you put it on back.

But I would assume that splitting the frame, you could put the bigger half on the type of rack that I have.  But the smaller part of the frame, perhaps it would be best to put that inside the vehicle somewhere.

I am pretty sure this is my rack.
https://www.target.com/p/yakima-doubledown-4-tilting-aluminum-hitch-bike-rack-for-car-suv-and-truck-with-1-25-or-2-inch-bike-rack-hitch-receivers-black/-/A-90027061

Mine no longer is on the Yakima website, so I suspect it is out of production.  I have had mine for at least 15 years, but I think less than 20.  The vehicle I had 20 years ago did not have a receiver hitch, so that rack would have been no use to me.

Mine is capable of four bikes, but I took two of the sets of brackets off of it, so mine looks like it will only hold two.  The brackets are plastic, so I wanted to keep half of them out of the UV from the sun.  My rack is stored outside.

Attached one more page on mine.

You might want to ask Thorn what they recommend.