Ram or Garmin Mount

[Wolfman]

Which is best, read a lot of threads,

which is more secure in holding in place,?

I'm thinking of putting either on the cross bar or on one of Misgels lovely mounts.

Thanks

Gary

All comments valued!!

 

[shready]

Why not a Touratech, nice bit of kit.

 

[chasr]

The RAM is very very secure. So much so that, depending on your adaptor, you use the arm to tighten the handlebar bolt. It's also cheap, moveable and doesn't look like a piece of meccano.

 

[Wolfman]

Ram is the Best!

Are you saying that the Ram is better than the Garmin one, and yes the TT is a fantastic piece of kit, but I believe it hides the Sat signal.

Gary.

 

[MiGSel]

I am also convinced that the RAM cradle is better.
I have tried both.

More info & pics here.

Cheers,
Michel

 

[PanEuropean]

Over one year of use, and about 40,000 km now with the Garmin mount - I am very happy with it. I ride a Honda ST1100, which means I don't ever go off road with it (at least, not intentionally, anyway).

It is true that the Garmin bracket doesn't look as sturdy as the other brackets (RAM, Touratech). But, if you make a careful analysis of the load paths that the GPSR and bracket are subject to, you will see that it is more than sufficient. The little pin that fits down into the back of the GPSR on the Garmin bracket only serves to prevent the GPSR from falling out in a forward (i.e. aft, when mounted on the moto) direction. All the load paths on the moto are either up, down, or forward as a result of deceleration. Maybe if I had a Hayabusa and was into heavy clutch drops, I might be concerned about the Garmin bracket.

PanEuropean

 

[Wolfman]

Thanks for the advice.

Thanks to you all for the advice, nice to know people do read these threads.

Gone for the Garmin bracket as I get the bracket and cable for £27.00, so if I change the bracket it is neither here or there.

Migsel, will be speaking to you about one of your lovely mounts once my funds recover.

Gary

 

[BurnieM]

I think you need to split the mount up into 2 pieces; the cradle and the rest of the bracket.

For my GPS V I used a RAM cradle with a diamond ball base, a RAM arm and RAM handlebar base

With my GPSmap 276C I use the Garmin marine cradle with a 2 1/2 inch round RAM ball base, RAM arm and RAM handlebar base.

When people mention the TouraTech they are generally talking about the TouraTech cradle with the rest of the mount often made up of RAM parts.

Note that a lot of the Garmin cradles have the 4 hole pattern which will fit onto either Garmin or RAM or BMW bases.

 

[PanEuropean]

Burnie makes an excellent point, one that everyone who is new to the process of mounting GPSRs on motorcycles should pay very careful attention to.

In each and every case, there are two different components involved in the motorcycle mounting process - one is the 'cradle' that Burnie refers to - I have commonly used the word 'bracket' to describe this part, because that is term Garmin uses - and the other component is whatever the cradle or bracket attaches to, to secure the whole assembly to the motorcycle. Think of it this way: The cradle, or bracket, is what actually attaches to your GPSR. The other components are what hold your cradle/bracket (with GPSR) to your motorcycle.

There are three major manufacturers of cradles/brackets: Garmin, Touratech, and RAM. What causes confusion is that RAM, one of the companies who make cradles/brackets, is also the dominant company supplying the other small components that are used to hold the cradle/bracket (RAM's or anyone else's) to the motorcycle.

You can buy the cradle/bracket from any of the three manufacturers - as has been discussed (at length!) in the past, I kind of prefer the Garmin cradles/brackets, because they are small and inconspicious - and inexpensive,too - others prefer the Touratech brackets because they look large, tough, kind of 'Paris-Dakar', and are probably better suited to that kind of riding, and still others prefer the RAM plastic snap-in bracket.

Regardless of what brand of bracket/cradle you buy, you will probably wind up using some RAM components to attach the cradle/bracket to the motorcycle. In the pictures below, I have used exactly the same backing plate for both brackets/cradles, the 2650 and the 296. I only own one backing plate, and it fits both brackets/cradles. I use a shorter adjustable arm (1½ inches) when I have the 2650 installed, and a longer adjustable arm (3") when I have the 296 installed. All of these connect to a RAM ball that is attached to my handlebar tube.

I know this all sounds confusing, so to try and clarify things, below are some pictures showing the different components. Hope this helps.

PanEuropean

SP 26xx series bracket/cradle by Garmin

 

[PanEuropean]

Here's the part by part identification of the components in the above photo:

 

[PanEuropean]

For the 276 or 296 (they are both the same size, only difference is that the 296 supports aviation use), here's the same information:

 

[PanEuropean]

Here is a close-up of the different components used in the photo above. The cradle/bracket I use is made by Garmin, I scarfed it from an aviation yoke mount for a 296. I suspect it is the same part number as the marine mount that Burnie refers to in his post.

NB the RAM backing plate is exactly the same item as what is shown above for the SP 26xx. I need to use fractionally longer bolts to attach the SP26xx cradle/bracket to the backing plate, because the SP26xx cradle/backing plate is a bit thicker than the 276/296 one, but the hole position is the same on both. Garmin includes the required bolts and special flush-fit nuts with their cradles/backing plates.

It's also worth mentioning that the adjustable RAM arms are available in either plastic or cast metal that has been painted. I recommend the plastic ones, they are equally tough, but they won't chip and wind up looking tatty after a year or so of use.

PanEuropean

 

[Alte Wolf]

For the 276 or 296 (they are both the same size, only difference is that the 296 supports aviation use), here's the same information:

When I grow up I hope to be able to participate in threads like this

 

[PanEuropean]

Finally, here's a photo of the RAM ball that is what the lower end of the adjustable arm clamps on to in all of the above photos. In my case, because of the design of my moto, I bought the simple 'pipe clamp' ball assembly, and attached it to the tubular handlebar.

For the 1150GS, MiGSel has come up with a very elegent and effective circular ring that goes around one of the engine instruments. It has a hole in it that accepts a similar RAM ball, the only difference being that the RAM ball used with MiGSel's attachment device has a bolt coming out the far end of it, rather than being a pipe clamp type mounting, such as I have used.

PanEuropean

 

[bonjeroo]

I have been reading this thread with interest. So will the following allow me to mount my soon-to-arrive 2610 on the bars of my 1200GS:

http://www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk/viewprod.php?product_id=2037

thanks,

Bonj

 

[MiGSel]

Yes, if you select the U-bolt/handlebar option.

 

[bonjeroo]

Alternatively, does the Garmin option work OK? Will I need to buy the power cables anyway? If so, is this a better option than the alternatives? I am thinking in terms of buying the RAM mount along with the power cables.

God, this is all very confusing!

 

[richie]

KISS,

Keep it simple and stupid

Ram U clamp
Ram Arm with diamond base
Ram Cradle

Set it up and ride...

Then upgrade the U bolt to a Migsel "ring mount"

Why, coz you'll be on the road in the quickest possible time and then when you get the migsel mount you'll have the u clamp for your second bike (or whatever)