I just purchased a Kuat Sherpa bike rack for my car. I’m thinking of leaving the bike rack attached to my car pretty much all the time except when the weather gets real bad (snow). The main reason is because I live in a high rise building and do not have a private garage to store the bike rack. I was just curious what other people do. If you use a hitch bike rack do you leave it attached to your car on a regular basis or only when transporting your bike?
Why wouldn’t you leave your bike rack on the car? It folds up when not in use, and it really doesn’t affect your gas mileage that much (from what I’ve seen). I have a Kuat Sherpa also - and the reason why I paid money to install a hitch and buy the Sherpa is because I was tired of spending 20 mins. setting up my old trunk-windshield rack (Thule Speedway) every single time. With the Sherpa it takes 30 secs. to fold down the rack and attach the bike.
Also - having the Sherpa on my car makes it easy to find my car in the parking lot.
Why, because some of us who do have a private garage can’t leave the rack on (even when folded up) and still be able to close the garage door. My house is older (built in the late 70’s) and with a custom cabinet against the wall where I park taking up valuable parking real estate. Combine that with a longer car (Subaru Outback) which equates to I don’t have enough room to park with the rack on and close the garage door. It also doesn’t help that I have a 1 1/4" hitch on the car and have to use a converter/extension to 2" to fit my Thule T2 (which makes it stick out over 2 feet from the back of car folded up). It doesn’t really take that long to put on the rack but I admit it is a pain in the ass if you are in a hurry.
I would rather have a 1up though but the deal I got on my T2 from my local craigslist proved too hard for me to pass up.
I have a Kuat NV that I only put in the hitch when I am going to use it. My garage is not deep enough to close the door when the rack is on my 4Runner.
But even if I could fit the car in the garage & shut the door, I doubt that I would leave it on full time as the times that I need to use the rack are, at most, once a week. If I was using it daily, or at least 3-4 times a week, and the garage door was not an issue, I would probably leave it on.
I’ve left mine on for a while. Then, I banged up my shins when walking around the vehicle because I was carrying something (which blocked part of my view). Then, I took it off the damn thing. It wasn’t worth that pain of a repeat performance. Now, I only put on the bike rack when needed.
I’ve got the NV as well, and take mine off for the (Canadian) winter. In the summer, it’s on basically all the time.
Meathead: Don’t you find it’s a pain in the ass to put on? Weighs a TON!
I’ve left my Kuat NV on since I first got it. The only pain is getting my 60lb dog into the back when I need to take her somewhere, as she won’t jump over it. But I have still preferred that to taking it off (very heavy) and finding a place to store it.
I’ve got the NV as well, and take mine off for the (Canadian) winter. In the summer, it’s on basically all the time.
Meathead: Don’t you find it’s a pain in the ass to put on? Weighs a TON!
Not really, but then again, Americans are stronger than Canadians
It’s heavy, but it’s the first rack I have ever owned, so I have no point of reference of what a light rack feels like. Right now it is sitting against the wall in my garage, but my plan is to put hooks in the wall to hang it up out of the way. I am going to use like 4 hooks bolted deep into the wall studs though because of the weight.
Again, if I was loading it on & off the car every day, I would probably hate to do it, but once a week ain’t all that bad.
I leave mine on pretty much all summer. I’ll occasionally take it off for things like going to park at the airport or if I need the hitch.
I only put mine on when driving to an event. I take it off afterward because I can’t access the trunk of my minivan without having to flip down the rack. Most of my riding is local, so I don’t need it that often. Got space in the garage for it though.
After reading all the responses, this is what I can say…
Yes and no.
.
The biggest concern I have with leaving my rack on for too long is weathering. Otherwise it’s nice not taking it off and putting it on frequently.
I thought before I bought Kuat Nv that I would just use it on the weekends for when I get to train outside, but that puppy was a lot heavier than I expected so I leave it on all the time. What I have noticed while commuting in urban traffic that people tend to sit further back from me while in motion and coming to a stop at red lights. I don’t think I remember one time so far someone has tailgated me since having that beast on the back. 
The only time my bike rack comes off is when I need to go through the car wash. Other than that it never comes off the car.
Bike rack? All my bikes ride inside. No road grime, theft deterrent, nothing for people to look at, better fuel economy…. Just a few thoughts
When I had an SUV, the bike rack stayed on it. I was ok with it until I had to basically do yoga moves to load groceries in the back of the thing and would constantly whack my shin on it. Many a cussing occurred in the Kroger parking lot, but it was handy to have on there so I just dealt with it.
Now I drive a little wagon thingy with a roof rack.
I would if I could, but the bike rack beats cramming my bike in the trunk 9 times out of 10.
I drive a Ford F350 Super Crew dually with an oversized cap. All bikes ride inside. If I have more than 5 then I’ll bring a trailer that will take 40 bikes all on separate mounts. None of this wrap it in a blanket and pray crap for me.