I know there are many bike rack related thread and I've searched.

My question is,

What do you do to remmeber that bike is on top? I hear few stories that people just "forget" bc they're tired or what not..


anyone have any good ideas? I park my car in the garage and I just wnat to be aware of my bike on top of my car. I recently bought a roof rack for my car and still have not put it on yet. I'm even thinking of putting a sign or something on radio!?

what do you guys do?

i don't want to end up like this..

http://www.civicforums.com/forums/67-arizona/293083-girlfriend-your-car-bikerack-bad.html

Pull the trash can out so that it's right in the middle, behind the door. When the door opens, you can't drive in because the can is in the way.

Tie a string/rope tot he bottom of the door (only a foot or two long) with a sign attached that says "Got Bike?" dangling from it. As the door goes up, the sign will hang in front of you.

As soon as you put the bike on the car (when leaving home), put the garage remote control into the glove box or someplace else so you won't automatically open the door and drive in when you return.

Pull the trash can out so that it's right in the middle, behind the door. When the door opens, you can't drive in because the can is in the way.

To add to this (which is what I do), I detach the garage door from the opener and close it manually, forcing me to open the garage by getting out of the car. I can leave the garage closed but not locked, however, because I live in the middle of nowhere.

Pull the trash can out so that it's right in the middle, behind the door. When the door opens, you can't drive in because the can is in the way.
Yup, that's what I do. Still won't stop you from driving into In-N-Out Burger with a bike up there, though.

Pull the trash can out so that it's right in the middle, behind the door. When the door opens, you can't drive in because the can is in the way.

Tie a string/rope tot he bottom of the door (only a foot or two long) with a sign attached that says "Got Bike?" dangling from it. As the door goes up, the sign will hang in front of you.

I used to put my bike stand there after I'd managed to crash into the door twice with different bikes. Then I got a hitch rack--I'll never get a roof rack again.

This is what I do.

I pull a garbage can into the middle of the floor, so I have to stop. I did manage to hook my friends basketball net last fall, fortunately I was moving slowly and heard a noise and stopped before any damage.

Shog

I have adopted a clever strategy to avoid this disaster:

I filled up my garage with so much crap that I couldn't in my wildest dreams think of parking in it.

Then, having parked in the driveway, when I get out of the car, I see a bike on the roof, and that is generally enough to remind me that there's a bike on the roof.

I know there are many bike rack related thread and I've searched.

My question is,

What do you do to remmeber that bike is on top? I hear few stories that people just "forget" bc they're tired or what not..


anyone have any good ideas? I park my car in the garage and I just wnat to be aware of my bike on top of my car. I recently bought a roof rack for my car and still have not put it on yet. I'm even thinking of putting a sign or something on radio!?

what do you guys do?

i don't want to end up like this..

http://www.civicforums.com/forums/67-arizona/293083-girlfriend-your-car-bikerack-bad.html

The Garage Door Opener, Object in front of your garage only helps remind you at your own driveway. To help with drive thru windows, parking ramps, etc I got one of those commercially available magnet signs that goes on your hood. It is held closed (out of sight) by wind at speed, but pops up into view at low speeds. I've found it really helps me. After driving a couple of hours and completely forgotten about the bikes, I exit the freeway and this sign pops up and that's all it takes for me.

Scot

I take and throw the garage remote into the back seat. My normal habit is to hit the button going up the driveway. When it's not there I remember. Only drawback is when I get home and the garage door is open. It hasn't got me yet, but it's a possiblity.

Neighbor down the street does the sign hanging on the garage door. When the door is up it hangs down reminding him of the bike on the car.

The Garage Door Opener, Object in front of your garage only helps remind you at your own driveway. To help with drive thru windows, parking ramps, etc I got one of those commercially available magnet signs that goes on your hood. It is held closed (out of sight) by wind at speed, but pops up into view at low speeds. I've found it really helps me. After driving a couple of hours and completely forgotten about the bikes, I exit the freeway and this sign pops up and that's all it takes for me.

Scot

What brand is yours? Or where did you buy it? I used to have one but lost it, and would like to get another. I can't find them anywhere?

Tie a string/rope tot he bottom of the door (only a foot or two long) with a sign attached that says "Got Bike?" dangling from it. As the door goes up, the sign will hang in front of you.



that's pretty clever. :)

What brand is yours? Or where did you buy it? I used to have one but lost it, and would like to get another. I can't find them anywhere?

Mines a Yakima and I got it at REI about 8 years ago. I just did a search on both REI and Yakima and came up with nothing. I did see that Thule has a sticky to put on your window but the magic of the flip up sign was that it got in motion when you most needed the reminder.

Scot

I sold the sedan and bought a truck. :D

Before the hitch rack, I used to hang something from the review mirror - a friend has an '80's headband (it's loud) with a piece of paper taped to it reminding him of the bike.

Seriously? You guys have run bikes into garages before? Now, I'm not a perfect being, not even close really. But I have been riding bikes for a long time, and have had a roof rack for about the same amount of time, and I have never run my bike into a garage in all of that time. I mean, it's really not that hard to remember? Well, looking at some of the responses, I guess that it is that hard to remember.

I mean, it's really not that hard to remember? Well, looking at some of the responses, I guess that it is that hard to remember.

