Dodged a big one today....

[Bruce K]

I get home from today's ride with the Ottrott on the roof rack. I NEVER even think about driving in without stopping and unloading. 10 years worth. I even had just thought about the fact I needed to unload the bike and put it in my wife's Mini for tomorrow night's club ride.

So I pull up to the garage, open the door and ease on in until CRUNCH !!!!! :eek: :crap: :butt:

Lots of swearing and steering wheel pounding as I back out to find the Ottrott hanging from the Powertap equipped rear wheel and the the Thule roof rack pushed back on the driver's side rail.

After closer inspection, it appears the Thule rack slid along the BMW's roof rails, scratching a little paint off the rail but no other car damage. The bike sustained virtually no damage. The handlebars apparently fit under the garage door with about 1/4" to spare so the point of contact was the nose of the saddle, which is broken.

THAT'S IT !!! :banana:

I cannot believe how lucky I am on this one and how stupid I feel. :crap:

On the other hand, I could have checked out the Crash Protection Program had I been a little less fortunate... :rolleyes:

Thnaks for letting me vent. Now you can all tell me how stupid I am. :D

BK

[Ray]

Everyone gets one free pass on the "roof rack into garage door" mistake. If you do it twice, though, no mercy. :cool:

After destroying a roof rack and doing some pretty serious damage to the roof of a two week old Odyssey (this is more than 10 years ago now) I realized full well I WOULD do it again, so I got rid of the roof racks and have kept bikes inside the vehicles pretty much ever since. When I buy a car, that's a pre-requisite. Of course, I drove that Odyssey until a couple of years ago, so the only chance I had to test this proposition was when I bought a Fit a couple of years ago. It passed the test quite easily.

-Ray

[eddief]

we can call the the Stupid Sensor. Just a simple little alarm system so when the bike gets within 20 feet of a barrier, a loud siren goes off inside the car. Actually seems like a good idea...I could have used when wrecking the saddle on a Ti bike and denting the crap out of the top of my car when going into an underground parking structure many years ago.

I can still hear the crunching sound today. I hate these stories.

[Steve in SLO]

Good for you for dodging major damage today. A friend of mine wasn't so lucky several years ago, wrecking a nice bike.
He now keeps his fork mount key on a big, bright keychain and hangs it near his garage door opener. Problem solved for him.

[MattTuck]

http://www.thetriathletestore.com/detail.aspx?ID=1557

Not electronic, but cheap and something you could make yourself

[xjoex]

So I prototyped out a little system that would disable the door opener if a bike was in the rack.

My problem was I could not make it small enough. A real EE could figure this out, I am just a hobbiest.

-Joe

[regularguy412]

B.G.I. -- Bikes Go Inside.

I managed to learn this one second-handedly from a friend of mine.

Here's the scenario:

He and 2 others were driving to a race in southern Kentucky. On the shortcut route to the venue, there is a very old tunnel built sometime very early in the last century. The bikes were on a roof rack of his Dodge mini-van.

Thousands of dollars in damage -- not only to bikes, but the roof rack crushed in the top/rear of the van.

Verdict: His insurance company would not pay for the bikes because they were not 'cargo' - they were stored outside the body of the vehicle. The insurance company did repair the van. I don't remember if the roof rack was covered or not.

B.G.I.- Now I take two extra minutes to take off the wheels and put the frame/fork/ wheels inside the trunk of my Solara. I can even get TWO bikes/wheel-sets in the trunk (separated by towels or an old blanket). If I get rear-ended and the bike also sustains damage, I hope I have a good case for a repair/replacement.

Mike in AR:beer:

[twin]

My free pass happened this weekend going 60 miles an hour down the HYW when the driver looked in the rear view mirror with shock and the hitch rack with bikes had come off bouncing on the HYW. Not long after I went down the side of HWY hoping a car had not had an accident or someone been injured to check the situation out a little bit later a city employ pulled into the station where we had pulled over and in the back of his truck where he had stopped and picked up everything in one piece which had stayed upright and put them in his truck and brought them to us and everything for the most part is fine. Both bikes are steel and maybe that helped I am not sure. I think this is a blessing and feel so fortunate no cars or people were injured.

