best car for carrying bike

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>, "Pat" <[email protected]> wrote:

> x-no-archive:yes
>
> > >Economical suggestions?
> >
> > Take off the front wheel and it will fit in just about any economy box. Or gut the interior and
> > leave the front wheel on.
> > --
> > zk
>
> I fold down the car's back seat, take the bike's front wheel off, and it all goes into my Honda
> Accord easily.
>
> Pat in TX

I'll see your Accord and raise you a Tercel sedan. MTB or road bike can go in with the front wheel
off, though it is trickier than the previous older Tercel hatchback.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Just Zis Guy]

On Fri, 4 Jul 2003 16:41:50 -0400, "Tim McTeague" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Wagons are getting harder to find.

That's a shame.

Over here it's dead easy: walk into a Volvo showroom

Guy
===
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[Brian Hughes]

I know this probably won't meet your criteria, but a full-size diesel pickup truck with a full size
bed will haul anything. Diesel pickup trucks also get surprisingly good fuel mileage (at least when
compared to gas trucks, large cars or large SUVs). I get between 17 and 21 mpg, depending on
city/highway miles. And in my state, diesel is cheaper than regular grade gas.

Brian

 

[Tim McTeague]

Yeah, or Subaru, Volkswagen, BMW, etc. But no Honda, Toyota or Nissan and they really have the bulk
of the foreign car market. When they start bringing them back we will know the public wants them in
decent numbers. I read somewhere that Honda may be re-introducing the Accord wagon for next year.
Here's hoping.

Tim McTeague

>
> >Wagons are getting harder to find.
>
> That's a shame.
>
> Over here it's dead easy: walk into a Volvo showroom
>
> Guy

 

[Just Zis Guy]

On Sat, 5 Jul 2003 14:30:40 -0400, "Tim McTeague" <[email protected]> wrote:

>no Honda, Toyota or Nissan [wagons]

Wagons are made by Toyota and Nissan as well as Ford, Volvo, Mercedes, Volkswagen, MG Rover, BMW, GM
and others - not sure why the Japanese makers are retrenching on that market, unless they are up
against quotas and would rather shoot for the more lucrative high-end models.

Can you order them even if they are not in the showroom, I wonder?

Guy
===
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[Ken]

"Tim McTeague" <[email protected]> wrote in news: [email protected]:
> Yeah, or Subaru, Volkswagen, BMW, etc. But no Honda, Toyota or Nissan and they really have the
> bulk of the foreign car market.

The Toyota RAV4 and Honda CRV are essentially tall station wagons. You can put 2 or 3 bikes standing
up in the back of one of those.

 

[Mark]

"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote
>
> Wagons are made by Toyota and Nissan as well as Ford, Volvo, Mercedes, Volkswagen, MG Rover, BMW,
> GM and others - not sure why the Japanese makers are retrenching on that market, unless they are
> up against quotas and would rather shoot for the more lucrative high-end models.
>
> Can you order them even if they are not in the showroom, I wonder?
>
> Guy
MG and Rover haven't been imported to the US in years, and with the reputation they had for (lack
of) reliability in the '60s and '70s they might not ever come back. Mercedes has imported wagons off
and on, but I haven't seen any in a while. English Fords are not, to my knowledge imported currently
and the US parent company doesn't have any station wagons in it's lineup. I believe the situation
with GM is similar. BMW and Volvo import very nice wagons at a high price, in small numbers.

Selling cars in any quantity in the US means building the car to meet US safety specifications
(which often differ in detail from other country's regs), crash testing samples under US government
supervision, and testing emission control systems (including long term durability testing), again
under US government supervision. Obviously offering a wide range of body styles and/or powertrain
combinations is going to be an expensive and time consuming process, so there is a tendency for car
makers to avoid offering anything that they cannot sell in large numbers or for high prices. Also,
SUV's and larger trucks are subject to laxer safety standards, emission control standards and fuel
economy standards, making them more profitable to the automakers. And no, if they're not in the
showroom they are probably not certified for sale in the US, so you can't order them.
--
mark

 

[Chris McCarthy]

"Jeff Sutton" <[email protected]>> asked about "best car for carrying a bike." I can't say it's the
best, but I've had excellent results with our 2002 Ford Focus wagon. With the rear seats folded down
the cargo area of the wagon is flat and spacious enough that the bike rolls right in and lies on its
side. No taking the front wheel on and off a couple of times a day. As for economy the wagon gets
between 28 and 33 mpg most of the time.

