Looking for Motorcycle mount - ideas?

[taco]

Hi,
I recently bought an iQue for my motorcycle and am having a difficult time locating a mount kit for it.

CycoActive (http://www.cycoactive.com `) was the only place I could find something for my bike, but I own a sportbike and can't fit a handlebar mount kit to my bike.

Any ideas??

[funbob]

Check out http://www.ram-mount.com. You ought to be able to find something their that suits your needs.

If you desire a little bit of protection for your iQue while it's on the bike, try http://www.otterbox.com

[JohnVa]

Taco,

Take a pic of the area you want to put it in and let us see

John

[taco]

Wow, you guys are quick!

ok, so here's what I want: It's a spindle mount (which I can get), but I can't find a PDA cradle that would fit to attach it to this particular mount. All the ones I found were either for the car (via windshield/vent), or motorcycle via handlebar (in which it will not work - there's no room).

http://www.cycoactive.com/gps/gallery/grab11_sportbike1.jpg

[JohnVa]

i see several nuts there, you should be able to fabricate an aluminum bracket about 2 inches wide to which you could mount the auto nav mount to.

John

[taco]

Are you referring to the nut at the far left of the photo?

[JohnVa]

How about the ones at the bottom? Are those the fuel tank? It has to be one that is stable.

I took the big ones to be the fork nuts?

John

[taco]

Big one's are for my forks so the mount can't go there. The little one's on the bottom hold my tank.
I was hoping to find something to attach to the spindle mount ball-thingy that's smack dab in the middl.

It's a cramped space on my bike so there isn't much room.

[JohnVa]

If you have access to a vice you should be able to fabricate a bracket to fit under that nut from 1/8 inch flat aluminum plate to which you could mount the ique. What is your power source for running it?

John

[taco]

Originally posted by JohnVa
What is your power source for running it?
John

I'm working on that! :D
I'm going to connect it to the battery (I know I can get a kit for it) with a fuse.

[JohnVa]

Someone posted some pics on another thread yesterday for motorcycle use. Now if I could remember the thread? :)

John

[eddo3]

I was planning to fit the ique in the see through map pouch of a strap on tankbag. You'd still have a visual and the antenna can lay flat... along with a little weather protection. Just a thought.

Ed

[taco]

Originally posted by eddo3
I was planning to fit the ique in the see through map pouch of a strap on tankbag. You'd still have a visual and the antenna can lay flat... along with a little weather protection. Just a thought.

Ed
I was thinking of that. It will also protect my i'Qute'

(though I just sold my nice tankbag because the magnets were scratching my paint).

If I can't find mounting hardware, I'll have to get another tankbag then. :(

[arethustra]

I've got the OtterBox 3600 for my GS and I wouldn't go with anything else - the unit nearly got cooked when it was in a tankbag of another guy that I know...The 3600 is a tank but, it's really not that big...The iQue arrived yesterday so I'll post pictures when I get everything mounted - should be this weekend...

-Todd

[alriclam]

I know you said you had no room on the handlebars, but I managed to get by with the 1/2 inch of free space for a U bolt in my install here.

http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27040&highlight=ram+mount+motorcycle

You can find ideas for mounting/buy stuff from cyclegadgets.com, www.rka-luggage.com, and www.gpscity.com

[taco]

Originally posted by alriclam
I know you said you had no room on the handlebars, but I managed to get by with the 1/2 inch of free space for a U bolt in my install here.

http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27040&highlight=ram+mount+motorcycle

You can find ideas for mounting/buy stuff from cyclegadgets.com, www.rka-luggage.com, and www.gpscity.com
WOW, that's a nice setup! You can come by an hook me up!
What power sourse did you install? (and where did you get it?)

[alriclam]

With RAM stuff, you can mix and match parts. If you wanted to go with the spindle mount, I would get that, plus a normal or long arm, and a PDA cradle plus 1" ball with diamond base to mount to the bottom of the PDA cradle. I personally like the PDA cradle you see in my pics, I think its a universal type one they offer. It holds all four corners, which I haven't found in any other mount. But I think for next year, I'll try to get my hands on an Otterbox, for more all weather protection....

