I just wanted to show the Yakima Quickback 2 to everyone. I struggled and struggled on which trunk\hatch rack to go with. I know I didn't want any chance of the paint getting scratched which after much reading most say no scratching with the KingJoe and Saris racks. I spent a little more but I gotta say, love the Quickback for the size and it does a nice job.

Notice it rests on the license plate. Also, I put some sticky felt pads on the back of the stock license plate holder so the plate holder didn't push into the paint. The felt is the kind used on the bottom of chairs. I hope you like the pictures.

 

Nice looking product. Don't know how well it functions but it's definitely got a sweet design. I'd worry about putting a +40lb DH bike on it though

 

GrnMachine11,
thanks for the good photos of this contraption.

 

Looks nice. This is for towing skateboarders behind the car, right?

 

Well all racks have their limits. This one is 70lb for the quickback 2 and 90lb for the quickback 3.

Yeah towing skateboarders, snowboarders, or mother inlaw.

 

I bought a Yakima Quickback 2 last summer, and I finally installed it on our '08 Cooper S and tested it on a 1.5 hour drive that took us on country roads, freeways, and city traffic. I was a bit hesitant about mounting the top pads on the rear window, but it seemed to work fine. I used the glass hatch adapters for the top straps. On the installation, one difference in the way I installed it and the photos posted above by GrnMachine11 is that I threaded the top straps between the spoiler and the door so the weight of the bikes is supported by the door, not the spoiler. As shown above, the straps lie on top of the spoiler. I would think that that would put considerable stress on it. When I tested it with straps above the spoiler, the spoiler sagged with just the rack, without bikes, on it. There is a photo of the installation with straps between the spoiler and door at MiniMania:

http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/NMA8015/InvDetail.cfm

Apart from that, as described above by GrnMachine11. I have a roof rack on this car, but it is used for a car top carrier, so I needed a different system for our bikes. This one should do fine. The main driveability issue I found was that the view from the rear-view mirror is obstructed.

 

If I had a Cooper S I would do it your way also. Since I have a Cooper I don't have a spoiler to thread through as the S does.

 

Yes, my comments for the MCS, Grn... Thanks for the correction. I saw another installation of the Quickback for an MCS on this forum: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...tbar-pics.html. This one is for a Quickback 3. It's mounted lower, with the bottom bads below the license plate. I might try that to see if visibility out the back is better, although I have some reservations related to scratching the paint.

 

That looks sweet, but wouldn't you get pulled over for covering up the license plate?

 

Here's Yakima's response to the question about covering the license plate:

Thank you for contacting Yakima Customer Support.

On many vehicles the lower support frame with the pads will rest on the upper portion of the license plate, right above the numbers. Depending on the vehicle this is sometimes the safest fit.

We have occasionally received phone calls from consumers who have gotten a ticket for having an obscured license plate. You would need to contact your local DMV or police department to see what the state rules and regulations are for having a bike mount cover your license plate.

Thank you for your inquiry!
Yakima Support

 

Good thing I didn't just impulsively buy a Yakima and came here to research before I did that. I have to drive thru a village w/a private police force to get to and from my home (no way around that), and there's no way I'd get thru that gauntlet w/o stacking-up the tickets.

 

If u mount below the liscense plate its visible from the side angles. Ive driven through 5 states where out of state drivers get pulled over for anything and ive had 0 problems. Even in nyc parking cops have not written one cause its visible if u walk up to it.

 

Any new inputs on this one? I just don't want to do a top rack but I don't want to jack up the spoiler or the paint with a rear mount rack.
Thanks!

 

Is there one for bike rack?

 

Can you take the picture of the top hooks on the spoiler w/o mounting to the spoiler?
I just want to see how the hooks look like that they would not danage the paint.
Thanks,
-Mike

 

On the MCS, the upper straps go under the spoiler and don't attach to it. I use Yakima's "glass hatch adapters", which are foam-covered rods that secure the upper straps from the inside of the car; hard to describe. You can see what they are like if you download the instructions from the Yakima web site and examine the drawings.

The system is pretty secure. Once tied down, I can rock the car with it. I haven't seen any scuff marks where the coated hooks attach to the hatch. I set the lower pads just below the license plate; at least it's not covered up. Overall, I'm satisfied.

 

I had done my research when looking for a rear-mount bike rack for my MINI Cooper and several people had recommended the Yakima Quickback. Known for their quality and durability, I recently ordered one.

Once it arrived I began the process of putting it on (not as hard as everybody says). However as soon as I began to hook the rubber coated hooks, I noticed a problem. Every single one had obviously either been only dipped halfway in rubber or had been dipped completely and the rubber was split and peeling off. I would understand if the thing had been kept outside for years and the rubber eventually dry rotted, but this was new out-of-the-box.

Quality control has obviously taken a back seat at Yakima. If something as simple as the hooks can't be done correctly, I shudder at the shortcuts they've probably made in the body itself.

I will be returning this not for a replacement, but my money back.