 

[B A R R Y B U R]

On Fri, 4 Jul 2003 01:42:29 -0400, "Jeff Sutton" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Economical suggestions?

Any of my road or mountain bikes easily fit in my Subaru Outback.

Barry

 

[B A R R Y B U R]

On Fri, 4 Jul 2003 16:41:50 -0400, "Tim McTeague" <[email protected]> wrote:

>> Remember the station wagon? Perfect for hauling bikes. Good gas mileage
>and
>> no rollover problems like a SUV.
>
>
>Wagons are getting harder to find.

Subary Legacy (Outback) Audi A4 VW Passat Volvo Mercedes BMW

I'll rephrase that to "inexpensive wagons are impossible to find".

Barry

 

[Just Zis Guy]

On Fri, 4 Jul 2003 01:42:29 -0400, "Jeff Sutton" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I want to buy a used car/SUV that I can just toss a bike in to travel to various rides.

Volvo 940/850/V70 wagon - I can even get a recumbent in the back of mine.

Also, Ford Galaxy / Seat Ibiza / VW Sharan - is this sold in the USA? You can get loads of bikes in
this standing up!

Guy
===
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[Just Zis Guy]

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 02:03:01 GMT, "mark" <[email protected]> wrote:

>if they're not in the showroom they are probably not certified for sale in the US, so you can't
>order them.

Ah, the land of the free, eh? Over here even if it's not type approved you can have a single vehicle
approval done - hence US specific models can be imported to the UK.

Guy
===
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notice: ADSL service in process of transfer to a new ISP. Obviously there will be a week of downtime
between the engineer removing the BT service and the same engineer connecting the same equipment on
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[Pete]

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 02:03:01 GMT, "mark" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >if they're not in the showroom they are probably not certified for sale in the US, so you can't
> >order them.
>
> Ah, the land of the free, eh? Over here even if it's not type approved you can have a single
> vehicle approval done - hence US specific models can be imported to the UK.
>

You can here too, but it can be quite expensive.

Used to be, you could do all the conversion work yourself to meet DOT and EPA requirements. Quite a
lot of US military brought back some very cool cars. Now (since 1989?), the work has to be done by a
certified shop.

The problem comes with warranty work and parts. Often, parts are *not* the same between Euro and US
cars of the same supposed model, so getting it fixed might be a problem.

Pete

 

[Luigi De Guzman]

"Pete" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:Xt%[email protected]...
>
> "Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 02:03:01 GMT, "mark" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > >if they're not in the showroom they are probably not certified for sale in the US, so you can't
> > >order them.
> >
> > Ah, the land of the free, eh? Over here even if it's not type approved you can have a single
> > vehicle approval done - hence US specific models can be imported to the UK.
> >
>
> You can here too, but it can be quite expensive.
>
> Used to be, you could do all the conversion work yourself to meet DOT and EPA requirements. Quite
> a lot of US military brought back some very cool cars. Now (since 1989?), the work has to be done
> by a certified shop.

I heard (apocryphal?) that the Army used to let soldiers work on their autos on-base and do
that sort of work in fully-equipped workshops. Tax dollars at work, all to keep morale up to
fight the Reds.

Gone in the Peace Dividend (remember that?), apparently.

>
> The problem comes with warranty work and parts. Often, parts are *not* the same between Euro and
> US cars of the same supposed model, so getting it fixed might be a problem.
>
> Pete

 

[Pete]

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email protected]> wrote

>
> I heard (apocryphal?) that the Army used to let soldiers work on their
autos
> on-base and do that sort of work in fully-equipped workshops. Tax dollars at work, all to keep
> morale up to fight the Reds.
>
> Gone in the Peace Dividend (remember that?), apparently.

Oh no. Each base usually has a fully equipped "Auto Hobby Shop". Tools, stalls, and lifts available
for a small fee.

I did quite a lot of work on my various vehicles at air bases all over.

