| Author | Message | ||
     Thump4fun |
After much Googling and searching and seeing what a lot of other people have done to mount their phones or GPS devices, I finally decided on something myself. My biggest concern with mounting a non-motorcycle specific device was the paint can shaking affect. Exactly how long will my iPhone last under that shaking? And where to mount it to minimize the vibrations as much as possible? After doing a very scientific analysis -- which consisted of simply watching the bike start up and idle first thing in the morning for several minutes -- I decided that the brake reservoir *seemed* to have the least vibrations of all the possible mount points (for some reason the left handlebar has a lot more shakes then the right). And if I wait to put the phone in its cradle until AFTER the race ECM has warmed up the bike and calmed down the RPMs to a more reasonable 1k, then the shaking reduces dramatically. So using 4 RAM parts (3 of which came in a kit together) here's what I came up with. Here's the parts list: - 1x RAM-HOL-UN4U (the cradle) - 1x RAM-B-182U which consists of: --- Reservoir mount (RAM-B-345U) --- Short double-socket arm (RAM-B-201U) --- Basic base with ball (RAM-B-238U) It does kind of look like a little transformer hanging on to the bike, but it works! :-)     Notice the zip tie on the bottom? My charging cable is coiled and I found that it pulled on the connecter a little too much and over time it might either (a) pop out or (b) bend open the iPhone or the connector itself. The zip tie was an easy way to hold the cable straight down out of the iPhone so the pull pressure is against that instead of the phone & connecter. We'll see how well that works over time, but it seems pretty good. One other minor change I did was this -- the kit came with multiple size screws and 4 spacers. What I did was use all 4 spacers, 1 on each side of the mounting place. In the 3rd pic you can plainly see the spacer on TOP of the mounting plate. The reason for this was that by using only 1 spacer the only size screw that would fit was the smallest of the three...but it only went into the reservoir *maybe* 3 turns. I didn't feel that was sturdy enough, especially since the stock screws go in about twice as far. With the double spacers I was able to use the medium length screws and go in even a little further then the stocks. Without the spacers the mediums were too long. Just putting this out there in case it helps out someone else with one possible solution. | ||
| Plasticgunz |
Mine. http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/4244/pitcf.jpg Maas mount, RAM parts. | ||
| Froggy |
I recommend you use an Aquabox, having the phone exposed to the elements is asking for trouble, it WILL get wet, and when you least expect it. | ||
| Blaylock1988 |
Some bar-end weights will help reduce vibrations, which would also open up more locations for mounting. | ||
| Plasticgunz |
Sorry, I got a call in the middle of this last night. I had read about people having problems with vibration, such as it not holding proper orientation. I haven't experienced this or any other vibration problem. Orientation will stay portrait when the bike is on the kickstand, landscape the rest of the time. I have seen it flip orientation when I'm leaned over far enough too.  I mount the longer RAM arm on the right side with a GoPro. I lean it to the right a little and it "sees" just over the ZG double-bubble, you can see a little in the lower left hand corner of the shots. I could probably eliminate that by running it straight up instead of leaned right. If you don't already have it, aSmartHUD is a cool little GPS aware app with different display modes, and it's free last I knew, as is another app called Dashboard. Dashboard isn't as customizable though. (Message edited by plasticgunz on July 15, 2011) | ||
| Thump4fun |
Plastic - I considered some way to mount in the middle of the triple as this would logically be a point of lesser vibrations then something further out to the side, but I couldn't come up with anything that either (a) was sturdy enough and (b) didn't block my view of the instrument cluster. I think what you have is a custom fabrication that I've seen around here before, right? Froggy - I was actually going to get that originally, but after riding around with the iPhone in my tank bag map case it actually overheated in the sun and 90' weather. I have the same concerns for the Aquabox since it's sealed and the air won't get to it, but I'm still considering getting it to use during cooler, non-sunny rides. Otherwise, it goes in a baggy in the tank bag to use only as needed at stops. Blaylock - Yup, have had a pair of HVMP heavy weights almost since I bought it. They definitely help reduce the vibrations (I could finally use my mirrors after putting on the weights - lol), but they don't eliminate them completely. | ||
