Rack N Roll

Perfect Bike Transporting Solution – Was looking for a good quality rack for our CRF300L/DR650 that could be handled by one person for those solo adventures. BUT the only ones we could find were fairly cheap models with hit and miss reviews. Sat on it for ages, until we discovered the Rack and Roll kit on some USA website. We assumed it was an American product and didn't think much… Read more

more if it, since freight and taxes usually make this type of thing economically unattractive.

That was until we finally looked into the origins and found that the much lauded in America Rack and Roll was of Aussie providence ... Southport no less ... just a couple of hundred km away!! So we did some research and decided on their aluminium model - slightly lower weight capacity of 170kg, but 7kg lighter (@25kg) than the steel. Every kg of downward pressure saved on the towball means physics will be exponentially easier on the tow vehicle's suspension, and on the chap having to carry and mount it!!

For what it's worth, the steel version weighs in at 32kg, with a capacity of 180kg. The company also offers such options as a longer loading ramp and a higher mount. The webpage is brilliant and super easy to navigate. Make sure you check your towball downwards limit for your vehicle to ensure it can handle the combined weight of bike and rack. This is a crucial safety and insurance matter, and sometimes the info can be hard to find for some reason.

Firstly the packaging was absolutely first rate. The quality of the finish and the provided fittings extraordinary. The provided LED light kit and plug superlative (note you'll need to wire the plug, but it's an easy job, with instructions provided). It's actually fun to whack it on the back just so we can see the great LEDs functioning!! There is literally no expense spared with this product. You can choose between gloss black or orange for the rack base colour, but the hitch section is black for both, and the ramps both silver aluminium.

So, assembly is straightforward with detailed online instructions available. The concept is that the rack slides into a standard 2" square tow hitch, and you use your existing retaining pin through a drilled hole in the rack's hitch ... exactly as you would a normal towball. There are a selection of rectangular metal shims provided that slide along the inside between the rack and the hitch's inner to help prevent wobble, but to be honest I forgot to put one of them in on our return journey and noticed zero difference.The rack has its detachable aluminium loading ramp as part of the body, secured with a screw in eyelet.

The ramp is placed on the correct end of the rack - you can mount it so that the bike is loaded from either left or right, with the default being from the right. You'll just need to rearrange the lights to the opposite side if you choose to go the opposite option. The ramp is secured to the rack for loading via a long pin with its own retaining fitting and the bike fairly easily pushed up the ramp onto the rack, where it's stopped by the front wheel bracket.

It's useful here to have another pair of hands, but I have proven it can be done solo. There are two robust turnbuckles which engage 2 of a choice of 4 eyelet locations, and these engage into each foot peg, and get turned down until tight. These turnbuckles just get left attached to the appropriate eyelets when storing the rack so that they're already in position and ready to grab. The 300L has a long, notoriously soft suspension, and even at full adjustment the bike could wobble ever so slightly with a good shove, but the company recommends supplemental tiedowns ... and we simply used a 250kg camlock tiedown from each side of the lower frame onto the empty eyelets and it was as solid as.

Next, the front wheel retaining arm is slid up from below to engage against the tyre and its turnbuckle eyelet secured with the pin that was used to hold the loading ramp. After going through this eyelet, the pin continues through a slit in the side of the ramp further holding it in place once it is secured via its own eyelet above the tow hitch.

Once this turnbuckle is secured in the ramp's pin it can be tensioned upwards, gripping the arm onto the front tyre. Once this is done, the front wheel/bars are secure. So all that's needed now is the supplementary tiedowns mentioned, and another lightweight tiedown (provided in the pack) which is run through each of the 3 turnbuckles so that none can work lose over long or bumpy trips.

Unloading is the reverse. Simple! We were apprehensive at first, but after doing a 700km roadtrip, with nervous checks for the first few km, I can say that nothing moved ... NOTHING ... not even the duct tape we used on the loose ends of the tie downs. 10 times easier than using the trailer, and means significantly less fuel consumption for the journey. Note you'll almost certainly need a small "accessory" number plate from your main roads dept, and there is a spot for this engineered onto the ramp in the appropriate area.

This system has been well thought out, and there is very little to find fault with. The only things I'd mention is that there's a discernable bump when loading the bike onto the ramp as it goes over the ramp's retaining pin, meaning you need to be prepared to give it an extra shove when it gets to that point ... and the threaded bolt that the eyelet securing the loading ramp onto is almost a little too short for my liking. Note that you may have limited access to the back of your vehicle once the bike is in place, so you'll need to bear this in mind and have things you need to get at quickly accessible via another door. Other than that, a great product that will last a loooong time.

Oh, and the whole shebang can be easily stored on the wall of your shed by mounting a couple of hooks and sliding the rack onto them via slits machined into the side channels of the base. Perfect ...