Transporting bikes on the back of a car legally.

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dkselw

Likes Dirt
Are there actually any cars where you can transport more than one bike on the back legally?
According to https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/vehicle-safety/transporting-bicycles the furthest point on the bike cannot be more than 60% of the wheelbase from the center of the rear wheel.
With two bikes on the back of our Nissan Patrol, we exceed this by about 210mm. With the Subaru Forester we exceed this by about 380mm, and part of the bike rack itself is outside this range by about 60mm.

A new Isuzu MUX has a wheelbase of 2855mm and a rear overhang of 1100mm. To meet the 60% rule, nothing can be further than 613mm from the back of the car.
A new Toyota Prado has a wheelbase of 2850mm and a rear overhang of 1205mm. To meet the 60% rule, nothing can be further than 505mm from the back of the car. Good luck fitting two MTBs in 505mm.

This rule does not seem to be enforced by police very often. The only mention I have seen where someone has been booked for this, has been when they have been also booked for something else. It may give the insurance company a reason to void the policy in the case of an accident though.

We have a ISI two bicycle rack like this one:

isi.jpg
 
Electric cars and Land Rover Discovery 3, 4s and new Defender 110s are your friend.

They tend to have a very short rear overhang and long wheelbases. So we can easily carry 4 bikes on our Gripsport 4 bike carrier on our BYD Atto3 and Discovery 4.

Sent from my 24069PC21G using Tapatalk
 
Does overhang include the extents of the handlebars? If so nothing is going to work.
 
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Other articles about the overhang rule:
bluedogbiking.com.au

Dispelling the Myths about Bicycle Rack Overhang in Australia

There is a great deal of misinformation floating around regarding the legality of rear-mounted bicycle racks in Australia and in particular, how far out from the rear of your vehicle they can hang. From manufacturers an...
bluedogbiking.com.au bluedogbiking.com.au
flowmountainbike.com

Stats with Latz | What are the rules for bike racks and is your rack legal?

The rules around bike racks can vary from state to state, here is what you need to know about roof, platform and vertical racks for your car.
flowmountainbike.com flowmountainbike.com
 
dkselw said:
Are there actually any cars where you can transport more than one bike on the back legally?
According to https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/vehicle-safety/transporting-bicycles the furthest point on the bike cannot be more than 60% of the wheelbase from the center of the rear wheel.
With two bikes on the back of our Nissan Patrol, we exceed this by about 210mm. With the Subaru Forester we exceed this by about 380mm, and part of the bike rack itself is outside this range by about 60mm.

A new Isuzu MUX has a wheelbase of 2855mm and a rear overhang of 1100mm. To meet the 60% rule, nothing can be further than 613mm from the back of the car.
A new Toyota Prado has a wheelbase of 2850mm and a rear overhang of 1205mm. To meet the 60% rule, nothing can be further than 505mm from the back of the car. Good luck fitting two MTBs in 505mm.

This rule does not seem to be enforced by police very often. The only mention I have seen where someone has been booked for this, has been when they have been also booked for something else. It may give the insurance company a reason to void the policy in the case of an accident though.

We have a ISI two bicycle rack like this one:

View attachment 421226
Click to expand...
Yeah its just a bullshit rule that someone made up when they had nothing better to do.
Is it regarding the thought that the car handling will be affected by the weight on the rear or is it something to do with the length of the load.?
Some rules are made to be broken.
Doesnt worry me I live in a rural area and break road rules everytime I use a trailer or farm ute.
We have a number of rental houses ,tenants do no work so the gardens need chopping all the time , so the ute tray has branches everywhere.
Its a shame the fuckwit govt didnt jump on all the bogan cars Dodge Ram, Ford F250 etc before they got established here,they are fucking up everything they are too wide and too long to fit safely in parking areas and some older petrol stations, prolly consume heaps of fuel , just what we didnt need.
Money talks.
 
