Which Hollywood Bike Rack For Carrying 2 e-Bikes on Motorhome and Flat Towed Jeep

Question:

I have 2 Rad step thru e-bikes. I need a rack to carry them on. This rack would be used on a 2018 Tiffin RED 33AA motorhome and on a towed 1999 Jeep Wrangler. Both vehicles are equipped with a 2inch receiver. The Jeeps receiver is a recovery receiver incorporated into a Barricade Classic Rear bumper p/n J107364. Ive been looking at the Hollywood racks items HLY84FR, HLY64FR and HR1450Z. I would like to have the flexibility to carry the bikes on just the motorhome, or just the jeep or on the jeep when its being towed. Which Hollywood rack would you recommend?

asked by: Harry

Helpful Expert Reply:

From what I read online, it appears that the Rad step thru e-bikes weigh around 65 lbs.

The weight of your bikes alone would rule out the Hollywood Racks # HR1450Z you'd mentioned, as its capacity is 50 lbs per bike so we'll move on.

The # HLY84FR Sport Rider SE has plenty of capacity at 80 lbs per bike, and could be used on your Jeep as well as on your motorhome without issue, but Hollywood Racks hasn't approved it for use on a flat towed vehicle, because the rack hasn't been tested for that purpose. Due to the step through frames your bikes use, you'd also need to use bike frame adapters like # 64005 to provide a spot for the ratcheting frame hooks to grasp the bike.

Your best bet to use the bike on the Jeep, on the motorhome and on the Jeep when it's being flat towed behind the motorhome would be the Hollywood Racks RV Rider, part # HLY64FR. The rack has an 80 lb per bike capacity, can carry bikes with tires up to 5 inches wide, and has padded clamps that hold the bikes by the frame or the seat post tube, so it works great for bikes with step through frames with no frame adapter bars necessary.

I'd also recommend that you confirm with the Jeep bumper's manufacturer that it has sufficient tongue weight capacity to handle the combined ~130 lb weight of the bikes plus the roughly 60 lb weight of the # HLY84FR or the 70 lb weight of the # HLY64FR bike rack.

I've linked to demonstration videos for the RV Rider and the Sport Rider SE bike rack.