| Thump4fun |
That aSmartHUD looks pretty cool! I just grabbed it for just $0.99. :-) For GPS mode I prefer the portrait so I'll just lock the orientation. I already noticed the orientation flip back and forth just when leaning the bike on the way out of the driveway this morning. btw -- I'm currently using the NavFree GPS (just paid a couple bucks to remove the advertisements). So far it's as good as my other vehicle's TomTom, except that it doesn't allow itineraries to be built. So it's good to use if you just want to reach a destination, but doesn't work for following a pre-planned custom route. I was hoping Google might release their GPS to the iPhone since I love Google Maps, but I don't see that happening. It looks like they're keeping it for their Droids only...at least right now. Other then the big dollar commercial apps (Garmin, TomTom, etc), is anyone using an iPhone app for planning and guiding along a pre-planned route? | ||
| Reepicheep |
How do you deal with the smart phone screen washing out in bright sunlight? Aside from durability in a bike environment, that would be my other big concern. The Garmin has a nice backlit but reflective screen, so when the sun comes out, it still works great (at least on my Quest). | ||
| Plasticgunz |
Thump: Yes, that's a custom mount fabricated by Maas. I recommend it and him, great customer service. Reepi: I'm not spending a lot of time looking at my screen, but I have adjusted the tilt since the picture I posted. Usually, I'm only glancing down to see the large speed readout in aSmartHUD. You do get glare sometimes, it's unavoidable but not really a problem. Most of the time the sun is blocked by the rider and/or it's position under the windscreen. If I'm using a navi app, I'm using voice guidance thru bluetooth in my helmet. I suppose durability could be an issue, but I'm not really worried about anything from the street environment. If it rains, I'll stop and stick it in my jacket. I have the more universal mount, that you can use with a case, but I didn't use it because I don't have confidence in it. I've been told not to worry, so I might try it in the future. | ||
| Plasticgunz |
New cockpit shot: http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5127/pitupdated.jpg GoPro from the front: http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/6096/frontviewg .jpg (Message edited by plasticgunz on July 15, 2011) | ||
| Reepicheep |
Thanks for the app tips, both of those are pretty cool. I don't think I'll use either as a primary tool on the motorcycle while riding, but they will be a good backup, and handy in the car. SmartHUD is cool because it's an easy way to geotag a picture right in the picture... | ||
| Plasticgunz |
aSmartHUD also has audio cues you can set when you hit a certain speed, I believe 3 diff speeds, maybe 4. I hear them through the bluetooth and I know how fast I just hit without looking at anything. And again, I like the large speedo display mode too. | ||
| Billyo |
I made mine from parts of the Verizon car dock kit. Sun glare isn't a problem but the touch screen doesn't respond well to touches from a glove.   | ||
| Thump4fun |
So I did a 180 mile twisty loop with the wife on Saturday to test out the mount, various GPS applications and the iPhone itself. Worked fantastic! - No problems with direct sunlight on the iPhone screen. For the most part, my body blocks direct light anyway. - Ended up selecting MotionX GPS Drive as the primary GPS application. A couple minor questions but extremely satisfied with it. And who can beat $0.99?! :-) - Mount was steady above 4k RPM, but even with the vibes under 4k the iPhone was plenty readable to see where to turn (I don't ride with earphones for the voice). I can't say enough good things about the MotionX GPS app. I do have a couple questions posed to their support team, mainly regarding route tracking (their other product does it and I'm wondering if I can run them both together) and about uploading GPX files for pre-defined routes off Google Maps. | ||
| Iman501 |
heres mine, its not for my iphone, but easily could be i f i had a iphone holder that would snap over the ball...  i got the idea from this thread, his is cooler, b/c its flat and out of the way, I could probably firgure something out similar to that, but ehh this works, and i can still see my gauges fine, and am able to turn the bars both ways fully as well  |
