E bike Cover For Highway Travel
- Thread starter Bigal1463
- Start date
TAZMANIMAN
Active Member
I started looking at covering ours but when I did get a good cover over everything I was not happy with how much more of my view was worse when in the vehicle. It also made my cars rear lights almost impossible to see.
In the end I scrapped the whole covering it idea. I use a cargo style bike rack with flipouts for the tires. I closed off the bottom to lessen the road mist. We take off our quick release seats and batteries and put them in the car.
I have never had any issues and we've been doing it for 2 years. If I know we will be traveling through a lot of rain then I also slit a plastic bottle lengthwise and put it over my display and tape the slit closed around it.
In the end I scrapped the whole covering it idea. I use a cargo style bike rack with flipouts for the tires. I closed off the bottom to lessen the road mist. We take off our quick release seats and batteries and put them in the car.
I have never had any issues and we've been doing it for 2 years. If I know we will be traveling through a lot of rain then I also slit a plastic bottle lengthwise and put it over my display and tape the slit closed around it.
I recently bought one off Amazon...https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074JLFJ5D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Unfortunately we had to cancel the trip we got it for so don't know how it holds up. Hope to use it next week...
Alaskan
Well-Known Member
Two bikes on a platform rake subtracted 2-4 mpg off my regular mieage. A full cover would subtract at least 4 more. I don't think any bike covers are really designed to endure the force, chafe and wear that a cover would endure on a bike. Also the wear on paint and bike parts by a cover at 60mph would be considerable, I recommend you scratch the cover idea, at least while driving.
vincent
Well-Known Member
This does not help the original poster but i wish someone would come up with a good cover
I have used cheap amazon covers with good reviews and put a truck bed bungie over it to tighten it up/keep it from flapping , it works well but is a little time consuming to put on and off
I would pay good money for a nice cover to keep my bike clean and from getting soaked- quick on and off
Have been doing some research and havent found anything , if i do will post back here
I have used cheap amazon covers with good reviews and put a truck bed bungie over it to tighten it up/keep it from flapping , it works well but is a little time consuming to put on and off
I would pay good money for a nice cover to keep my bike clean and from getting soaked- quick on and off
Have been doing some research and havent found anything , if i do will post back here
I don't know what you mean by "good money", but is $225 for a custom fit cover that will easily last 10-15 years reasonable to you? I live near the beach so there is a ton of saltwater boats in my area. We are fortunate enough to have a couple of excellent canvas shops in our area that specialize in boat covers and enclosures for boats.
I've used one of the shops numerous times to make custom travel covers for my bass boats. Any QUALITY cover that is custom made and properly fitted to your bicycle will easily withstand hundreds of thousands of highway miles at 75 mph. The key to longevity and your satisfaction is to have a quality cover designed and properly fitted to your application.
I have a new Riese & Muller that will spend a lot of time on a rack behind our motor home and/or dinghy tow vehicle. I just had my bike measured on the rack this past Friday and my canvas shop came up with a design that we are both happy with. Material has been ordered and I will go back in a week or two for a final fitting and assembly. Cover will get reinforced in areas that are prone to wear such as pedals and handlebar ends. The guy making mine has done numerous boat jobs for me over the years, so I already know the quality of his work is top notch.
Cost is $225 which seems reasonable to me. I'll have pictures that I can send you in a week or two.
If you don't have any boat canvas people near you, look for tent and awning shops as any good tent & awning maker should be able to do the same.
vincent
Well-Known Member
That is funny, I was just doing research on custom boat cover manufacturers today, 225 is totally reasonable to me, anxious to see what I can come up with over here in Arizona
Pictures would be great
The bike I will have this made for will not be here for at least three weeks and I won’t try to get anything made until I can take it to the shop
Anxious to see how yours turns out and how they make it, lots of pictures would be great
Pictures would be great
The bike I will have this made for will not be here for at least three weeks and I won’t try to get anything made until I can take it to the shop
Anxious to see how yours turns out and how they make it, lots of pictures would be great
Alaskan
Well-Known Member
I am a lifetime boat owner and professional mariner having earned my living with my boat for the last 25 years. I have tons of experience with marine canvas covers and am also a happy Riese & Muller rider It sounds like you are right on track with your project.
The only concern I would have is abrasion from the fabric abrasion on the bike's finish while you are cruising. The force of 70 mph winds on the cover will cause it to move against the bike' surface with lots of pressure. I have a winter cover on the varnished transom of my boat. It is made of Sunbrella but is lined with a slick fabric to avoid marring of the varnish finish from wind caused movement of the cover. I guess with a bike an option would be to get split foam tubes to go over all the frame pieces, handlebars, etc.
I have a Nevo GH. I think the width of the handlebars and pedals will hold the cover off all the painted surfaces. I don's see that being a problem at all. We used something similar to felt on the inside of my boat covers in the past. We could do that if I have any spots rubbing. However, it is a bicycle and not a show car. I'm not too worried about some mild rub marks if it happens. My main reason for having a cover is to keep that filthy mess off the bike when towing in the rain and to somewhat "hide" he bike from the prying eyes of dishonest people.
I am concerned about the lights and license plate on my Honda Element being blocked. I'll just have to see how bad it is once I get the cover.
I've used Sunbrella before, but my last cover was made from Top Gun material by Marlen Textiles. We will be using Top Gun on my bike cover as well.
Good to know...never thought about tail light impacts. Using it on the rack behind hubby's F-150 tomorrow so hopefully it won't be an issue
Tested the cover out for a bit today. On the interstate doing 70+mph for about an hour....seemed to hold up well. Unfortunately we had to take it off because there was a noticeable drop in fuel mileage...we estimated it around 30% drop in mpg (2019 Ford F150). My husband said it felt like a big brick on the the back of the truck. Has anyone else noticed this? Not sure if there needs to be an air vent in the middle or maybe we need to tie down the cover better?
J.R.
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Piedmont Highlands
I agree with your concern. I'm a touring motorcyclist and sometimes attend far-flung events. I've met many riders across North America that trailer their motorcycles and dozens over the years that tried covers that destroyed expensive paint jobs. The covers tend to sand the paint from the movement. Any dirt left on the bike made it worse by being ground in. I've actually seen the result and it's very sad.
I would be more concerned on a motorcycle than bicycle. The width of the gas tank on motorcycles is prrobablly 15" - 24". The width of the cross bar and down tube on a bicycle is more like 2"-3". On my bicycle, the width of the handlebars and pedals will keep the cover from touching any painted surface. I could see some possible contact at the rear of the chain stay but that is about it.
In my 25+ years of towing bass boats with travel covers, I never experienced any problem with rubbing or chaffing. But I never used any off the shelf covers. All my covers were custom made to fit my boat with my accys on it.
I don't plan to use my cover all the time. I don't plan to use the cover when I'm traveling on dry days. I only plan to use it during the following times:
1. When traveling in rainy weather.
2. Any time I'm parked and not riding the bike. When we are at a campground, my bike stays locked on my hitch rack when I'm not riding it. I will definitely cover the bike at night and when it rains, but the cover might not be used during the day time with nice weather.
PDXzap
Well-Known Member
You basically added a sail to the rear of the truck. It's more or less the same a drag chute.
An "air vent" in the middle would probably help but tying it down better will probably do nothing, it's still a sail.
Things to try:
Adding a tonneau cover for the bed and extending that back to cover the bike(s). You could probably test this out fairly cheaply using a tarp and supports such as a wooden frame or empty cardboard boxes that fill the truck bed. Or maybe just a tarp running up the inside of the tailgate and out and over the bike(s)?
Adding a bed cap/topper that will raise the roof line should help to slip stream.
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