Oxygen deprivation? :confused:

put near line of vision.

I bought a Honda Element, I just roll the bike in and lay it down and off I go.

I have adopted a clever strategy to avoid this disaster:

I filled up my garage with so much crap that I couldn't in my wildest dreams think of parking in it.




I have been using that tactic for 25 years....and I don't even HAVE a roof rack!

(and it is a 3 car garage!!!!!!)

a three car garage too, but in the stall I park in, I have a BIG Bright Orange construction style Cone, I think I bought it at Menards for like 5 bucks, and I wrote BIKE in Black on it....I place this just behind the door so when I open it, I will see it, That's what I do at least.

Mike

I put my helmet in the front seat, and my garage door opener in the helmet. Works like a charm...

Each of these ideas will help, but none of them is going to be foolproof. It only takes one moment of not paying attention to bite you.

I did well for a few years. I park in a multi-level garage at work. I have to use a different entrance for oversize vehicles with the bike, so I got into the habit of leaning out the window to verify my bike was not on the car every time I entered the garage. One morning, I forgot to look, and the bike was up there. Luckily, it is a secured garage, so I was stopping to swipe my entry card. Ended up destroying the rack and dented the top of the car, but the bike was ok.

I changed to a hitch mounted rack the next day.

I place my destroyed carbon XXXlite fork on the dashboard as a reminder.

In the people I ride mostly with, 7 out of 10 have hit something with their bike while it was on top of their car. Two of them have had it happen multiple times. Many of them have been riding for well over 10 years.

It happens a lot more often than you would think. Wait until it happens to you and you will start hearing peoples personal horror stories, that they don't share normally.

Unless you have a short car and a small bike that fit under everything, you will eventually make a mistake. You will get in a hurry or be exhausted from a hard ride and Murphy will be there waiting and smiling.

My favorite suggestions were the sign hanging from the garage door and the popup warning. The only drawback from the popup is that I would start to ignore it after seeing it repeatedly.

At least with the popup, it would alert your wife or friend driving your car. Driving smoothly, my bike fit under most fast food drive through windows with about 1/2 inch to spare. I was always afraid I would hit the brakes too hard, hit a bump or find one that was 3/4 inch shorter than normal.

I bought a house without a garage - not a problem any more :thumbsup:

Thats why I also bought a vehicle where the bikes fit inside. Less bicycle maintenance as well. A good bike rack is also very expensive and hard to reach.

To remember my bike is on the rack: I look in the rearview mirror.

I have a sunroof. I always pull the shade back when I have a bike on the rack.

I know there are many bike rack related thread and I've searched.

My question is,

What do you do to remmeber that bike is on top? I hear few stories that people just "forget" bc they're tired or what not..


anyone have any good ideas? I park my car in the garage and I just wnat to be aware of my bike on top of my car. I recently bought a roof rack for my car and still have not put it on yet. I'm even thinking of putting a sign or something on radio!?

what do you guys do?

i don't want to end up like this..

http://www.civicforums.com/forums/67-arizona/293083-girlfriend-your-car-bikerack-bad.html

Try duct taping a 8' piece of caution ribbon to the garage door so that when the door opens, the ribbon will will come down to remind you to take the bike off. Another thing that works is putting something in the garage bay before you leave so you have to get out of the car when you get home. The only problem with this is remembering to put something in the way before you go out and ride. That's why I prefer the ribbon method. Hope this helps!

Try duct taping a 8' piece of caution ribbon to the garage door so that when the door opens, the ribbon will will come down to remind you to take the bike off. Another thing that works is putting something in the garage bay before you leave so you have to get out of the car when you get home. The only problem with this is remembering to put something in the way before you go out and ride. That's why I prefer the ribbon method. Hope this helps!

don't you become desensitized to the warning when it is always there? after seeing ribbon for two weeks of pulling in and out of my garage, I would no longer think about checking for a bike on top upon seeing it.

So far so good. I've been doing the ribbon technique for about a year now. I have it placed in such a way that it drapes over my line of sight and it always reminds me to stop and take the bike off. You can find the caution tape at Lowe's or Home Depot. It looks like the stuff you would see at a crime scene. Black and yellow, very hard to miss.

No room in the garage for car, full of bikes.

I'd hang something from the rear view mirror that I found very annoying. This would save me from any troubles both going into my own garage and in other areas. I've used this when trailering things and I don't want to forget to take wide turns.

My experience with roof mounted bikes is they get damaged when you have to do something outside of your planed event.

For example, you get the bikes loaded up to goto the cottage and your wife asks you to get something along to way. You weren't planning on stopping and since it's not normal for your to have bikes on the roof you forget and boom you hit something going into underground parking; or the likes.

My bike came close to meeting the drive-in roof of a McDonald's.

A buddy and I got hungry on our way to the park. Our bikes were strapped to the roof of his mini-van. We were just about ready to order when I remembered about our bikes.

What pissed me off was the fact that there were two kids watching us from their car, just waiting for us to smash our bikes up. WTF, a little heads up would have been nice. :mad:

As soon as you put the bike on the car (when leaving home), put the garage remote control into the glove box or someplace else so you won't automatically open the door and drive in when you return.

This only works if no one else is at home. I've had many times come home and the garage door is already open due to the wife. Better to use something to block you from pulling in.