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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748   
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Full thanks go to MartinK for suggesting this idea to me
Having bought a newish caravan I was scratching my head about how to carry our bikes when towing it. I didnt want to be carrying the bikes inside it incase I scratched the van, and I didnt want to use a towball mounted bike carrier as some of them require a strap attaching to the rear door to support the weight. So MartinK came to the rescue when he told me about his Karitek Easy Loading Kayak carrier. I phoned Karitek and they told me they had made their own brackets for attaching Thule 591 bike carriers to their roof rack. So when I had enough pennies I placed an order with them for one of their extra wide racks. I also bought 3 x Thule 591 bike carriers (only fitted 2 of these up to now). Heres some photos which should explain how the rack works.. The bikes on my Defender 
The rack pulled out and tilted down
With the bikes removed, and showing the Thule 591 bike carriers attached..
Views from the front
Theres easily enough room for our three bikes, but you have to consider the weight when lifting the rack back up! Cost around £350 - £400 for the Karitek & three sets of Thule brackets. Thule 591 carriers from Ford Online Parts for £55 (Halfrauds sell them for £97  ).
You need your own roof bars to attach the Karitek to, Im using Thule 765 bars Thule 953 feet which are perfect for the Defenders rain gutter (again thanks for this advice Martin )
Hope this helps others if suffering from the same dilemma :D Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated  Last edited by WarPig on 16th Mar 2012 11:42pm. Edited 6 times in total |
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12th Mar 2012 1:17pm |
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| MartinK Member Since: 02 Mar 2011 Location: Silverdale (Lancashire/Cumbria Border) Posts: 2665  
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WarPig - that's great - I'm pleased this worked-out for you.
Your rig looks great! For those who didn't follow the original postings, here's mine with Sea Kayak's on: Click image to enlarge I think your Karti-Tek is the wider version than mine, but I wanted to fit mine on my xc70 as well. The Kari-Tek is pricey...but they have a great 2nd hand value thanks to the Sea Kayak fraternity - if you ever wanted to sell it, they fetch well over 50% of purchase price on ebay (or Sea Kayak forums). Thanks for posting Defender "Puma" 2.4 110 County Utility (possibly the last of the 2.4's) |
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12th Mar 2012 1:38pm |
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| MartinK Member Since: 02 Mar 2011 Location: Silverdale (Lancashire/Cumbria Border) Posts: 2665
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Yes - I would leave them as they are...just in case you take up Sea kayaking  or maybe you might want to sell them at a later date...
I have mine set so that the front bracket sits above the B Pillar, and the rear bracket sits halfway along the rear panel...as you say - a bit wider than yours, but that's because of the load I carry. I also assumed that that vehicle roof was strong and well-supported above the B Pillar (my OCD showing thru)... I see you used the C pillar for the front bracket... Defender "Puma" 2.4 110 County Utility (possibly the last of the 2.4's)Last edited by MartinK on 12th Mar 2012 2:44pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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12th Mar 2012 2:35pm |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748
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Purely for asthetic reasons though, wasnt considering the load weight to be honest  But your right, the 'B' pillar would be better.
As for the rack itself, Geoff at Karitek told me he carries 6 kayaks on his Karitek roof rack, so they are obviously strong racks. |
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12th Mar 2012 2:41pm |
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| Zagato Site Supporter Member Since: 08 Jan 2011 Location: Billingshurst West Sussex Posts: 5013
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That does the job Warpig
Simple ideas are the best, it's an adaption on a Barry Bucknell design roofrack which I still have from my father - only oldies will remember Barry Bucknell. |
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12th Mar 2012 2:45pm |
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| twopoint6khz Member Since: 18 Aug 2011 Location: North Lakes Posts: 654 
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Having read the original thread about Kari-Teks, I totally didn't put 2 and 2 together and realise that it could be used to carry my open canoe, thus avoiding the problem of trying to shove a huge object onto the roof whilst being a short-arse. It seems from their website they do brackets for open canoes etc, and I already have Halfrauds commercial roofbars.