The 60% measurement applies to overhangs from a roof load and sticky outy bits from a ute back and everything else including loads from an extended tow hitch. Very likely a traffic obstruction concern as well as weight. My roof has a capacity of 120kg with a platform less platform mass so almost 100kg. Legally that 100kg could be hanging at the 60% position. Rule is a typical one size fits all dumb it down.
When we have kayaks on the roof we are in breach unless the kayaks are so far forward they stick up at the nose. So that doesnt happen. Maybe 75% poke. Bike rack exceeds 60% too on the prado and our mux. We just do it. The only person I know who has been fined for any related matter was someone running a grip wheel mount rack empty. Got done and was told it couldn't be easily seen as there were no lights on the rack. Guy bought a nasty 12" girls bike, repainted it bright pink and threw that on when the rack was empty of proper bikes. It is highly likely he was a dick about it before being fined.
 
I'm in breach of this too with a Thule horizontal rack, by about 10cm plus extra for handlebars if carrying a bike on the rearmost holder.

The car's nearly five metres long so it certainly doesn't make the setup stand out as being inappropriate, and seems kind of silly that the same rack could be compliant on a small hatchback.

I think you'd have to be very unlucky (or confrontational) to get done by a policeman, but the insurance concern is a fair one.
 
Calvin27 said:
Yeah like in Vic it includes the bike itself, which with 800mm mtb bars is already game over for pretty much any car except maybe a LWB hiace.
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If it wasn't kitted out for camp cooking & shit, I could have a large part of a workshop in my dad's Hi-Ace.
 
I've had my vertical rack for near 3 years now - I've had HWP follow me with the rack loaded/unloaded and have never had a drama. I hold the theory "if it looks dodgy it probably is".
 
rowdyflat said:
Yeah its just a bullshit rule that someone made up when they had nothing better to do.
Is it regarding the thought that the car handling will be affected by the weight on the rear or is it something to do with the length of the load.?
Some rules are made to be broken.
Doesnt worry me I live in a rural area and break road rules everytime I use a trailer or farm ute.
We have a number of rental houses ,tenants do no work so the gardens need chopping all the time , so the ute tray has branches everywhere.
Its a shame the fuckwit govt didnt jump on all the bogan cars Dodge Ram, Ford F250 etc before they got established here,they are fucking up everything they are too wide and too long to fit safely in parking areas and some older petrol stations, prolly consume heaps of fuel , just what we didnt need.
Money talks.
Click to expand...
Bloody things take up 3 quarters of country roads as well
 
Oddjob said:
Electric cars and Land Rover Discovery 3, 4s and new Defender 110s are your friend.

They tend to have a very short rear overhang and long wheelbases. So we can easily carry 4 bikes on our Gripsport 4 bike carrier on our BYD Atto3 and Discovery 4.

Sent from my 24069PC21G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
You must have equity in your local Land Rover dealer. I know they have improved from older days in terms of reliability. But nahh.......

I have worked with the ex-CFO of a group of Sydney Range/Land Rover dealerships. If he wants to buy one used - he will spend serious time with the guys in service, researching the service history of various cars to find the unicorn that's not a lemon.

There are good cars there - but they are outnumbered.
 
scblack said:
You must have equity in your local Land Rover dealer. I know they have improved from older days in terms of reliability. But nahh.......

I have worked with the ex-CFO of a group of Sydney Range/Land Rover dealerships. If he wants to buy one used - he will spend serious time with the guys in service, researching the service history of various cars to find the unicorn that's not a lemon.

There are good cars there - but they are outnumbered.
Click to expand...
I've got a good one. Still pricey to run but it's got all of the capabilities I need in a tow vehicle.

The youngest Disco 4 will be 9 years old now. You still see plenty of Disco 3s around and the odd Disco 2. If it's lasted this long it's a good one.

Sent from my 24069PC21G using Tapatalk
 
Dales Cannon said:
Guy bought a nasty 12" girls bike, repainted it bright pink
Click to expand...
Empty bike rack , I think that was a silly NSW rule which has been modified in 2020 to say it only applies if number plate and lights are obscured/
We had to be careful when we crossed the border to Albury.
Number plates are necessary in Vic and we still use a crank holder rack that is quite low for ebikes made from purlins so you can roll it on..
A 71yo woman friend has a standard ebike, has a high rack [ dont be rude } and parks backwards into gutter so she can get it on [ dont be rude }.
She is quite hot .
 
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