[taco]

I saw an Otterbox at Fry's andf it was pretty pricey. Big too, BUT would probably keep my GPS safe and sound.
Thanks for all the advice.
Once I get my stuff, I'll post a picture of the setup.
Wish me luck!

[alriclam]

I installed a 12 V cigarette lighter plug into my left fairing (got that from the auto store), and a Palm 515 car charger from Radioshack, that I haven't been able to find since then, on their site. I'll try to get the part number for you when I go home and can look at it, but I keep forgetting to do that for others on this list. I also own a Boxwave charger with the car adapter (www.boxwave.com), which also would work fine for this too.

Since then, I sorta went overboard on the RAM stuff, and mounted my Chatterbox up by the handlebars on the other side, as well as a remote vid camera that is now mounted on the tank. :)

Originally posted by taco
WOW, that's a nice setup! You can come by an hook me up!
What power sourse did you install? (and where did you get it?)

[HighFive]

Hi all,

There is a smaller alternative to the Otterbox Armor 3600. Take a look at:

http://www.venturers.org/discus/messages/7/61763.html?1066133916

and look for the message of Carony (he's on this forum too, isn't he?), "posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2003 - 08:18 am".

These pictures convinced me to go for the smaller otterbox Armor 2600 (or Armor I in Germany). It's more work to get the cables out of the box and it requires modifying it, but I like the size better than the huge Armor 3600. The box won't be completely waterproof anymore, but I usually don't take my motorcycle for a swim.

I intend to use the small car charger (pin) instead of the larger connector shown in the pictures.

Once the snow is gone I will start working on it and post my pictures here.

Good luck,
HighFive

[arethustra]

Others have done the same sort of thing (there's a thread on BMWSportTouring.com that features a similiar mod - slightly less holes ) but, I don't think the size difference is worth the risk...You've got problems looming with condensation and while you don't take your bike swimming I assume that you do still ride when it's raining out - say in the middle of a trip...

Personally, I don't think the risks to the rather expensive unit are worth it to save 2 inches of length and approximately $50...then again it's your money so just my $0.02...Plus the Armor 3600 looks great with my GS Adventure :D

-T

[HighFive]

You might be right about the condensation. I will try to make the box as waterproof as possible, putting silicon rubber around the connector holes. Since I am using only the pin and not the whole connector as in the pictures, I suppose that I can make it waterproof enough to prevent condensation.

You might be right about this, but we'll see and compare later.

And the Armor 3600 does not look as big anymore with a GS Adventure, I agree ;)

Cheers,
HighFive

[arethustra]

That's the trick...he just needs a bigger bike! :D

[taco]

Well my worries are mounting it on my bike, hooking it up, and actually using it!

I don't ride in the rain (as it doesn't rain much here in Cali), but eventually, it would be nice to keep it safe and secure in a case of some sort.

[arethustra]

Originally posted by HighFive
You might be right about the condensation. I will try to make the box as waterproof as possible, putting silicon rubber around the connector holes. Since I am using only the pin and not the whole connector as in the pictures, I suppose that I can make it waterproof enough to prevent condensation.

You might be right about this, but we'll see and compare later.

And the Armor 3600 does not look as big anymore with a GS Adventure, I agree ;)

Cheers,
HighFive

I'd look into using something like an Ancor waterproof cable pass thru or grommets at the least you could punch thru the box on the back so you'd have a good flat surface...There are definitely ways to make it watertight if you just are using the pin charger and an external antenna - The otehr one that was modified had the RAM mount ball pop riveted onto the back (I'd put a bit of epoxy around those wholes to keep them water tight)...Being that I make motorcycle audio products ( www.tesseractcorp.com ), I plan to also include an audio cable so I really needed the Armor 3600's cable pass thru add-on...

-T

[Berty]

:cool: I have a handlebar mount from www.saeng.com on my Valkyrie. I use it, interchangeably, for my MP3 player or the IQue. They connect via a 2" x 1.5" patch of velcro. Trust me, from experience: if you DID it a pothole that yanked your IQue off, your worry is WAY beyond the well-being of the IQue. It stays 'glued' pretty strongly.

[YCARON]

If you scroll down on this site you will see pictures and description of how I mounted my iQue on my motorcycle.

Y Caron

http://www.venturers.org/discus/messages/7/61763.html