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Each trike is 63 pounds. But the doesn't account for the bike rack. Additionally, because of the road vibrations, its recommended that you only go half of the maximum tongue weight, which means the combined trikes and carrier should be close to 100 pounds maximum.
Hmmm, not arguing, just trying to be helpful. The tongue and trailer weights specified for various hitch classifications have built in safety factors (as is typical with engineering) to account to bouncing, vibrations, acceleration, etc. Putting both your trikes on your Class 1 hitch will not be an issue. Whoever told you that you can only safely put 100 lbs on a Class 1 hitch is mistaken. Tongue weights are established by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers), and you can search and read how they establish ratings. With dynamic loading (as is the case with a hitch) the safety factors need to be high. Obviously, if you don't feel comfortable with putting your trikes on it, that's perfectly fine. However, a Class 1 hitch is very common on most small cars that routinely carry trailers and bikes without issue. (But I wouldn't tow a yacht ) Per the Out Motoring site, the hitch for the Clubman has been designated "Class 1" by SAE J684.
Thanks for this info, JohnnyQuest! (This is Trikerdude -- FantasticChoice's husband). The test data are fascinating. I thought safety factors would be built in, but didn't know how much. I'm pretty sure accessory manufacturers are hyper-conservative about their recommendations, for legal reasons; I can't blame them for that, but it leaves us with a certain amount of anxiety about some of our modding decisions!
The hitch has been designed (finally) and is available at Outmotoring.com, made by MNidomore. We were anxiously waiting for this since our Clubby arrived at the end of December. Now that it arrived, we found out that our two HP Velotechnik recumbent trikes are too heavy for the hitch! It is rated at 200 lbs and the trike rack people tell us the trikes should not way more than 100 lbs together. They weight about 30 pounds more than that together, so we are at ground zero again. But for regular bikes, the hitch should be just fine. We've been able to fit both trikes into the Clubby folded. Its tight and takes some time but is well worth it. A trailer was suggested, but we've been there, done that, and won't do it again! But the hitch should work for you.
That hitch is compelling, but I really need a 2" (which is what I have on my current 4Runner and previous 4Runner, Prius v, and RAV4) to fit my Thule 916XT rack. I could use adapters to make it fit to 1 1/4", but I'd rather just use my roof rack in that case.
Does anyone know the thread size of the tow hooks? If it is the same size as my FR-S, I could use my setup from it.
(FYI, I'd just go plug my FR-S tow bars into the clubman were they presently in the same city and were I in the same country!)
Thanks for this info, JohnnyQuest! (This is Trikerdude -- FantasticChoice's husband). The test data are fascinating. I thought safety factors would be built in, but didn't know how much. I'm pretty sure accessory manufacturers are hyper-conservative about their recommendations, for legal reasons; I can't blame them for that, but it leaves us with a certain amount of anxiety about some of our modding decisions!
You're welcome. The availability of a hitch for the Clubman literally was a make or break decision for me. I have to be able to trail my dirtbike so I investigated this thoroughly before I placed my order. The fact that Mini offers a factory hitch in Europe but not the US is still annoying, but it did allow the aftermarket guys to develop one easier and faster. (It mounts to the exact same holes as does the factory one). My hitch is supposed to arrive tomorrow, and my All4 just got on the boat. While I didn't design the hitch and haven't even seen it yet, I am a licensed structural engineer and have no anxiety with loading it to the specified limits. I think the car's suspension would complain and sag far before the structural capacity of the hitch or mounting would become an issue.
OK for people with non LED light package there is an option to install LED DRL fogs on the Clubman. I spoke with the dealer today and parts are $491 and installed they said $850 even though their website says $662 installed.
I am going to verify with the parts and service managers tomorrow whether a flash is needed after install so I can do them myself.
Each trike is 63 pounds. But the doesn't account for the bike rack. Additionally, because of the road vibrations, its recommended that you only go half of the maximum tongue weight, which means the combined trikes and carrier should be close to 100 pounds maximum.