[SEABREEZE]

It appears we all loose mometarly thought, we know its up there, know we have to stop and remove bike , yet we forget for that moment. 10 / 1 you get another thought in your mind, perhaps what am I going to eat now that I am home. Thats all it takes, that split moment of taking your mind off what you are doing

[PoppaWheelie]

I've started following a suggestion made by Mr Kellogg...when the bikes goes on the roof the garage door opener goes in the trunk. Gotta get out to open the garage door. I also pull the trash can into the car parking spot when I leave...a pain the butt, but seems to work. I'm dumb enough that I'd be guaranteed to destroy a bike eventually without some kind of system.

[dogdriver]

I've started following a suggestion made by Mr Kellogg...when the bikes goes on the roof the garage door opener goes in the trunk.

+1. No perfect solutions, but this one is pretty good. The problem is that if you're with it enough to remember to put the opener in the trunk, you probably would have remembered to stop anyways, and vice-versa. I no longer use roof racks...

Had a buddy a few years ago who did a roof rack crash from INSIDE THE GARAGE-- had bought a new rack, installed it on the car, put the bike on (in the garage) to make sure that everything was set up correctly, got distracted, went inside, forgot, went out to the car the next morning to depart on the trip, pulled the car out of the garage, and, well, you can imagine the rest...

Welcome to the elite society of roof rack crashers! Those who have and those who will...

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . I have never bought a roof rack and never will. If the bike won't go in the hatchback then I don't take it with me. I've just heard way too many nightmare stories about stuff like this.
BBD

[Bruce K]

I love the opener idea but this one is built into the BMW mirror so that won't work.

I might have to start moving trash cans.

BK

[pmac]

Ever seen one of the redwood tress along the CA or OR coast with a hole you can drive through? I lost the saddle of my mtb bike.

[54ny77]

get your priorities in order, sell the house.

[pdmtong]

the solution is simple.

set up a 6' ladder or some other large object after you back your car out of the garage. There is no way you will drive into the garage when there is something taking up space where your car should go.

I solved thiis problem via thule T2 and chevrolet suburban

congrats on dodging a big one. FWIW, I have seen a bike get demolished as the car headed into a underground parking garage. the sound of bike hitting reinforced concrete at 15mph is not easily forgotten

[Chief]

Been there, done that on THREE occasions. The saddle just catches. Fortunately the rack is the weak link and is easily straighten out in my case.

[Louis]

Roof racks have never been an attractive option for me - that's one reason I drive a hatch-back. If it's just one bike it goes in the back. If I want to carry two I put on the hitch-mounted rack.

[thwart]

Lucky enough to be able to ride from the house now, but in the days of smaller kids and roof racks, the piece of firewood (or trash can) in the parking spot thing is pretty darn bulletproof... door goes up... you literally can't drive in without getting out of the car to move it. Even if that didn't 'turn on your brain', it's awfully hard to walk back to the car and not see those bikes up there...

[William]

Wall to wall mirrors on the back wall of the garage. Never happen again....and think of all the fun other things you can use it for. ;) A cheaper alternative: put a piece of tape with "Bikes" written on it on the garage door opener.

Glade the bike was fine, sucks about the Beamer. :crap:



William

[oldfatslow]

I live in Austin and SW Bell now AT&T for a 1000 years has required that their workers before they start their job a leave a cone in front of and behind their truck regardless of where it is parked. By doing so the driver has to look in front of the truck and behind the truck before proceeding. They found this cut accidents by a stratospheric rate (in fact so much so that they added the cone in front as initially they only required one in back).

As someone posted further up about putting a ladder in the way of the garge a big orange cone would work just as well. It would force you to get out of the car to remove it and hopefully you'd see the bikes.

[jlwdm]

You were lucky. Think about playing a big lottery jackpot today.

