Kuat 2 Bike Add-On for 2 inch NV Bike Rack Review

Review of the Kuat 2 Bike Add-On for 2 inch NV Bike Rack

Today we are going install Kuat two bike add on for the 2 inch NV bike rack, part number N103. The Kuat NV is a two bike platform style bike rack that a lot of our customers have grown to love. The problems is, sometimes people need more than two bikes. Kuat has designed an add on. The add on bolts to the end of the rack and extends it and brings the capacity to four bikes instead of just two. The older NV models had a slightly different shank than what Kuat is currently using. Kuat wants you to update to the current version before you install the add on. :32

If you do not know for sure if you have the old version or the new version, we are going to show you how to tell. On this side of the shank you are going to look for a piece of metal welded right here. Basically, a double layer to add some strength around this pin. On the opposite side, you will see another piece of metal welded to the inside of this gap. Again, it adds extra strength. The shape of the pivot box is also different. The older style is a flat box, but on the new style part way up it angles back for a smaller box. If you do have an older rack that does have an old style you can call Kuat for the replacement shank. 1:08

Back on your NV bike rack, the first thing to do is remove your trail dock on the end of the rack. Use the included allen key and back out the bolts that are holding the trail dock onto the end of the rack. Once the trail dock is off, we need to remove the first platform and move it down to the next set of holes. This hole here is where we are going to put our plastic tube for the bike cable lock and this will be one of the bolt holes. We will reuse this bolt hole that we are currently in now. We are going to shift the platform back so we have space for the extension. You may want a second set of hands to help you grab the platform as you remove the bolts. We are going to pull the plastic cable tube out and put it in the second hole. Feed the cable lock through the plastic tube, into the other half of the platform and push them together. Make sure you get the allen bolt to thread into the nut on the other half of the platform. 2:03

We now have our mounting holes available for the add on. Add on the bolts to the end of the rack. We are going to finger tighten the bolts, but make sure you leave yourself a little bit of wiggle room so you can get the assembly to fit together. Once you have all four of the bolts finger tight, go ahead and use the included allen key and lock them all down. With the last bolt on and the add on tightened down, you can put the trail dock plate back on the end of the rack. With the trail dock plate installed on the end of the rack, we can slip the trail dock arm back into position, and lock it down with the clamp. 2:38

Now that we have our add on assembled and attached to the original NV rack, lets go ahead and test it out. Up front we will take our hook and ratchet it down to the front tire. We will use our ratcheting strap here in the rear to secure the rear wheel. That will finish it for the Kuat two bike add on for the 2 inch NV bike rack part number N103.