Bicycle carrier - Event Date: 01 Jun 2017

Congrats and welcome! Suggest you search the forum for bike racks. It's an often discussed topic.

I checked with e trailer about the use of a converter from a 1 1/2" receiver hole and a 2" receiver hole to mount a 2" receiver sized bike rack.  The person I talked to said that use of the converter that adds about 5" to the receiver cuts capacity by 50%, from 200 lbs. to 100 lbs on a class I receiver.  I don't know what the capacity is of the spare tire holder is, but anything you do to modify it's length increases the fulcrum effect and reduces the capacity by a lot.  By the the time you add a bike rack and a couple of Walmart bikes at 36 pounds each you have a heck of a lot of weight with a lot of leverage.  I wonder if the welds on the spare tire mount would hold?  I wouldn't want to be following close behind.

The Pod 1-1/4" receiver isn't rated very high. Any hitch mounted accessory would need to be light. I think less than 70 pounds total.

Since our pod is not occupied while we travel, it's just as easy to throw the bikes inside.  They're safe and secure at stops, easy to get out if necessary, and at the destination, it's easy enough to lock them up to the tongue of the pod.  Best of all, there is no additional cost, no windage, and no weight or structural issues.  It would be the same for putting them in the back of our truck, except that sometimes we have a raised sleeping platform there for extra grandkids when we travel that takes up the space inside the bed/camper shell.

Yes, I have stopped riding through mud and such and had forgotten that it can get pretty messy.  But, I still would be real careful about putting a bike rack and a couple of bikes on the receiver for the spare without having it strengthened enough so there is no danger of hitch receiver breaking loose.