Roof Mounted Tandem Bike Carrier for a 2017 Honda Civic Si Coupe  

Question:

Expert Reply:

I do actually have a solution for your 2017 Honda Civic Si Coupe. However, you'll have to have a separate solution for the tandem bike.

First and foremost, you'll want to verify the roof's capacity with your manufacturer or owner's manual to make sure you can carry the full system. You'll need to include the total weight of the bikes and carriers.

For a roof rack, I recommend the Inno Square Bar kit, consisting of:

- Inno Square Crossbars 54 inch, part # INB137
- Inno Feet for Square Bars, part # INSUT
- Inno Fit Kit for 2017 Honda Civic Coupe, part # INK683

I recommend this kit because it gives you the best chance of compatibility with the Yakima carriers you already own.

For your Yakima carriers, if they have a modern clamp-on system for round or aero style bars, you're good to go. If they have the older Snap-A-Round Mighty Mount kits from 2005 and later, then you'll simply need to replace those with the Mighty Mount Universal, part # Y03590 kit to correctly fit them to your new bars. If the carriers are older than 2005 then you'll need to purchase new bike racks.

A quick, easy replacement is the Yakima FrontLoader, part # Y02103, which is one of our most popular wheel mount bike racks. It's compatible with road bikes and disc brakes, letting you use it with almost any bike. It also can use SKS cores to add a bike and rack lock. You'll want part # Y07204, which is a four pack of matching keys and locks, plus the change key.

You may not be able to mount the Tandem Topper to this setup, as the rack's crossbar spread is 20-1/4 inches, which is smaller than the required distance for the tandem topper. Regrettably, I'm not familiar with the Tandem Topper, so you may reach out to them and see if they have any additional installation tips or accessories for the rack on a smaller spread.

If they don't, or you don't want to mess with an odd installation, you have another solution available for the Tandem.

The Sea Sucker Talon, part # 298-BT1004 is a unique rack that uses extremely strong vacuum cups to fork mount the bike to the vehicle. You'll need to use a rod or other straight object that's the same length as the bike's wheel base to figure out where to mount onto the coupe, but looking at the 2017 Honda Civic Si Coupe, it looks like you can take advantage of the wide rear window and mount to either side of the antennae over your roof.

It's notable that the Talon won't be compatible with the vehicle while the roof rack is installed, as you'll need as much space as possible to mount the SeaSucker. Because of the tandem compatibility, you can also skip the roof rack entirely and do all three bikes on the SeaSucker Bomber, part # 298-BB3008

I've included video of all of these parts so you can get an idea of how they perform on our test course and get a closer look at their features.

expert reply by: Jacob W

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