About the Yakima GateKeeper
https://www.yakima.co.nz/gatekeeper
RRP $229 NZD
The Yakima GateKeeper tailgate pad is designed to cover the tailgate of your ute so you can safely transport your bikes without damaging them.
The bikes rest over the back of the tailgate, the front wheel hanging over the back turned to the side. There are straps and extra padded cradles (SitTight) to accommodate up to five bikes (on the medium size).
The GateKeeper features an abrasion resistant outer material, it’s easy to clean and a plush soft felt material inside to protect your paint.
The GateKeeper has three straps that go around the tailgate to secure it in place. And a flap (HindSight) to make it easy to access your tailgate latch and leave your reversing camera free.
Who is it for?
The GateKeeper is ideal for those wanting a cheap and easy solution to carrying their bikes on a ute with no need for security. Someone wanting a quick to set-up to throw the bikes on the back and go.
Specs
Weight: 3.18kg
Dimensions: L 134.6 cm x W 43.2 cm x H 12.7 cm
Capacity: 5 bikes
Fits: Downtubes up to 63mm
Using the GateKeeper
We purchased the GateKeeper to fit on the back of a Ford Ranger Wildtrak, we thought it fitted the truck well for length and width.
The GateKeeper was easy to fit and remove but we tended to leave it on the truck. We found that with the pad rolled forward and the “SitTight” bumps and straps at top of the tailgate, the rolling shutter lid on my truck wouldn’t fully close. The pad also obscured the reversing camera, so we tended to roll it backwards slightly. With the pad rolled back slightly and the flap tucked away, we had good access to the tailgate latch, the rear-view camera was unobstructed and the roller lid shut fully.
Roller lid not closing 
Pad covering the reversing camera 
Closeup of the tailgate latch and reversing camera
We used the Gatekeeper to carry our Specialized Turbo Levo eBikes to the trails. We found that with these bikes, the straps were not quite long enough to go around the downtube and secure the bikes to the pad. To overcome this, we used an extra 30 cm length of Velcro to extend the strap and secure the bike which seemed to work OK. For our non-eBikes, we found that the straps worked fine with no extra Velcro needed.
Close up of the strap and cradle 
Close up of the strap and cradle with a Velcro extension 
Strap over an eBike down tube 
Strap over a regular bike down tube
On longer drives, we would sometimes find that the back of the bikes moved around and leaned together. We decided to ensure that the bikes didn’t contact each other by adding a ratchet strap to the bed of the truck.
If we had to leave the bikes unattended on the back of the truck, we used a long wire rope and padlocks top secure the bikes.
We found the GateKeeper would easily accomodate three bikes but trying to squeeze five on required removing pedals and a high chance of bikes rubbing.
Final thoughts
Overall, we were pretty impressed with the GateKeeper. For the price it does a good job of securing most bikes, protecting them and the ute.
We found it is easy to use and quick to install, both the pad itself and the bikes. Also, the GateKeeper was easy to store since it simply folded down.
We thought however that it would be good if the straps were a little longer to accommodate some of the larger downtubes on eBikes and maybe some kind of security locking system integrated into the pad too. There are also some fit considerations for ute lids.
Finally, when you have bikes installed on the gatekeeper, you won’t have as much storage space on your ute tray and anything you do store on there may interfere with the bikes.
Our rating
Looking for a solution to carry your bikes?
Keep an eye out for our upcoming reviews of the Yakima ForkChop, the Yakima Holdup Evo 2” and the Yakima LightMate.
Please note: This post is not sponsored in anyway. We purchased the GateKeeper ourselves and these are our thoughts.