Car cycle carriers

[croyde]

I have one of those cycle carriers that used to fit to the towbar and electrics on my Landrover, which is no longer with us.

Now I need to carry three bikes on my old 1997 BMW 3 series the cheapest quote to fit a tow bar and electrics is £300

Now I can buy a carrier that straps to the boot for £100 and I see many of them on the road but the bikes always cover the rear lights and number plate, surely illegal.

Those of you that do this the legal way with a light board, the question is: How do you wire in the light board without fitting towbar electrics?

Cheers.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Those of you that do this the legal way with a light board, the question is: How do you wire in the light board without fitting towbar electrics?

You don't.

What you do is wire in the the towbar electrics and either mount a trailing socket in the boot, shutting the boot on the lighting board cable (doesn't normally damage the cable, as the boot rubber usually has enough space), or mount the electrics somewhere discreet.

The prob with BMWs is you do need a relay to bypass the bulb-failure warning, so the simple Halfords light-board trailing sockets aren't adequate.

Cheapest would be a high-rise carrier to move bikes above lights and no. plate

 

[croyde]

Blimey that's a lot cheaper than the one's I've been looking at, thanks. Would you know if that model comes with the ties to attach the bikes to it?

I will have a look at the Halfords lightboards as mine is an old Beemer and does not have a bulb failure light, so they just may work.

Ta.

 

[jig-sore]

used to have a rear carrier on a mini years ago, just hid the light socket under the rear of the car

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Blimey that's a lot cheaper than the one's I've been looking at, thanks. Would you know if that model comes with the ties to attach the bikes to it?

I will have a look at the Halfords lightboards as mine is an old Beemer and does not have a bulb failure light, so they just may work.

Ta.

No it doesn't have the ties, for attaching the bikes, but there are plenty available

If you decide to go for a more "traditional" rack, what you need for the beemer without bulb failure, for a normal bike rack is:

£3.15 http://www.towsure.com/product/455-In-Line_Socket;_N-Type
£2.65 http://www.towsure.com/product/557-Audible_Flasher_Monitor
£0.99 http://www.towsure.com/product/563-N-Type_7_Core_Cable_-_Per_Metre (should only need 1 metre)
£1.30 http://www.towsure.com/product/586-15A_Snap_Connectors

Under a tenner should buy all the bits you need

Plus

£16.15 http://www.towsure.com/product/1096-4ft_Cycle_Lighting_Board
The lighting board itself.

Add £4.95 for delivery and you should be covered.

Now, how to install....

To attach the cable to the trailing socket, connect pin number to colour as follows
1 Yellow
2 Blue
3 White
4 Green
5 Brown
6 Red
7 (middle) Black


at the car end of the 7-core cable, firstly connect

Yellow from cable to Yellow on buzzer relay
Green from cable to Green on buzzer relay

Now connect, (from 7 core cable to car)

Blue -> Foglight
Brown -> Right Tail Lamp
Red -> Stop Lamp (either side, doesn't matter which)
Black -> Left tail lamp

Also connect
Orange from buzzer relay -> left indicator on car
Grey from buzzer relay -> right indicator on car

Finally connect both the white wire from the 7-core cable AND the remaining wire from the buzzer (depending on model, white or black) to earth on the vehicle body

 

[Dave5N]

Sell the Beemer. Everyone hates you.

 

[Dave5N]

When you have an unhateful car, it's around £160-£170 for tow bar and electrics - We had two done last year, my car was £160, my partner's Renault was a tenner more.

Well worth doing. Hassle free bike transport.