Do the two pieces of the Kari-Tek (attached to the two roof bars) have to be a set distance apart or do those connecting poles slide? When carrying the canoe I have to have the bars mounted pretty much at the front and rear of the roof, otherwise the nose/tail of the canoe would touch the roof. |
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12th Mar 2012 3:06pm |
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| Zagato Site Supporter Member Since: 08 Jan 2011 Location: Billingshurst West Sussex Posts: 5013
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A cheaper option with a Kayak is to simply attach an extension piece to one roof bar that sticks out by 3'. You can then lift one end onto that extension bar, walk to the other end of the Kayak and lift it onto the other roof bar. You can make something up yourself or buy one, they extend out of course so can be collapsed back or pushed back inside the roof bar. It's alot cheaper
The advantage with Martins system is that you can fix the kayaks in place easily, strapping a kayak on top of a Landy is tricky but do-able as you know  . |
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12th Mar 2012 3:40pm |
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| MartinK Member Since: 02 Mar 2011 Location: Silverdale (Lancashire/Cumbria Border) Posts: 2665
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Yes - I use 53 inches, and that leaves about 5" of "pole" left at each end. I guess you could go as narrow as you like, but the wider they are the more stable they will be... I guess the widest mine would go is about 62 inches... The kari-tek website does illustrate an open canoe being used: Defender "Puma" 2.4 110 County Utility (possibly the last of the 2.4's) |
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12th Mar 2012 3:50pm |
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| MartinK Member Since: 02 Mar 2011 Location: Silverdale (Lancashire/Cumbria Border) Posts: 2665
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I did try this Zag, with my Discovery2. It worked ok, until I came off Loch Morlich after a winter paddle in November 2010 (the Cairngorms were capped in fresh snow). It was 3 degrees c, windy, and the breeze was making my 'Yaks act like a sail as I lifted them. My fingers went so numb trying to haul the 30kg wet 'Yaks onto the roof that one slipped and damaged my car. Even trying to use the webbing straps to tighten whilst on the roof was tricky... It was after that event that I bought my Kari-Tek
I also must say that MrsK is only 5'2" and is no use at all (although she tries) in helping me...so it's a one man job for me. Defender "Puma" 2.4 110 County Utility (possibly the last of the 2.4's) |
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12th Mar 2012 4:19pm |
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| Zagato Site Supporter Member Since: 08 Jan 2011 Location: Billingshurst West Sussex Posts: 5013
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Oh Yes, hadn't thought of windy conditions. When my kids are old enough to Kayak we will get one I'm sure
I was going to ask you what your Kayaks are and how much they weighed hoping you were going to say about 25KG.  I would like something lighter and faster next time as the old one I had was 35KG but I still need something with a decent bit of stability until my sea paddling skill levels improve and yours look ideal . |
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12th Mar 2012 5:25pm |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748
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My Karritek rack is still performing well, its had quite a lot of use this summer whilst caravanning. After returning home I tend to remove the roof bars complete with part of the rack attached to them, to keep it safe from gypsies!!
Heres a photo from one of my trips.. Click image to enlarge I usually do a search on google maps street view before setting off, to look for low bridges, seeing as the highest point of my bike is 3m 40cm high :shock: Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated Last edited by WarPig on 10th Oct 2012 9:11pm. Edited 2 times in total |
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11th Sep 2012 7:42pm |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748
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Double post!
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11th Sep 2012 7:43pm |
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| alantd Member Since: 14 Dec 2008 Location: Northamptonshire Posts: 1513 
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I'm thinking about mounting a bike rack to the back of the caravan (Bailey). One of those ones you see often on motorhomes would be perfect. We don't have a window in the rear of the van so a rack would fit perfectly.
I was thinking about he Maxxraxx carrier but, although they say they're designed to be used whilst towing, I often need to access the back of the landy whist hitched up and I can't see that happening. Might just get one for when I head out without the van as they do look quite nifty and it avoids having to mount on the roof. Karritek looks great but I've got a Patriot rack with side bars so unless they do one that slides off the back, I don't think it'd work for me. One that started out as a 2.4 TDCi 110 XS + New Defender 110 First Edition |
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10th Oct 2012 1:56pm |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748
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Best check if Bailey caravans are compatible with bike racks being bolted to them. I know Swift caravans are designed with wooden batons on the inside the back panel, allowing you to screw/bolt into them. Folk tend to fit Fiamma bike racks to their caravans but Im not sure I like the idea of drilling into my caravan.
http://www.fiamma.com/EN/products/carry%2Dbike/ Pendle also do a towball rack designed for use when towing.. http://www.pendle-bike.co.uk/shopping/caravantowingracks.php The advantage of the Karritek is that the bikes are easy to load/unload and are out of the way. The disadvantages is lifting the rack back onto the roof with the weight of 2+ bikes, and then having to watch out for low bridges 
When considering all options none of them are perfect. Bikes inside the caravan can cause damage to the van, bikes on the tow ball can restrict access through the rear door, bikes on the roof can be difficult to access due to height, bikes on the rear of the caravan can affect its balance. Last edited by WarPig on 10th Oct 2012 8:27pm. Edited 3 times in total |
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10th Oct 2012 8:19pm |
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