And the tax dollar thing wasn't really so bad.
a) keeps up morale.
b) cheaper for the military person, especially overseas. Try finding a qualified Chevy
mechanic in Italy.
c) An awful lot of military are mechanics by trade. Vehicle, armor, and aircraft. Changing your
oil, or a brake job is a no brainer. And the auto shop provides a central place for disposal of
the waste.

Pete

 

[David Kerber]

In article <WW6Oa.50398$G6.7365@lakeread04>, [email protected] says...
>
> "Pete" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:Xt%[email protected]...
> >
> > "Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 02:03:01 GMT, "mark" <[email protected]> wrote:
> > >
> > > >if they're not in the showroom they are probably not certified for sale in the US, so you
> > > >can't order them.
> > >
> > > Ah, the land of the free, eh? Over here even if it's not type approved you can have a single
> > > vehicle approval done - hence US specific models can be imported to the UK.
> > >
> >
> > You can here too, but it can be quite expensive.
> >
> > Used to be, you could do all the conversion work yourself to meet DOT and EPA requirements.
> > Quite a lot of US military brought back some very cool cars. Now (since 1989?), the work has to
> > be done by a certified shop.
>
> I heard (apocryphal?) that the Army used to let soldiers work on their autos on-base and do that
> sort of work in fully-equipped workshops. Tax dollars at work, all to keep morale up to fight
> the Reds.

The Navy base in Newport has (had?) an automotive shop where you could go in to work on your car,
but it wasn't free; you paid (IIRC) $15/hr for the use of the bay and could also borrow any
specialized tools you needed. Makes sense for low-paid military personnel who live in the barracks
and can't afford to pay someone else to do the work, and don't have any other place to do the work
themselves. There were limits on the kind of work you were allowed to do there, but I don't remember
any of the details.

....

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

 

[Fritz M]

"Pete" <[email protected]> wrote:

>> Tax dollars at work, all to keep morale up to fight the Reds.

> Oh no. Each base usually has a fully equipped "Auto Hobby Shop". Tools, stalls, and lifts
> available for a small fee.

> And the tax dollar thing wasn't really so bad.

Not only that, all MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) facilities are paid for with
"non-appropriated funds." In other words, no tax dollars are used for the base hobby shop, swimming
pool, movie theater, NCO club, and youth center. These were either self-funded or funded from the
profits generated by other on-base activities like the exchange, snack bars, etc.

RFM
--
To reply, translate domain from l33+ 2p33|< to alpha. 4=a 0=o 3=e +=t

 

[Jmk]

What do you consider inexpensive? My Outback cost $22,000. Not that inexpensive but not horribly
expensive either. I looked at the Matrix but it seemed too small for the camping with dogs thing so
I eliminated it, although it was less expensive.

B a r r y B u r k e J r . wrote:
> On Fri, 4 Jul 2003 16:41:50 -0400, "Tim McTeague" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>>Remember the station wagon? Perfect for hauling bikes. Good gas mileage
>>
>>and
>>
>>>no rollover problems like a SUV.
>>
>>
>>Wagons are getting harder to find.
>
>
> Subary Legacy (Outback) Audi A4 VW Passat Volvo Mercedes BMW
>
> I'll rephrase that to "inexpensive wagons are impossible to find".
>
> Barry

 

[Pete]

"Fritz M" <[email protected]+> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> "Pete" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >> Tax dollars at work, all to keep morale up to fight the Reds.
>
> > Oh no. Each base usually has a fully equipped "Auto Hobby Shop". Tools, stalls, and lifts
> > available for a small fee.
>
> > And the tax dollar thing wasn't really so bad.
>
> Not only that, all MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) facilities are paid for with
> "non-appropriated funds." In other words, no tax dollars are used for the base hobby shop,
> swimming pool, movie theater, NCO club, and youth center. These were either self-funded or funded
> from the profits generated by other on-base activities like the exchange, snack bars, etc.
>

Yes. Forgot about that NAF aspect.

Pete

 

[Jym Dyer]

=v= The best vehicle for carrying a bike is a Bike Friday. The Bike Friday trailer is a suitcase,
which can hold yet another Bike Friday. You can pile up the suitcases. Here I'm using my Bike Friday
to tow two more:

http://www.things.org/~jym/bicycles/pix/friday-tows-fridays.jpg

Each of these can tow two more, of course, pyramid scheme style, until you're towing an infinite
number of bikes! <_Jym_