Bike rack on a 348/355

Sure it can be done.

But think about the aerodynamic stresses transferred on whatever it's mounted to.

Unless, of course, you never exceed... say... 15 mph.

 

How about this guy?
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I've wanted to do the same thing for a while now, but nothing I find seems to suit the situation.

If I were to hang it off the back of the car, the top securing straps need to be extremely long to reach all the way to where the engine bay cover meets the rear window. And worse.... the lower straps would either connect to the bottom of the bumper fascia (fiberglass, so that's not acceptable) or to a structural component on the far side of the muffler (which would get hot enough to melt the straps) so that's not acceptable either.

I have a 348 TS, so a roof mount gets complicated and would almost surely need to be custom made.

Sadly, I gave up and just use my truck. If there's a way, I'd still love to take the 348 to some of my rides.

 

Some people can buy their way out of anything.

 

It *is* possible (on a Spider, anyway). This 355 belonged to a member of our local chapter. Unfortunately I didn't get a better pic from the rear showing the attachment and he no longer has the car.

I do remember that it was custom-built and the rear (wheel slot area) attached to pieces that were mounted to the brackets under the engine cover mesh (the mesh had to have cuts made in it to facilitate this). The front (fork mount) was mounted via clamps that attached (non-permanently) to the seat headrest posts. You can just barely make out these attachments as the shiny metallic parts at the base of the raised headrests.

He would drive around at normal highway speeds with the bikes mounted all the time, no problem.

As you can see in the pic if you look carefully, his front wheels had to ride in the passenger floorboard (or their lap) as they wouldn't fit in the trunk.
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Sea sucker mount is your answer

http://fcdn.mtbr.com/attachments/car-biker/869364d1392305953-sports-cars-you-haul-your-bike-trail-head-shoes-crankset-054.jpg

 

Only road bikes on Fcars? I hope therre are some mountain biking Fcar owners. I might have to rethink owning a 355!

Road bikes are only for when the trails are too wet and you still want to ride.

 

This. I have one, and it's awesome.

 

If I wanted to do this I'd mount a 1.5" square receiver type trailer hitch to the rear subframe under the bumper, using factory bolts or at least factory bolt holes with longer bolts. Then I'd use a receiver type bike rack. I'd make it so the receiver tube is barely visible when not in use. The whole thing would never touch any body work and would be completely removable with no evidence. Would be cool for towing your shifter kart to the race track too.

 

Several of the guys I ride with use the same sucker mount. We chatted about them a few weeks ago, and they said it was rock solid at speed, in foul weather, and for long distances. The success is mounting the front forks (instead of a tray-type carrier) because it reduces the aero profile of the bike substantially and gives a very secure fixing point.

If you could get enough surface area to suction onto a 348, I'm sure it would work --- but there's not a whole lot of surface area to work with. I **THINK** you could probably put one sucker on the roof, and one on the rear hatch (in the flat area closest to the window). The bike might need to be mounted backwards, but it'd work.

 

Not if you have two small children that you take riding with you. Pulling a trailer with two kids in it through muddy trails isn't my idea of a good time.

Although, now that I think about it, my kids would probably enjoy that...

 

I'd warn people not to mount it backwards. The front sucker mount uses three large suction cups with a mechanical vise for the forks, while the rear one uses only one suction cup with a velcro strap for the rear tire. The front-facing mount takes virtually all of the wind force, that's why it's designed with three cups. If you reverse it, you'd be taking all the wind force with the single cup, so I think you'd be asking for a disaster.

 

Good point! Thank you.

I used to have a ski rack with sucker mounts, and they were identical front & back. Obviously not the case here.

 

+1

Riding with my son is a wonderful experience. No internet, no video games, just the road and us. And of course, we're both on Italian bikes.



p.s. Yeah, its a Subaru with the much maligned Thule roof rack.
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I have thought of building a surfboard rack to replace the top on my TS. I say do the bike rack!

 

Sy - ride from home mate...

 

Someone caught me a while back:
Ferrari F355 spotted in Reston, Virginia on 06/23/2014

Been using the same cheap $30 one I bought at target 6 years ago.

 

Here you go Sy.. Use your car every way you can.

Ferrari F40 on Ski Slopes Video

 

If anyone else has a kid who you want to road bike with, I have a Felt F24 road bike (24" junior) that my daughter has outgrown. It's awesome in lime green and has a cyclometer on it. Just add pedals and go!
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Awesomel picture! I think cycling is such a wonderful sport to share with the kids. I discovered cycling around age 13, and it has always been my outlet. I enjoy riding as much today as I did when I was a kid. Other sports have come and gone, but cycling has survived the years. It combines athletics with mechanics. What else do you need?

I rode a number of times with my son on the road. It really made me nervous. I moved him to the woods. Trees dont move or text! Either way, it is something they can do for many years.

 

It'd be great to have you come up to the Triad and ride with our little group here. We're doing a century tomorrow morning, but usually run 45-60 each weekend pacing around 19-21mph. Feel free to PM me anytime!

BJWHITE: Love that Felt24! My son's Pinarello is also a 24", which makes it hard to find components, but its a nice little whip. I was surprised however that it weighs 19.5# for such a little thing. I guess Felt and Pinarello make the kids bikes much more stout -- knowing they'll get crashed, dropped, etc.

 

Any luck? I ride a giant defy and would love to make this work

 

what a flog

 

I use sea suckers on my Lambo for my road bike. Works very well. When I get my 348 back next week (I hope) I can see if the sea suckers fit. I believe you could use all 3 sucker points on the front windscreen(while its designed to have two on the roof and one of the windscreen) and then the rear two on the back part of the roof(behind the targa top).... Thats how I would do it, but make sure you have the pedal crank tied up.... otherwise it could move and start touching the roof...