I know this is a stupid question and comes down to personal preference but do any of you leave your hitch mounted bike rack attached to your vehicle or do you dismount and store it. I've always removed mine and stored it inside where rain and rust won't be an issue. My newest rack is big, heavy and awkward (Thule T2 Pro XT). The wifey complains about having to mess with it but I also don't want to have it get ruined.

Leave it on. Thules last forever and if it rusts beyond working shape you you need a new car anyway.

My 1up stuff stays on, no issues. Even my old yakima rooftop stuff lasted for years, always on, never garaged.

My Yakima swing-away style rack stays on 24/7.  Too much a PITA to take it on and off. I keep a locking bolt in it to discourage thieves.  Never had an issue with leaving it on, other than it affecting my fuel mileage.

Thule 9034 T2 Pro on 24/7.

I leave my Yakima platform rack on my truck 24/7 unless I am towing one of the Jetski's or another trailer of some sort. I don't like having to store it in the garage. It's kind of bulky and I don't have a good storage solution for it yet.

Yakima Holdup x2. Stays on the back of the Equinox. It folds up and never know its there except when using the backup camera. One good point is it blocks the plate for the traffic cameras.

Saris Cycle-on (tray type rack) is pretty much on my '02 F-150 24/7 these days.  Even though I have a truck, I keep the rack in the 2" receiver since the rack only holds 2 bikes and I'm usually hauling 3 bikes when taking my kids riding.

Climbing into the bed, hooking tie-down straps to bars and running a cable lock thru them is more of a pain than just using the rack.  I absolutely love the tray style racks (like the city buses have).... drop the bike in, push bar over from wheel, ratchet back wheel and go!  No worries about bikes rubbing on anything.   

Since I can ride from my house, I rarely have to put the bike rack on the Equinox.

fattirz wrote on 07/20/17 at 4:33pm:


Nice! I've heard those ATs are a nice ride.

Yeah, this setup is a mix match of parts I already had: old Yakima roof rack tray with a couple of u-bolts from Lowes, and a 20mm adapter. Much cheaper than the 2x2cycles.com rack. This is a temporary solution because it was easy. I have some sketches for a design that I've been talking thru with my dad. This would include some more permanent mount points with a QR rack system that would carry two bikes and give me back my rear trunk. I like the front wheel removal because it shortens the load hanging off the back and allows better COG balancing.

This setup handles very well. Although in strong cross winds or passing a semi it will keep you awake  And the weight hanging off the back does lighten the front-end of the moto noticeably. I quickly adapted and learned the nuances and was carving the curvy mountain roads as usual.   

But I would definitely be interested in your thoughts and design...if you're willing to share