I'm investigating a way to carry my tall touring bike in/on the RL.

For many years, on my Honda I've used a Thule trunk mount with great success. I purchased the latest/greatest trunk mount from Thule for the RL, but am not that crazy about it. It doesn't carry the bike high enough to get the wheels above the exhausts and the side hooks seem to be designed to mount on the trunk where it slopes to the taillights, and the hooks slide right down to abut the plastic taillights...which, frankly, I'm not so sure about.

Thule doesn't have a recommended bicycle roof rack for the RL. I've never used a roof rack anyway, and don't think I'd want one on the RL.

Anyway, one option is a rack designed to fit a receiver/trailer hitch. The car is rated to pull a lightweight trailer. I've already contacted the dealer and the Acura folks in California, and there is not a recommended receiver/trailer hitch for the car...not enough interest in one, I was told. The advice offered was to go to aftermarket.

Anyone have any experience with taking along a bike with this car, either mounting a receiver/trailer hitch and using a receiver rack or lightweight trailer of some sort...or experience with a trunk mount from an outfit other than Thule?

 

I have always used a Yakima roof rack for my road bike, but neither Yakima or Thule makes one for the 2005 RL. I actually called Yakima, and the rep. said they need to get their hands on a car as a first step in the design process. My research revealed only one roof rack system available from Saris, which is very costly. I ended up going with the 2 bike "Bones" trunk mount, which is ok, but much inferior to using a roof rack. It's a pain to put on and take off, and you can't use the trunk. I didn't want to add a trailer hitch, so this was it. Such is the problem with getting a new car model.

 

I have a Rivendell 68cm Atlantis, which is probably a bigger/heavier bike than you are riding (it's actually too large for me...I probably should be riding a 64 or 66). Anyway, with the bike mounted on the current Thule rack recommended for the RL, the bottoms of the wheels are even with the exhausts. This Thule is for three bikes, so I'll experiment some with moving the bike to the outside cradles and perhaps seeing if the bike can be canted away from the exhausts a bit. The rack arms on this rack are shorter than the Thule I'm using on the Honda, and the top rubber pads sit more to the center of the trunk lid than I'd like. The pads on the Honda rack are up next to the rear windshield.

I have 3 sets of wheels/tires in skinny/middle/fat widths to mount on this bike, and also need to figure out a way to carry them. Luckily, I'm working at home for the time being and have some time to experiment before I have to make like a road dog again.. I've yet to try carrying the bike on the RL...I got discouraged with my first attempt to mount the bike.

I'll take a look at the Saris roof mount. One reason I've not considered a roof rack option is that the Atlantis is designed for loading touring and with a full complement of racks and its inherent design, it's no lightweight! Getting this tall bike up to the rack could be a groaner.

 

Thanks for posting that info for Saris. After checking out the site, I'll give more consideration to a roof rack.