I always used the garbage can trick.

Jeff

[Jeff N.]

Years back, I pulled into a concrete parking garage with a C'Dale up on the roof rack. Just totally destroyed the bike, the rack, and messed up the roof some too. Roof racks will NEVER AGAIN be in my life. Had a hitch installed on my Toyota at U-Haul and just use a rack inserted into it now. The only way to go, IMO. Jeff N.

[Johnny P]

When I put my bike on the roof rack, I take the garage remote off the visor and put it between the front seats. Since my habit would be to hit the remote in it's normal place and it's not there, I'm reminded that my bike is on top.

Since using this system, I haven't driven into the garage with a bike on top. I did do it once years ago with two bikes on top. The damage that time was to the car and not the bikes.
JP

[chuckroast]

I had a really mucky mountain bike once and my car needed a wash anyway so I figured, why not kill two birds with one stone?

So, I loaded the bike onto the roof rack and drove to the coin operated car wash.

Now, mom didn't raise any dopes, I looked real close at the entry to the car wash and didn't pull in until I was confident that all would fit under the opening.

Washed the car, gently washed the bike, all was good.

Then I pulled out the other end. I didn't check the clearance going out.

Guess what happened?

[eddief]

that's a funnny story. are you sure you want it connected to you and internet footprint/reputation? :)

[39cross]

I might have to start moving trash cans.

BKWhat does your wife think of that idea? ;)

[emckee1]

My favorite "bike meets garage" story is about a rider in my area who had just purchased a new Vicious Cycles cross bike. The guy loaded it on to his roof rack to take it out for a first ride, backed out of his garage and heard the ensuing crunch sound. I heard later that he sold the bike as is - never did get to ride it.

Hopefully, that makes the folks who crunched their bikes after a ride feel just a little bit better.

[rustychisel]

I love my roof rack!!

My new carport has a measured and thrice measured clearance.

[Bruce K]

I'm looking forward to seeing that carport in August. :D

And hey, I only needed about another 3 - 4 inches and I'd have been golden! :banana:

BK

[z. beeblebrox]

Why I dont put bike in car (I have a wagon)

I went for long ride, it was hot. At some point I rode through a pile of excrement.

On the way home I got caught in some traffic.

Once home I spent the next few hrs cleaning the inside of my car...and I swear I can still smell it on hot days.

I also don't have a garage.

[flickwet]

Years back, I pulled into a concrete parking garage with a C'Dale up on the roof rack. Just totally destroyed the bike, the rack, and messed up the roof some too. Roof racks will NEVER AGAIN be in my life. Had a hitch installed on my Toyota at U-Haul and just use a rack inserted into it now. The only way to go, IMO. Jeff N.

Beware parking lot posts, I have always driven an SUV and often those things will linger below rear window level, trashed two CX bikes on the way to a race in Copley

[petitelilpettit]

NIce job on the dodge. I unfortunately was not so lucky in my case. Stopped over at a buddy's house, went to park my car in the carport like I always do, but forgot I came from work with my bike on the roof. Yeah, my saddle stuck in the wall, but that ended up holding the bike in place, causing it to rip the roof rack off my car. Ended up pinching my steel top tube in half. Also put some pretty disgusting dents in my roof, not to mention all the scratches.

Got it all fixed up, but am still wary to this day. My next car will be a hatchback, where I can put it in the car to avoid all these problems.

Although, my story isn't the worst i've seen. Watched a pro guy with a few buddies in the car drive his and his buddies' bikes into an underground parking garage at Manhattan Beach. Not a pretty picture.

Don't drive to races with friends. Makes you forget...

Pettit

[Chief]

http://www.thetriathletestore.com/detail.aspx?ID=1557

Not electronic, but cheap and something you could make yourself
T
Thanks for the tip--good idea. Made my own from a plastic cover, wrote BIKE on it and hung it from the inside of the door so that when I open the door it hangs just above the top of the car and is very visible. My wife predicts that I will become accustomed to it and it won't have the desired effect. :argue: