I like his swing out tire holders.., that you could put two of these on and then have a way to carry three tires (including stock carrier) is nice...., (of course, volkscafe sells an oversize tire carrier for the stock postition.., and their tire jack is awesome.., I bought the scissors jack from bus depot.., and that thing is more trouble than its worth.., )... 

What if there were a bike carrier for on the drivers side "side".., ie the left side of the van..,. we've got those two jack inserts.., it could fit into there.., and if it the rack included its own "jack insert".., then you wouldn't have to remove the bike rack to change a tire..., (though you might want to remove the bike..., ).., then your rear hatch would be un-obscured.., ).., neither would your front end.., (and with the wider side mirrors from fastforward.ca..., you could still see behind you... I think...)

Another place would be so the bike sits parallel to the rear hatch but on the roof in the back.., so if you have a cargo box on the roof..., you could access it easily from either side.., (as opposed to when a bike is placed so one side, left or right, of a cargo box).., of course being "up there".., could mean getting whacked by low hanging tree branches.., 

----- Start Original Message -----
From: George Thorburn <thorgk@ACCESSCOMM.CA>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: bike rack in rear hitch

> >>doesn't using a bike rack that fits in a rear hitch obscure the licence pla=
> >>te?? how could these things be legal??=20
> 
> We use a Gary Lee http://www.telusplanet.net/public/gary2a/rack/vanagonrack.htm  Multi Rack on our Westfalia.  Depending on how you place the bike racks (we use Yakima Copperheads)  you should have no problem with the rear plate or access to the dip stick, 710 cap etc.
> George
> '85 Westfalia
> 

----- End Original Message -----