Date: 28-03-24  Time: 08:22 am

Author Topic: Sat Nav holder review  (Read 2506 times)

FazerRuss

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Sat Nav holder review
« on: 29 May 2013, 09:47:52 am »
I bought one of these the other day, as it seemed it'd be useful for both work and social purposes.

I looked at quite a few but settled on this one, which appeared to be a brand of sorts, rather than a generic thing.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190839752522?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

eBay seller "freebitsuk"

It has a load of different size foam bits to pad out the phone, and the case is the perfect size and a nice snug fit without being too tight.  The touchscreen can also be operated through the plastic - not particulary handy when you have motorbike gloves on, but there we go! :lol:

A friend bought a slightly cheaper one and has said he discovered it wasn't as "rain proof" as the ad made out.  The one I have, I must admit, the plastic screen cover looks tightly stitched to the rest of the case, and the zips also look like they'd do a good job of keeping rain out, as they're coated in that rubbery coating that effectively seals the zip when it's done up.

I got it because it came with 2 brackets, and I was thinking it'd also be useful on my mountainbike or road bike. One bracket is a shorter, thumbsrcrew and clamp fixing - the other is a longer and larger quick release clamp. Turns out the smaller mounting bracket fitted the Fazer handlebars well, and being shorted, means the phone's not hanging out miles from the bike.  The rubber strip supplied was a bit to thin, but I had some other rubber that I cut down to size and that helped it clamp that little bit tighter.

Tried it for the first time today on the bike:







It works really well. It holds it nice and tight, even on Surrey’s wonderfully smooth roads  :lol:  :roll: , it didn’t look in danger of being launched off.  The only problems I found were I had is that the auto-screen rotation was going bonkers at times. Solved that by installing a free app that allows you to manually set portrait or landscape called "Rotation Locker".

The other downside is that it does cane through the battery.  Did about 20% in 30 mins or so, so hooking up a lighter socket or something somewhere under the faring is going to be a must.  I've ordered a waterproof usb charging socket from this place.  The selection on ebay looked a bit crap, so I figured I may as well get a half decent waterproof fused socket that would be fairly flexible in terms of mounting options.

http://www.powerlinkproducts.co.uk/usbcharger.html

I'll fit that when it arrives in a few days.

Anyway, seeing as there's quite a selection on eBay and elsewhere, I thought a review and some pictures of one I found to be pretty good may be useful.


locksmith

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Re: Sat Nav holder review
« Reply #1 on: 29 May 2013, 10:45:13 am »
It does say "water resistant". Think I'd see if thats true using a hose WITHOUT the phone in the case before I trusted it to rain!

Buzz

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Re: Sat Nav holder review
« Reply #2 on: 29 May 2013, 11:01:40 am »
I just used a cheap car holder for my iPhone, sawed the windscreen sucker off and gaffer taped the long stick above the clocks, doesn't get wet as it's right under the screen.  For the power I bought a cheap cigarette USB charger stored under the seat and wired into the ignition circuit, and a long USB lead which goes under the tank and is again taped above the clocks. 


A fiver for the lot!   :D


I much prefer having the screen above the clocks as you barely have to look down from the road to read it.




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ddtwelve

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Re: Sat Nav holder review
« Reply #3 on: 29 May 2013, 03:59:57 pm »
same as the one i brought but had to make my own  sat nav as during sunnydays hard to see the directions and it vibes a lot

flyboy

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Re: Sat Nav holder review
« Reply #4 on: 29 May 2013, 06:14:15 pm »
I've got one of these for my sat nav it let water in round the stitching of the clear plastic, a bead of silicon round the inside and smeared into the stitching job sorted. 

Punkstig

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Re: Sat Nav holder review
« Reply #5 on: 29 May 2013, 08:23:25 pm »
After I lost my tomtom rider in the fire I had a choice of £350 for replacing that or £38 for waterproof case/bar mount and direct to battery charger and use Navfree app on iPhone- never 2nd guessed it, if you have an iPhone then go for this, cheap as in comparison and just as good!
http://motorcyclemounts.co.uk/Product/9797/Product.aspx
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limax2

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Re: Sat Nav holder review
« Reply #6 on: 29 May 2013, 08:28:04 pm »
I have one that looks like yours. Like Buzz I prefer it mounted above the clock, especially with a loaded up tank bag on. I made a bracket that picks up on the mirror mounting studs on the FZS600 Mk 1. I found the reflection on sunny days a problem so made a sun shield from a plastic container and painted it black. (Container was from "Persil Bio Capsules" 20 off, used in the washing machine the wife tells me. Other soaps are available.) Don't know about the soap things but the sun shade works fairly well. I have a 12 volt socket on the fairing inner pannel which it plugs into, also used for charging the phone on extended trips. 
 
 
« Last Edit: 29 May 2013, 08:30:10 pm by limax2 »

Gingernutz

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Re: Sat Nav holder review
« Reply #7 on: 30 May 2013, 10:50:55 am »
Limax thats a neat job - was just discussing moving a cheap sat nav to a permanent position over the clocks. Will have to have a look at the foxeye screen and what  washing powder we use

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Re: Sat Nav holder review
« Reply #8 on: 30 May 2013, 11:12:24 am »
very nice limax :)
must do something similar me thinks.
looks like i've found another use for the pipe bender and welder again  :lol