(Trikerdude here -- Fantastic Choice's hubby) ... We did trailer our recumbent trikes for several years, with an earlier MINI we owned; MiniFini made the hitch, and MiniDoMore made a trailer that matched the color of the MINI. It was a great solution at the time, but at this point we just don't want to go that route.
So, don't make fun of me, ask me how old I am, or give me grief, but as much as I'm looking forward for my Clubman to arrive, I'm bummed that it doesn't have a CD player. Can someone tell me if there is a practical way to add one? I have a very extensive CD collection and have no desire or time to down load it. I know how everyone will roll their eyes, but I really, really would like to be able to pick out an album that I'm in the mood to hear, and just play it. I don't like playing "disjointed songs." I'm an album sort of guy. Does anyone know of a way I could add a CD player? Thanks.
So, don't make fun of me, ask me how old I am, or give me grief, but as much as I'm looking forward for my Clubman to arrive, I'm bummed that it doesn't have a CD player. Can someone tell me if there is a practical way to add one? I have a very extensive CD collection and have no desire or time to down load it. I know how everyone will roll their eyes, but I really, really would like to be able to pick out an album that I'm in the mood to hear, and just play it. I don't like playing "disjointed songs." I'm an album sort of guy. Does anyone know of a way I could add a CD player? Thanks.
There are a couple options from easy and cheap to expensive:
Option 1: Portable CD player with anti skip and use an aux cable from headphone jack to aux in on car. You can use batteries or buy the separate cigarette power plug. Mount somewhere up front so you can reach controls to skip through songs.
Option 2 (what I did): Find some local young whippersnapper or a young family member, buy an ipod touch and give him your cd collection, a portable hard drive and $50 to rip your CD collection in quality audio onto the iPod. Leave iPod in car hooked up permantly so you have all your music with you anytime you want to listen to it. Depending on said whippersnappers financial position price may go up or down. Apparently they don't work for quarters anymore and someone told me minimum wage was raised to almost $16 an hour
Option 3 : Take your MINI to a quality audio shop and see if they can install a cd changer somewhere in the car. The main cluster gives you the option of phone audio (when linked), USB and Aux In. They may be able to tap into that Aux in and power off of the rear cigarette plug. You would need a seperate remote to change tracks mounted somewhere near you in the cabin.
I was kind of shocked to not find a cd player either.
There are a couple options from easy and cheap to expensive:
Option 1: Portable CD player with anti skip and use an aux cable from headphone jack to aux in on car. You can use batteries or buy the separate cigarette power plug. Mount somewhere up front so you can reach controls to skip through songs.
Option 2 (what I did): Find some local young whippersnapper or a young family member, buy an ipod touch and give him your cd collection, a portable hard drive and $50 to rip your CD collection in quality audio onto the iPod. Leave iPod in car hooked up permantly so you have all your music with you anytime you want to listen to it. Depending on said whippersnappers financial position price may go up or down. Apparently they don't work for quarters anymore and someone told me minimum wage was raised to almost $16 an hour
Option 3 : Take your MINI to a quality audio shop and see if they can install a cd changer somewhere in the car. The main cluster gives you the option of phone audio (when linked), USB and Aux In. They may be able to tap into that Aux in and power off of the rear cigarette plug. You would need a seperate remote to change tracks mounted somewhere near you in the cabin.
I was kind of shocked to not find a cd player either.
Good suggestions. Ripping at 256 or 320 kbps seems like it would be fine for in-car listening and you'd have room on the 20gb MINI hard drive for thousands of songs. But if you aren't using the lower cargo compartment to hold a spare, a changer would fit perfectly in there.
There are a couple options from easy and cheap to expensive:
Option 1: Portable CD player with anti skip and use an aux cable from headphone jack to aux in on car. You can use batteries or buy the separate cigarette power plug. Mount somewhere up front so you can reach controls to skip through songs.
