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Who cares how it looks. I wouldn't put bikes on the roof b/c bad things happen. Were it me I would put on a trailer hitch and get the appropriate rack for that. Less wind noise, easier to take off and much easier to avoid scratching the roof or hitting a low garage or sign.
It works fine and will give you a sporty look.
Just use good quality stuff, load/unload the bikes carefully and check the attachments, don't forget you need higher clearance.
Mine is from Thule (no interest, just an happy customer) which is the same that Jaguar sold with their logo as accessory.
You might get more useful responses posting your question in the X351 forum, as bike rack options are very different between the X350 & X351. For the X351, you are limited to trailer hitch, or suction cups on the glass roof. Roof racks are not an option on the X351.
littlegypsyau has a 350, but what constitutes X351? I don't think I've heard of that one. Unfortunately the trailer hitch costs the moon for the X350, I'd expect the same for the X351.
littlegypsyau has a 350, but what constitutes X351? I don't think I've heard of that one. Unfortunately the trailer hitch costs the moon for the X350, I'd expect the same for the X351.
The OP says he has an 2015 XJ, making it an X351 which has a glass roof, so that rules out conventional roof racks that are available for our X350's. There are a couple suction cup bike racks, though I'm not sure I'd ever take such a risk. That leaves a trailer hitch system for racks, which as you say aren't cheap to add to our X350's or X351's. I can get a bike in the trunk of my X350, and a second in the back seat.
As a keen cyclist myself, this is my solution... that is my sons bike you can see, my own adult MTB is also in there under the blue sleeping bag. I decided to remove all the carpet just to give a bit more room all round and not have to worry about getting oil on them, take all quick releases wheels off, lower seats and unbolt the handlebars off the stem so they can rest flat. A bit of a faf, takes me 10-15 mins to pack up/take out, it also means I can leave them in the car where ever I'm staying and can keep them out of the weather
Mine has a glass roof too, wonder how I've missed seeing the X351 designation. Good point about inside storage. I have a canvas "dog hammock" that protects the rear seats from scratches and such, which turns out to be handy for putting my bike in the back seat.
I use the Saris Bones 3 trunk rack. It is adjustable so it fits on multiple cars and I have not had a problem with it marring the paint finish. (The picture was right after we bought it. I now keep sleeves on the reubber feet to prevent this.) We overflow onto a roof rack with any extra stuff if the trunk is full.
We also checked out tow hitches for this car, but unless you want to pay $600-1000 you'll probably want to figure something else out.
Saris Bones 3 it is. We have put three adult bikes on it, and one child trailer bike in the trunk. Or two adult bikes plus the trailer bike on the Saris. Or a trike. Never gave any trouble, even at highway speeds.
Just recently after many years I finally found a good used Jaguar roof rack for a decent price, so this will be our next project - how to get seven bikes onto the X358.
That's a neat way to carry your trike. I just recently sold my recumbent tadpole and I carried it on my roof basket, though I don't know if I ever took a picture with it up there.
I bought Jaguar roof bars from a dealer in the midwest, and a cargo basket from Amazon. Boy have we gotten the use out of those! There was a member here recently, shbiv, who bought brand new Jaguar crossbars for much cheaper than I got mine. Here is a link he provided me:
It works fine and will give you a sporty look.
Just use good quality stuff, load/unload the bikes carefully and check the attachments, don't forget you need higher clearance. Mine is from Thule (no interest, just an happy customer) which is the same that Jaguar sold with their logo as accessory.
^I know this is an old post, but do you happen to know what model of Thule rack that is?
I know its the same, or similar, to the OEM rack which is no longer made. So, I've been looking for the model number of the Thule feet that you are using in this picture.
I haven't found any other users with the Thule branded (not Jaguar branded) racks, nor can I find any information through Thule for any X350/358.
08-20-2017, 09:13 PM
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