[howdenbiker]

Drivers on the M56 had a lucky escape on Sunday morning. I was passed by a saloon car (Jaguar), I was doing 70mph, it had 4 full bikes on the roof, I noticed it particularly as I’ve been looking at cycle racks for my car.
5 miles up the road all the traffic came to an abrupt halt to avoid a bike (remains of)laying in the middle lane. Luckily nobody was injured and all lanes stopped whilst the cycle owner ran across the lanes to retrieve the bike. I couldn’t see clearly what had happened, the bike was one of the two middle ones and part of the rack appeared to be hanging over the back window of the car.

Two key factors I believe, triple check bike fixings and keep to a reasonable speed.

Topic

[MartyMcCann]

My dream in life is to get a
My dream in life is to get a bike so aero, having it stuck on the roof actually reduces fuel consumption… :))

[Shades]

Had a MTB on the roof and it
Had a MTB on the roof and it ‘popped out’ of the support strut whilst going down a dual carriageway. Ended up hanging down the drivers side held on by the wheel straps. Scared the crap out of me! Amazingly the only damage was a slight buckle on the back wheel. Now I always have an additional ‘back-up’ securing method (strap, rope etc) even though people think I’m being paranoid.

[RussKirby]

Following a car south on the
Following a car south on the M6 a few years ago, he had two bikes on a roofrack and the whole lot, rack and all came off, bikes still attached to it.

[Matt eaton]

I hate putting my bike on the
I hate putting my bike on the outside of the car. Wheels off and in the boot whenever possible!

[MuddyGoose]

Always double checking the
Always double checking the fittings is a good piece of advice. I had a bike fall from my roof carrier when I’d been out riding with mates. We put stuff up on the roof in quick time and between us we’d managed to fail to get the clasp secured properly. It wouldn’t have happened if I’d gone round afterwards for a final check.

Consequently the bike fell off and as we were turning round to go back and pick it up, an ambulance ran over it and completely destroyed it.

That said I’ve never had a ‘product failure’; just user failure!

[unclebadger]

A cautionary tale and
A cautionary tale and some.

Don’t do what I saw a guy do in Kingston – namely drive into a multi-storey car park with a cor-blimey expensive bike on the roof which basically was reduced to a mass of twisted carbon fibres and dust as it hit the height restriction!!!
Ouchy-Ouch!

[wknight]

I came across a bike in the
I came across a bike in the middle lane of the M40.

The problem is that once the Police come to retrieve it from the carriageway you will probably get a ticket for an insecure load.

Also don’t forget the bikes when going through a toll booth :O

[harman_mogul]

Hmmm don’t do it much lately
Hmmm don’t do it much lately but certainly have been known to exceed the speed limit by a goodly margin with bikes on roof. Timely reminder, thank you!

[sergius]

I always drive like a Grandma
I always drive like a Grandma when I’ve my bike on the roof, though I have to say I don’t think mine could fall off without hitting something.

[Author]

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