Cloggy
27th June 2009, 18:16
I like playing with my GPS, seeing where I have been, marking locations on maps, geocaching etc. Problem was, how to mount one on the bike. Sure, you can mount one using Ram Mounts. Of particular interest to me was the Ram stem mount which uses the hole down the stem tube to mount your gadgets. A most excellent product but unfortunately at a not so excellent price, around $160.00 odd dollars for the bits I needed. So I decided to make my own. Total cost? $0.00 :clap: (I am a Dutchman after all, short arms, deep pockets)
I had all the bits lying around the garage. An M6 bolt, some 2.5mm sheet metal for the mounting surface, a flanged nut, washer, a spacer and the most important bit, a little rubber cylinder. If you haven't got a suitable rubber cylinder you can get one from Mitre 10 or other hardware store. The one I used is actually a little drum sander for use in Dremel tools. It is the perfect size for the 1/2" stem hole in my Triumph Daytona. I had to drill the centre hole in the rubber out to 6mm to fit the bolt I was using. The washer used is 12mm dia. which had a 5mm hole so also got drilled out. Same with the flanged nut, as it had to fit down the 1/2" hole only an M5 nut would fit, so out with the drill and a tap and a few minutes later we had an M6 nut. (Why didn't I use and M5 bolt in the first place??, I didn't have one :( ). The spacer was made from a no longer needed brass pipe fitting. A few minutes in the lathe and eh presto! The accessory mounting plate in my case needed to be a circle to fit the suction cup mount for my GPS but could just as easily be a square or some other shape to suit whatever gadget you want to fit. All up, including finding all the bits in my somewhat messy garage, it took around 2 hours to make and paint. Not a bad effort me thinks.
It works by tightening the bolt which then squashes the rubber cylinder making it expand and lock inside the stem tube.
To fit, tighten the nut enough so the rubber is a light push fit into the stem tube. This so it doesn't spin when tightening the bolt as you can't get to the nut (well not easily anyway). Tighten the bolt snugly until the mount is secure. Mount your accessory and go riding. Piece of cake. :2thumbsup
I had all the bits lying around the garage. An M6 bolt, some 2.5mm sheet metal for the mounting surface, a flanged nut, washer, a spacer and the most important bit, a little rubber cylinder. If you haven't got a suitable rubber cylinder you can get one from Mitre 10 or other hardware store. The one I used is actually a little drum sander for use in Dremel tools. It is the perfect size for the 1/2" stem hole in my Triumph Daytona. I had to drill the centre hole in the rubber out to 6mm to fit the bolt I was using. The washer used is 12mm dia. which had a 5mm hole so also got drilled out. Same with the flanged nut, as it had to fit down the 1/2" hole only an M5 nut would fit, so out with the drill and a tap and a few minutes later we had an M6 nut. (Why didn't I use and M5 bolt in the first place??, I didn't have one :( ). The spacer was made from a no longer needed brass pipe fitting. A few minutes in the lathe and eh presto! The accessory mounting plate in my case needed to be a circle to fit the suction cup mount for my GPS but could just as easily be a square or some other shape to suit whatever gadget you want to fit. All up, including finding all the bits in my somewhat messy garage, it took around 2 hours to make and paint. Not a bad effort me thinks.
It works by tightening the bolt which then squashes the rubber cylinder making it expand and lock inside the stem tube.
To fit, tighten the nut enough so the rubber is a light push fit into the stem tube. This so it doesn't spin when tightening the bolt as you can't get to the nut (well not easily anyway). Tighten the bolt snugly until the mount is secure. Mount your accessory and go riding. Piece of cake. :2thumbsup