Ebike came loose from rack at 75 mph.

[JerryB]

I saw a guy lose two ebikes off the back of his motorhome down in Oregon last year. He was turning at a stop sign......the bikes went flying off into a ditch. The guy didn't know it.......we caught up with him about a mile up the road as he was entering a campground. Later that evening......he came over to our spot.....thanked us for letting him know......said both bikes were damaged but fixable.....he didn't seem too upset. Personally....I don't like racks.........if I take my bike anywhere.....it's in the bed of my truck. As for speed.....I drive slow.....60 when trailering.....65 when not towing. Been on I5 many times......I stay in the right hand lane.....if folks want to go 80......they can go around. I enjoy the drive........my two cents.

 

[Annieolnie]

Somewhere I read a post where a fellow used an automobile, steering wheel to brake lock, to further hold down and lock his bike. It seems like a good idea.

 

[Smaug]

I'm glad you just dragged the bike instead of unloading it at speed. I'm thinking more of what would happen if it hit a motorcyclist than damage to the eBike or other cars.

 

[m@Robertson]

I use a Black widow mc rack, rated for 500+ weight and has a 6" wide rack arms and the wheel will drop into a deep wheel pocket, when the 1/2" bolt is removed at each end.

I do pretty much the same thing but use the aluminum version. Motorcycle racks take more time to get the bike set up but they are as little as 1/4 the price of an ebike rack and have 4 times the weight capacity.

 

[neutron]

I can't blame the rack for the bike coming loose. I blame myself for not securing it properly. The rack is plenty heavy duty and properly secured the bike should have no problem staying on. The directions that came with the rack specified using the strap that came with it to help secure the bike, and never use the rack without the strap. The only thing I can think of that may have happened is when I wrapped the strap around the bike and rack, I must have had it in a position where it could slip one way or another and come loose. Also the bar that locks the bike to the rack must not have been tightened down enough. I have arthritis in my hands so it's difficult for me to really crank down on the knob that secures the bar. In the future I will make an extra effort to tighten that knob and use a strap and ratchet to tie everything tight.

Yes Smaug I am very lucky that it stayed with the car (SUV crossover) and didn't cause any further damage. It would have been an absolute disaster if it dropped off onto the highway. I don't even like to think about that.

 

[Nvreloader]

I do pretty much the same thing but use the aluminum version. Motorcycle racks take more time to get the bike set up but they are as little as 1/4 the price of an ebike rack and have 4 times the weight capacity.

Matt
The only reason I didn't get the Alum one was, I have a wire feed welder and I can can anything on the carrier to fit my FT bikes. Tia,

 

[neutron]

Update to thread...

Got the new brake lever and grip from KBO a couple of days ago. Both the grip and brake lever came from China in about two weeks. I guess they shipped them together to save shipping costs. I could have bought a brake lever and grip from Amazon and had them in a day or so but I wanted the original equipment back on the bike. The brake lever has a nice insert that makes it comfortable to grip, and the grip matches the other side. My repair to the handlebar worked great so all is back to as it was before the mishap.

 

[popekr]

I dumped my traditional bike once and it got dragged so just the handle bar was damaged. So relieved but I was all my fault. I now add safety tie downs on my rack every single time with it and the new e-bikes.

 

[neutron]

I took my bike out a couple of days ago and used a strap and ratchet instead of the tie down that came with the rack. Much more secure now.

 

[rogers827]

Hi, I had this happen to me with a very expensive Flyer ebike. The crossbar is square section with rounded corners and tapers front to back. The rack jaws seemed to clamp it okay but half way home it started to rain heavily. I put a bike cover over ot and the wind force overcame the bike rack securing arm jaws. I saw the bike drop and pulled over straight away. I got away with a slightly ground down handlebar grip. Ever since then I always use a rack strap to secure the cross bar to the carrier. Never had an issue since then.