Driving with bike on rack in the rain

A little caution on that  trashbag/tarp plan.....from my son's personal experience......you will get pulled over by Johnny Law if you have a hitch mounted bike that covers your rear tail/brake lights.  Think about it, it's actually a good law.

Plastic bag the saddle and handlebar tape. Wipe down the rest of the bike and lube it properly as soon as you can. No permanent damage.

Just throw those plastic bags you get from the Grocery over the saddle, bars, etc... Won't be a problem. 

x2...I think those may be the only things you don't want exposed to hours of moisture.  Everything else can be cleaned and dried off fairly easily.

x3.  But if you plan ahead and take those free shower caps from hotels, they work well too.

I drove to a race for about 2 hours last year in driving rain with a rear hitch mount. Maybe the last 10 mins were dry and sunny (and so was race day...) and surprisingly, my bike was relatively dry by the time I got to the hotel. Wrap it up a little if you are really bothered by it..but it should be fine either way IMHO.

When your car is moving the plastic bag will be flabbing.  When the plastic bag flabbing its like rubbing your bike with plastic big bag for 12 hrs.  

I did that on a vehicle in the trunk with a cloth cover, it rub off some paint after 2 hrs of driving.  That said, bicycle paint is stronger (usually powdercoated) and plastic bag is less of a sandpaper

I would just wash the bike and lube the chain and moving parts afterward. 

Thats kinda what I figured. Thanks for the info. I will try to see what I can do to cover the saddle and bars, so tape doesn't get soaked and use it as an excuse to spend a few hours cleaning and lubing my bike while at the inlaws.