Words and Photos: Tim Bardsley-Smith

Yakima have been strongly gaining ground in the vehicle-mounted bike retention market in Australia for the last few years. With a great distributor - and solid products doing most of the heavy lifting - their range is extensive and it will be easy to find something that suits your needs and solves all your bike transport problems.

We got our hands on their ute specific ‘Bike Bar’ which is a lockable no-drill solution. We used it for several trips on an Isuzu D-max that was kindly on loan, so it made the perfect solution for our temporary needs. Tail gate pads are simple and easy, but you can’t lock them, and rubbing and damage to bikes can occur.

The Bike Bar however is completely lockable and offers a sturdy mount which keeps bikes apart and also stationary to make travel damage nearly impossible. The system goes together reasonably easily, utilising a non-destructive side clamp which is key lockable. You’re also able to install fork mounts at the spacing required for your bikes and these are also key lockable - so you can’t remove the bar or the bikes. There are also different fork mounts available so this is something you need to discuss with your dealer as only two 9mm quick release mounts come stock.

Adapters are available but security would be comprised, the best bet would be to get the specific mounts for your bike’s axle. You could potentially get three mounts and bikes on this rack, but you would need to be crafty with spacing and which bike goes where. A road bike, mountain mixture would work well with regards fitting in an additional bike as the different bar heights means they won’t clash and a tighter spacing is possible.

There were a few issues we did encounter. Most dual cab trays are quite short and the wheelbase of many bikes are getting longer and longer. Smaller road bikes were not a problem, but a mountain bike, or a larger road bike would require the tail gate to be left down. This would probably be different with each make of ute, as the bar could possibly mount closer to the back of the tray and some trays could be longer or shorter than our Isuzu.

We recommend checking it out at your local Yakima dealer and making sure you’re happy with the fit in your tray and with your specific bikes. After that it provides a very quick and easy solution that can be installed or removed as required. We were unsure as to whether the clamp system could be used on a side drop tray. It would obviously depend on the sides of your drop tray but it definitely looks feasible. 

Like with all fork mounted racks you can be left wondering what to do with your front wheel. Allowing it to move around in the tray won’t be ideal, especially if you need to leave the tray door down. Putting them inside can cause its own problems, particularly if you have a full back seat. Yakima do make a front wheel holder and you should be able to make it fit on the bar, but it obviously takes up room and would possibly impede any extra bikes you wanted to add to the bar rack. It just means there are a bunch of ways to set up the bike bar, and you need to make yourself aware of how it will best suit your needs.

The Bike Bar is a simple solution. It won’t work for everyone, and there are possibly some cheaper, more permanent, drilling options like the Yakima Bedhead or Blockhead. It does however provide excellent security, is easy to set up and use and will tick the box for quite a few discerning utility owners.

Pros

- No drilling to fit

- Lockable and secure

Cons

- Your tray might be too short

RRP: $289 

From: yakima.com.au