I just put a hitch on my 99 Accord EX and bought a Yakima hitch rack. I
bought a Yakima hitch rack at REI when the had a big sale. The 1 1/4 inch
hitch receiver (Hidden Hitch) cost 125.00 installed at a RV center. All in
all it cost about 300.00 for everything. I considered a roof rack but I
knew at some point in time I was going to scratch the roof or worse yet drop
a bike on the roof. The roof rack was also going to cost allot more. Then
you've got to remember you've got the bikes up there. Fast food drive
throughs and garages will both ruin your day if you forget you've got your
bikes up there. A friend of mine hangs a little sign from his rearview
mirror when he's got bikes up there and he's got a red sign that drops down
when he opens his garage door. On the flip side having the bikes on a hitch
rack kind of cover up part of the brake/tail lights and backing out of a
driveway can smack the hitch on the ground. I also noticed when I came up
on a semi or if a semi was passing me the rack shock a bit more, it took a
little getting used to that feeling. I traveled close to 2500 miles with 2
bikes on the hitch rack last month with no problems. The Yakima rack is set
up for four bikes but I only need to carry 3 bikes. I liked the Yakima rack
more than the Thule because the Yakima rack had less parts to mess with and
the Yakima rack just seemed a bit more well designed to me. I didn't bother
with trailer wiring because I'm not towing anything (yet).

Cheers,

Rick



"Matei" <stroila33 (AT) adelphia (DOT) net> wrote