Option 2 (what I did): Find some local young whippersnapper or a young family member, buy an ipod touch and give him your cd collection, a portable hard drive and $50 to rip your CD collection in quality audio onto the iPod. Leave iPod in car hooked up permantly so you have all your music with you anytime you want to listen to it. Depending on said whippersnappers financial position price may go up or down. Apparently they don't work for quarters anymore and someone told me minimum wage was raised to almost $16 an hour
Option 3 : Take your MINI to a quality audio shop and see if they can install a cd changer somewhere in the car. The main cluster gives you the option of phone audio (when linked), USB and Aux In. They may be able to tap into that Aux in and power off of the rear cigarette plug. You would need a seperate remote to change tracks mounted somewhere near you in the cabin.
I was kind of shocked to not find a cd player either.
Thanks. Good advice. I'll probably do option 3, but I don't have my car yet.
Good suggestions. Ripping at 256 or 320 kbps seems like it would be fine for in-car listening and you'd have room on the 20gb MINI hard drive for thousands of songs. But if you aren't using the lower cargo compartment to hold a spare, a changer would fit perfectly in there.
I'm confused by this. When I bought my Clubman I was told that it had a HD so that I can upload music yet I have not found out how to do it. I plug in a Flash Drive and I don't see an option to upload. Is that function only on certain radios?
I don't have mine yet either, but IIRC, only the upgraded HK has a 20GB hard drive? Or maybe it was because of the Nav in the Tech package. Either way, if you have the basic sound system, no HDD. I was more bummed out there was no cassette player.....talk about your tedious rips to mp3....
I don't have mine yet either, but IIRC, only the upgraded HK has a 20GB hard drive? Or maybe it was because of the Nav in the Tech package. Either way, if you have the basic sound system, no HDD. I was more bummed out there was no cassette player.....talk about your tedious rips to mp3....
Took the Clubby out for a long memorial day weekend trip. 515 miles on it now and still loving every minute of it. Waved at a bunch of other MINI's on the trip but not a single wave back, just a lot of confused looks and looking back to see what it was.
Got it all cleaned up and it's first true detail and wax this morning as the dealers quick detail wore off on the trip.
We also added the Weathertech mats throughout the car (front, rear passenger and cargo area). We are very happy with the quality and fit. I've used these in all my vehicles for the NY snow and slush but as far as actual fit I think these are the best yet.
We ran into just one issue that I'll speak to the company about tomorrow. There are hooks for the front mats to ensure they stay in place. The factory uses velcro so you have to remove the factory 1/4 turn fasterners from the floor when you remove the factory mats. The 1/4 turn hooks that Weathertech sent dont't work as when they are installed they are perpendicular to where they should end up. Hoping they can simply send 4 more 1/4 turns fasteners that work.
The mats are actually black not gray as shown in the pics, I had to turn up the contrast on pics so you could see the fit.
I'm confused by this. When I bought my Clubman I was told that it had a HD so that I can upload music yet I have not found out how to do it. I plug in a Flash Drive and I don't see an option to upload. Is that function only on certain radios?
The HD only comes with the Connected XL/Navigation headunit, the standard radio will read MP3s from a flash drive, but there is no internal storage.
We also added the Weathertech mats throughout the car (front, rear passenger and cargo area). We are very happy with the quality and fit. I've used these in all my vehicles for the NY snow and slush but as far as actual fit I think these are the best yet.
I really like how the rear covers the carpeted drive hump. My kids step on that constantly, defeating the benefit of the all-weather mats I got from the dealer at purchase. I'm going to have to look into these....
The HD only comes with the Connected XL/Navigation headunit, the standard radio will read MP3s from a flash drive, but there is no internal storage.
Thanks for confirming. Looks like my dealership lied to me. A minor detail in the grand scheme of things but I hate being misinformed. Especially on a purchase so significant.
Started a separate thread about it but just in case the Clubman folks missed it our 2016 Cooper S Clubman with 518 miles is getting flatbedded to the dealer tomorrow as something in the coolant system went. It dumped all the antifreeze on the engine and my driveway this afternoon. No warning or alerts on the car at all.
) Per the Out Motoring site, the hitch for the Clubman has been designated "Class 1" by SAE J684.
