Rear Arvika Bike Rack for Sport

[chaeha]

Wondering if anyone has personal experience with the Arvika 7000 bike rack sold by Canam RV for the rear of the airstream specifically the sport. Pretty costly! I am interested in whether install is fairly straight forward and an overall assessment of the rack. I would willingly pay the price of it works well. Seems like Canam has custom brackets and supports for this rack that no one else has?

[chaeha]

Where is drilling required? Work with kid bikes?

[KJRitchie]

I didn't know Arvika made the 7000 to be able to fit off the back of an Airstream. I use the 2 bike 7000 on the tongue on my Airstream. If they are quoting CDN prices take that figure and convert to USD.

Kelvin

[chaeha]

Price quoted was just over $800 U.S.

[chaeha]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

I didn't know Arvika made the 7000 to be able to fit off the back of an Airstream. I use the 2 bike 7000 on the tongue on my Airstream. If they are quoting CDN prices take that figure and convert to USD.

Kelvin

So far your 7000 has performed well?

[KJRitchie]

Guess you are paying for the research and development of the custom brackets. Knowing CanAm they probably did it right but if it involves mounting brackets to the shell I'd prefer them to install it. The 7000 over the propane tanks is an easy bolt on install in less than an hour. Even with 2 bikes it doesn't add a lot of tongue weight.

You can purchase directly from Arvika in Canada.

Kelvin

[streamintrip]

We have the 7000-AF 2-bike anodized version with the additional support bracket. This rack is awesome! Very strong and stable. The only change I made was to upgrade the bolts from grade 5 to grade 8. We bought ours directly from Arvika, Guy is the person with whom to deal. Total price, including freight was $614.

[mojo]

Can Am mounts the rack to the bumper and the trailer body with awning brackets.

[chaeha]

Originally Posted by jrolls

We have the 7000-AF 2-bike anodized version with the additional support bracket. This rack is awesome! Very strong and stable. The only change I made was to upgrade the bolts from grade 5 to grade 8. We bought ours directly from Arvika, Guy is the person with whom to deal. Total price, including freight was $614.

Great info! Do you have a sport trailer? What kind of additional support bracket was needed?

[chaeha]

Originally Posted by mojo

Can Am mounts the rack to the bumper and the trailer body with awning brackets.

Thanks for the response. The picture in Airstream Life shows a bumper-less trailer without any attachment to the trailer body shell. It looks like the mounting is all from the underbelly. Do you have an Arvika yourself?

[chaeha]

Here is the ad....

[amckibbe]

I bought the same rack at Can Am and the awning brackets. Drilled holes in the bumper to attach and right below the window(scary but no issues). And I'm not the greatest handyman! Just make sure you caulk where you drill. I copied this from can am's install I saw when I was up there. I'll see if I have pics. mine is a 27fb.

[chaeha]

Originally Posted by amckibbe

I bought the same rack at Can Am and the awning brackets. Drilled holes in the bumper to attach and right below the window(scary but no issues). And I'm not the greatest handyman! Just make sure you caulk where you drill. I copied this from can am's install I saw when I was up there. I'll see if I have pics. mine is a 27fb.

Great info. The Sport lower brackets must be different since I don't have a bumper. Pics would be great where it attaches to below the window. Do you like the rack overall? Seem stable? Would it work with kids bikes?

[mojo]

If you don't have a rear bumper, you may have to go with the front mount rack over the propane tanks.

[chaeha]

Originally Posted by mojo

If you don't have a rear bumper, you will have to go with the front mount rack over the propane tanks.

Great pics! Thanks. Weird how the middle photo in the ad shows the rack in a Sport model. Wonder how they did that without a bumper. I contacted Can Am and they said they have bracket 'made and ready' for the Sport models.

[streamintrip]

The Arvika 7000-AF involves no penetration of the Airstream as it bolts onto the A-Frame just behind the propane tanks. The additional support bracket (BR-AF) is recommended for the 3-4 bike configuration, but I installed it on our 2 bike configuration. It mounts onto the power jack mast and adds more stability. If anyone is interested, I will post some pix.

[Andrew T]

Hello Chaeha

Here a a couple of close ups of the attachments. They are relatively easy to do. We send the rack with two sided tape on the brackets so you can basically stick it on and then drill the holes. Worst case scenario if you do drill a hole in the wrong place you can just change the insert to hide it.

The biggest risk installing one is that you let the screwdriver slip off the screw and scratch the panel.

We install quite a few of the front bike carriers as well but you have to be sure your turning circle will be ok with your tow vehicle. This is mainly an issue with pick ups, and full size SUV's. The only other thing I notice is the front mounted bikes can get a lot of bugs on them.

I'll check that price for you It may have gone down with the exchange rate changes.

Andrew T

[JimGolden]

What about covering up the license plates? Do the cops not care about that?

I've been thinking of making something similar for the back bumper of my Avion, but in all cases these rear racks cover up the plate. I was worried that the gendarmes might not like that.

Or do the cops view us as "Happy Campers" not possibly up to no good and don't worry about it?

[daboose]

We're well into our 2nd season with our CanAm install of the bike rack. It works great for us.

And no problems with the 'authorities'.

[chaeha]

Originally Posted by Andrew T

Hello Chaeha

Here a a couple of close ups of the attachments. They are relatively easy to do. We send the rack with two sided tape on the brackets so you can basically stick it on and then drill the holes. Worst case scenario if you do drill a hole in the wrong place you can just change the insert to hide it.

The biggest risk installing one is that you let the screwdriver slip off the screw and scratch the panel.

We install quite a few of the front bike carriers as well but you have to be sure your turning circle will be ok with your tow vehicle. This is mainly an issue with pick ups, and full size SUV's. The only other thing I notice is the front mounted bikes can get a lot of bugs on them.

I'll check that price for you It may have gone down with the exchange rate changes.

Andrew T

Andrew,

Thanks for so much for the info and the close up pics. Finally makes sense to me now how it mounts. Surprised that the middle belt line and the bottom rub rail have enough strength to hold the rack and 2 adult bikes! Been in contact with Martin from your parts department who has also given me great info. Thanks again. Let me know the actual price plus freight. Martin quoted me $1098 Canadian total.

Chae