Bird bike rack - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

tracke30m3 · 10-22-2007, 10:48 AM

I'm thinking of getting a Bird bike rack, does anyone here have any experience with it? Is it stable? How accessible is the rear trunk with the rack in place?

Anyone here have information on how and where the bracket under the car is attached? I want to be sure its up to the task of carrying 2 bike's worth of weight.

I'd also like to know where the two straps are attached, I'm concerned about avoiding paint damage and if the attachment points would also be up to the task of supporting the weight of the bikes.

Any info or pics would be appreciated, thanks.

nola911 · 10-22-2007, 10:50 AM

What color is your car? I know that I cannot even look at my black porsche without swirling the paint. A bike rack on the trunk would do more damage than I could handle.

tracke30m3 · 10-22-2007, 11:03 AM

Its Ocean blue.

From the Bird bike rack's website, its seem that the rack does not touch the car's body at all. The only exception would be the straps which somehow attach to somewhere on the trunk or trunk lid. I'm not really sure because the pictures are quite blurry, but that's what I'm trying to find out.

Thanks.

fatmike · 10-22-2007, 11:38 AM

I am following this thread with interest. I need a bike rack on my Boxster too!

trube78 · 10-22-2007, 07:08 PM

Consider the willwood rack it is very stable, no straps required and not terribly noticable. I looked at both systems prices are similar. Willwood is (IMHO) a sturdier design. If you have ??? drop me a line.
ATB,
Tom

Perfectlap · 10-22-2007, 07:24 PM

i had teh bird system until someone plowed into while I was away from my car. Had to get on a lift to detach it. It worked well while it was in use, the owner of the company in CT installed it on my car in about an hour. He did a great job.

I was thinking of replacing it with the wilwood system if it could work with the new state of the art Saris Thelma bike carrier but Wilwood never responded to my inquiries for a "two point" hitch. They only have the one point.
The use of the Thule and Yakima racks placed well over 80 pounds of toe weight on the rear bumper. Which is far too much imo without any actual anchoring to the chasis.

rick3000 · 10-22-2007, 08:01 PM

I haven't bought from Willwood, but I have talked to him, and he makes great racks. I would go with him because a hitch system will be a lot more versatile than the Bird rack.
Also, some info on the Bird rack is that it permanently mounts two pipes under the car. Then you slide the bike, ski, etc. rack onto the two pipes under the car and lock them. Or at least that is my understanding of how it works. The mounts are not permanent, but I believe you must drill holes and they are intended to be left on. It might be a problem if your car is lower or with speed bumps, but it obciously works or they wouldn't sell it (or would they?).

fatmike · 12-01-2007, 12:04 PM

I just bought a Bird Automotive Bike Rack. I'll let everyone know how the installation goes & my opinion of the rack after I use it a bit.

fatmike · 12-01-2007, 02:13 PM

2 hour and :10 minutes later -- the conclusion:

it doesn't fit...

Perfectlap · 12-02-2007, 10:13 AM

I see you are in NJ....looks you might have to take the trip up to Conneticut and see Mr. Bird.
He did my install with only a floor jack in just under an hour. This was two years ago, I think I had one of the first Boxster versions of the rack.

fatmike · 12-02-2007, 01:06 PM

Yep, I'm in Chatham, NJ.

The BIRD AUTOMOTIVE bike rack fits -- I figured this out after a few conversations and several hours of messing around. I bought it on eBay. The seller failed to include a bolt assembly that attaches the front of the rack to the under-carraige of the car. So, I wasted a Sunday afternoon trying to find appropriate sized metric bolts and washers (spacers) to make it work.

If I weren't such an die-hard cyclist and in desperate need of a bike rack, I might have just sent it back to him...

I'll report back more on the bike rack after I use it a few times. If I had all the right parts to start with, I think I could have assembled the rack in :30 minutes (in my living room) and I probably could have attached it to the car in another :30 minutes. Its only 4 bolts, but the hardest part of installing it is just getting access under the car (and it obviously doesn't work so well without the bolts...).

But, now its done. The system seems to be very effective and it seems like the rack won't damage the paint.

Also, while it was up on the jack I put my snow tires on. So, I killed two birds with one stone...(sorry for the pun)

Perfectlap · 12-02-2007, 03:10 PM

let me know if you need the bike binding straps. I think I have a set for two bikes (two per bike).
Or you can go to a bike shop and pick them up for a few bucks each. I think Thule makes them. They have those rubber fastening straps like you would see on the pedals of a gym exercise bike.

The Bird rack worked well. You just have to get used to the flexing when the bikes are on. Always make sure those harness straps are pulled down tight. and be careful not to drop the anchor hooks on the trunk lid.

Man I really want that Saris Thelma bike carrier. Maybe Bird will incorporate it somehow.
Willwood never responded to my inquiry.

fatmike · 12-02-2007, 05:13 PM

PERFECTLAP --> Now that is a really nice bike rack.

As you know, the Bird system is just some welded pipes & tubing. But they'll be effective. My bike carrier did come with velcro tie down straps -- thanks!

fatmike · 12-09-2007, 02:26 PM

I wanted to provide some feedback on the Bird Automotive Bike rack for the Boxster. I do recommend this for a cyclist.

The design:

- seems to protects the paint,
- allows the spoiler to work,
- doesn't touch the paint or bumper
- seems sturdy
- was easy enough to install (really only 4 bolts, but I was missing some parts -- thank you eBay!)
- the rack installs into the recieving pipes that are mounted full time.
- the receiving pipes are fairly well hidden.
- the rack mounts in about 3 minutes once you get the technique down.

Overall, this is a very good solution for the Boxster. Some pictures are attached.

By the way, I've gone full circle on the amber. I've already replaced the side lights and the tail lights will be done on December 25th (by about noon...). Since I had the car in the air, I was also able to snap a picture of my RMS -- but that is a story for another thread!