phew. another bike rack thread. I was at Universal City BMW last night, and they had a new accessories catalog - which they wouldn't give me a copy of because "it was the only one they had".

I saw picks of that new bike rack, the MINI Fini Sport Link bike rack.

It looks like it's a tow hitch bike rack, except that it "inserts" into the car at either side of the twin exhausts. (the car in the pic was an MCS).

How do they retrofit this Sport Link thing? Anybody seen one in real life? I wonder how much installation costs when compared to the factory rack.

There's pictures on minifini.com

 

I have been trying to get info on the sportlink for months. I live in SF and have been yet unsuccessful in getting any reliable information as to when it will be available in dealerships and etc. There is a mount that is done beneath the bumper and then they drill holes in the bumper for the ports to come through, and then you put the rack on like a tow hitch rack. It seems like the best option I have see so far for carrying your bike on the Mini. I am still trying to get the info needed to order one up here.

Dr. B

 

I actually talked to the sales manager for MINI-Fini. They are haveing some issues with getting in the BMW-MINI system.

Said the combo of the under car portion and the bike rack should cost $500.. didn't say if that was with installation or not..

installaction looks pretty straight forward.. they use some existing anchor points on the car.

hoping to see it soon

 

>>I actually talked to the sales manager for MINI-Fini. They are haveing some issues with getting in the BMW-MINI system.
>>
>>Said the combo of the under car portion and the bike rack should cost $500.. didn't say if that was with installation or not..
>>
not too bad a price, I went this way w/ our minivan as I wasn't able to lift a bike on the roof and it cost about the same. I want this mount for my MINI -- my office has an underground parking garage and I won't clear it w/ a bike on the roof.

The only downside is the weight it adds to the back, kinda like towing. W/ our minivan and all four bikes and kids loaded, small cars in front of us get really annoyed 'cause my headlights are really glaring in their car...but I'm hoping the auto-leving feature of the Xenons will obviate this problem?

 

Unfortunately that is the same message that I got from them nearly 3 months ago. I still believe that this is the best option for carrying my bike, but I just don't know when or if it will be available. Don't they know that spring is coming and I need to be taking my bike all over the place on Lil Mo.

 

I called up my local dealer today, they don't have it or were sure when it would be available but was able to tell me the price. The sports link is ~$167, $27 for installation kit (not sure what's in this), and $99 for the bike rack. Don't know what the installation costs are.

 

That's a pretty decent price, hopefully they don't try to gouge you on the installation

 

I just talked to the parts guy at Mini of San Francisco, and the update on the Bike Rack and Sport link that he gave me was that it is scheduled for a May release at this point. Anyone out there have any other information????

 

Well its now April, any udates on this yet ?

 

Ok, so I have continued my relentless search to try and get the SportLink and Bike Rack. I heard back from Mini of Mountain View up here and the latest is that the Sport Link just passed the Mini Safety Standards committee as of last Monday, and will begin shipping out to Mini in the next few weeks. The guy at Mountain View said that the link should be available for order in the next 2-3 weeks.

 

Good news I talked to MINI FINI today and they will be shipping the sport link and the bike racks out to MINI this week. They got the final approval and installation instructions form MINI and are ready to ship. Now the maybe bad news I talked to Classic MINI and got the prices. The list price for the sport link is $239.00 and the bike rack is $310.00. Of course they will be discounting them to all North American Motoring members, So thats good. Classic still does not know when MINI will be shipping the units but that is the latest info I could get.

 

I have one.....let me repeat I have one....

If anyone in Northern California wants to watch the installation
email me offline at bad4fun@yahoo.com

 

Bad4Fun, where'd you get yours at?

 

Ok, Bad4Fun, I live in N Cal as well, and would love to know where you got yours and are you going to install it yourself, or have it done? If you are going to do the install yourself, and have done it already, how difficult was it???

I can't wait to hear. I am planning on doing the Wine Country Century in May, and if I could get my bike rack by then, it would be perfect!!!

 

Cyclensf,

I hope you got my email with photos? I'd post one
here but I don't know how? Can someone help me
with instructions. I thought I had a photo hosting
site, but it doesn't provide html links... Where do
all of you host your photos?? I tried to upload some
to the NAM gallery but that isn't working for me

help...Help....HELP..!!!!!!!!!





_________________
04' MCS Factory Pkg. #1,2,3,4 RPMs with Kumho 215/40 MXs, Jet Black/Anthracite/Blk Panther leather,Alta Pulley & CAI, Webb ECU, WebbTBody, Miltek Header, UUC Exhaust, Helix shifter, H-Sport springs, sway bar & control arms, Pilo, Nology, Sport-Link.

 

Sorry about the photo being so large...
What is the best size?? If you scroll to
the right you will see an approx. 640x600
or so. It look like maybe it should be
around 500 by x.

Bad4Fun

 

I am the proud owner of a MINIFini sport link and bike rack..


installed by Steve of Steve's Auto Clinic, North Hills Ca..


I am one happy guy..

it works just great.. everything I had hoped it would be..


a

 

Does anybody know if the cross bar comes with the sportlink or is it included with the bike rack? Also have there been any updates on the tow bar?

 

For a couple of days the tow bar bmw / mini part number was listed on the Mini fini site, then all references to it were removed.

Mini says "no towing" with an MCS. I suspect MINI had some objection, since the sport link fits the MC or the MCS. Or maybe the testing of trailer hitches required to sell them in some states (N.Y. CO.) just made it uneconomical.

I already have a "bolt to the trailer hitch" bike rack, so I made a device similar to the sportlink and installed it myself. It is easy to do on an MCS, but you would have to cut holes in an MC.

http://user.mc.net/~jdewey/MINI/Trailer_hitch/


The Sportlink directions are posted on the motoring files web site.

John

 

I just picked up the Sport Link and Bike Rack from the local Mini Dealer. I am going to try install it myself.

Is there anyone out there that has some experience with installing the Sport Link? If so, I would be very happy to receive some comments.

 

You probably got this with the sport link but here is an online PDF.
http://motoringfile.com/howto/SPORTLINKBIKEHOLDER.pdf

Did the sportlink come with the cross bar or is the cross bar part of the bike rack??

 

For anyone wondering what the unit looks like, I took these pics at the Long Beach Poker Rally.

 

If by Crossbar you mean the thing that mounts to the sportlink, then the crossbar is part of the bike rack.