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Phone Mounted on Bike, Stabilization


Ponch

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Have any of you mounted a phone on your motorcycle? Have you had an issue with image stabilization taking videos? I have an iPhone 7 and I just put on a RAM X Mount where the secondary mirror mount on my RT is. Pretty bad video. Not stable at all. Just wondering if anyone has experience. 

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Lots of folks over at advrider.com have destroyed their iPhone cameras by mounting them on the bike for use as a GPS.  The image stabilization mechanism is too delicate to survive the constant vibration.

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19 minutes ago, lkraus said:

Lots of folks over at advrider.com have destroyed their iPhone cameras by mounting them on the bike for use as a GPS.  The image stabilization mechanism is too delicate to survive the constant vibration.

I was just wondering if there was anymore experience than listed in that post. It seems hit or miss. Some say they do it and never have a problem, some have multiple failures.  ¯\_()_/¯ My video was very unstable. I wonder if a dedicated cam is better or is it just the mounting point and bike itself. 

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szurszewski
42 minutes ago, lkraus said:

Lots of folks over at advrider.com have destroyed their iPhone cameras by mounting them on the bike for use as a GPS.  The image stabilization mechanism is too delicate to survive the constant vibration.


 

I’m one of those people. I have an iPhone X and my original telephoto camera/lens had the image stabilizer fail - I don’t know that it was moto related, but I noticed it right after having the phone mounted to an R9T on a trip down the coast (only had the phone a few months then - bought in winter, and this was the first big trip of spring).  
 

I had the whole screen/camera assembly replaced under warranty. Switched from a ram x to a perfect squeeze and the camera is still working. (Replaced one August of last year I think.) I do make an effort to make sure not to open the camera app when the phone is mounted to a moving moto, but I don’t know enough about the stabilization to know if that matters. 
 

...the screen part of my replacement unit sucks though. It’s an Apple component but will go screwy if it gets the least bit warm. Unless I’m at the shop trying to show someone how screwy it is. 

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I have witnessed two different iPhones go flying out of X-mounts after the bike hit a big bump in the road.  RAM has a different design that is more secure, using adjustable width pins on the sides, and a spring-mounted pair of hooks holding the top of the phone.  They all vibrate.  I think any cantilevered mounting solution like RAM will vibrate.

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9 hours ago, szurszewski said:


 

I’m one of those people. I have an iPhone X and my original telephoto camera/lens had the image stabilizer fail - I don’t know that it was moto related, but I noticed it right after having the phone mounted to an R9T on a trip down the coast (only had the phone a few months then - bought in winter, and this was the first big trip of spring).  
 

I had the whole screen/camera assembly replaced under warranty. Switched from a ram x to a perfect squeeze and the camera is still working. (Replaced one August of last year I think.) I do make an effort to make sure not to open the camera app when the phone is mounted to a moving moto, but I don’t know enough about the stabilization to know if that matters. 
 

...the screen part of my replacement unit sucks though. It’s an Apple component but will go screwy if it gets the least bit warm. Unless I’m at the shop trying to show someone how screwy it is. 

I think the camera has to be on. Last week my Apple Watch shut off from the heat, but it gets damn hot here. Same with the phone. Apple needs to step up their game. 

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1 hour ago, Cap said:

I have witnessed two different iPhones go flying out of X-mounts after the bike hit a big bump in the road.  RAM has a different design that is more secure, using adjustable width pins on the sides, and a spring-mounted pair of hooks holding the top of the phone.  They all vibrate.  I think any cantilevered mounting solution like RAM will vibrate.

Yet go pros are steady, even on HDs. 

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Go Pros are designed from the get-go to be much more robust. They are sports cameras designed to be used as such. Phones are designed to be phones that have a camera too.

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2 hours ago, Ponch said:

Yet go pros are steady, even on HDs. 


GoPro cameras are much lighter, and their mounting arm length much shorter than a short RAM arm.  So, the natural frequency of vibration will be much higher, and the amplitude of vibration much smaller.  Thus, less noticeable.

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lawnchairboy
20 hours ago, lkraus said:

Lots of folks over at advrider.com have destroyed their iPhone cameras by mounting them on the bike for use as a GPS.  The image stabilization mechanism is too delicate to survive the constant vibration.

yep, had mine replaced twice. They don't survive vibration handlebar mounted, at least not iPhone. 

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JustKrusen

My Iphone XR had the camera stabilization die in 1 week on my new G310GS.  It worked OK on my RT for 2 months before that.  Most of the GS miles that week were on forest roads bouncing around pretty good.  The camera was NOT turned on while riding.  I now use my old 5S on the GS for navigation and keep the XR in my pocket.  I still plan to use the XR mounted on the RT in my Xgrip.  I've used the Xgrip since 2011 and never lost a phone including some very rough dirt roads.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I watch my phone cartwheel down the freeway with an xgrip ,always add more straps or something to secure it better.

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8 hours ago, AttackPug said:

I watch my phone cartwheel down the freeway with an xgrip ,always add more straps or something to secure it better.

I have the rubberband thingy on the four corners. It's not going anywhere...But a few weeks later after using it once in the cradle,  I have double vision on the screen. I've been using Apple products for 33 years and their phones for at least 7 or 8 and the quality is slipping. 

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On 7/24/2020 at 1:42 AM, AttackPug said:

I watch my phone cartwheel down the freeway with an xgrip ,always add more straps or something to secure it better.

I've been using an strip for 10 years.  On all kinds of roads over 150,000 miles.  It has never even slipped down in the mount.  Even on fire roads I don't use the rubber band. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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  • 10 months later...
sleddriverSF

I know I am coming late to this post but I too have heard bad things about using phones mounted on bikes as GPS units becuase of the vibration.  My answer to that was to dig out a previous phone (I am in the android world) and use that as my GPS phone.  I set my main phone in my pocket (where it should always be when riding**) and turn it on as a hotspot.  I put the old unit on the handlebar mount and it connects to my hotspot phone by wifi and gets all the data it needs that way.   **If you get into an accident while riding and are separated at all from the bike, it is likely you will be heading to the hospital without your phone.  Or your wallet if it is in your tank bag.  The bike, and anything attached to it will likely be going to the tow yard.

 

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If the Iphone is mounted on a Ram x and only used to see incoming calls and text ,  could that do any harm to the phone?

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I have an iphone and use the ram xmount.  I've used it for video, but seldom.  My phone is mounted daily on my 50 mile one way commutes over half back roads and half slab and has waze on constantly and I switch the ram mount between the RT and GSA.  It's never come out of the mount and the video/camera still work fine.  It's an iphone 8plus and I've had it since 2017.

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  • 4 weeks later...
sleddriverSF
On 5/28/2021 at 5:15 AM, taylor1 said:

If the Iphone is mounted on a Ram x and only used to see incoming calls and text ,  could that do any harm to the phone?

 

They say that all the new phones have image stabilizers build into them (cameras) and the constant vibration can screw those up and that particular problem is not covered by warranty.  You may never have a problem, but if you have a problem with a $900 phone and they say too bad, can you absorb that hit.    Plus, there is the fact that if you get separated from the bike in an accident, you are likely to go to the hospital without your phone.  do you know the numbers of all the people you would need to call?

 

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8 hours ago, sleddriverSF said:

 

  do you know the numbers of all the people you would need to call?

 

 

Why yes, I do.  I actually dial the numbers vice going to the contacts and hitting a name.  No different than growing up and having the numbers in your head.

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