[chuck]

After getting my bike I went ahead and spent a pretty penny ($50 US) for a "Made in America" RAM X-Grip Tough-Claw mount. Upon receiving it I noticed the molded rubber tether had a manufacturing defect in which one of the corner holes still had a thin membrane of material across it. I thought it was no big deal and just made a small perforation in it and strapped it to my phone.

I went out a few times with it and all was well. Finally, a few days ago, I went out again and after looking down a bit on a freeway I was startled to see an empty X-Grip. The phone was never recovered and I lost tons of pictures and videos of friends and family, etc. The defective corner in the rubber tether was completely ripped. Whether that was why my phone was lost I don't know, but I noticed from pictures I've seen that few people seem to use the tether at all. This was about my third or fourth outing on the bike with the mount. Incredible. At least it didn't happen in the middle of a long road trip.

I contacted RAM mounts and asked them to pay the insurance deductible for my phone and they refused to do much of anything, offering a canned response as I expected. No one stands behind their products anymore but I expected more than a canned "that sucks bro."

I advise anyone who uses these mounts to tether the phone to the bike in a more substantial way than their included cheap rubber strap, let alone the actual X-Grip product itself.

 

[bking1441]

I use this on my Haibike electric bicycle (no tether). The "X-grip/Claw" do not hold the phone firmly enough IMHO, but so far I have not lost my iPhone.
I would not recommend this on a motorbike.
Here I use a more sturdy mount with a (plastic/leather) casing.

 

[Doddy666]

The ram mount holds phones really well imo but common sense has to be applied, if you have a very smooth case or just the phone with no case or a Samsung s7 edge then it's not going to hold as well because there is less friction. My work phone (some Motorola pos) is very thick and has a rough case so it has no problem holding on but my s7 edge is very thin and my spigen case is very smooth so I use a 99p tpu case for the bike and have never used the extra strap.
I work on standby a lot of the time and this is why i bought this mount so I never miss a call out €€££$$ I've used mine on a off road bike experience day and it never fell out.

I'm sorry you lost your phone and I'm not suggesting it's your fault, perhaps yours is faulty? They are certainly not a foolproof holder but better than anything else I've seen

A couple of things I noticed with mine, the 4 rubber grips pulled off easily so I glued them on also they were very slippy as if they had mould release on so I cleaned them off with degreaser.

Sent from my SM-T280 using Tapatalk

 

[chuck]

The ram mount holds phones really well imo but common sense has to be applied, if you have a very smooth case or just the phone with no case or a Samsung s7 edge then it's not going to hold as well because there is less friction. My work phone (some Motorola pos) is very thick and has a rough case so it has no problem holding on but my s7 edge is very thin and my spigen case is very smooth so I use a 99p tpu case for the bike and have never used the extra strap.
I work on standby a lot of the time and this is why i bought this mount so I never miss a call out €€££$$ I've used mine on a off road bike experience day and it never fell out.

I'm sorry you lost your phone and I'm not suggesting it's your fault, perhaps yours is faulty? They are certainly not a foolproof holder but better than anything else I've seen

A couple of things I noticed with mine, the 4 rubber grips pulled off easily so I glued them on also they were very slippy as if they had mould release on so I cleaned them off with degreaser.

Sent from my SM-T280 using Tapatalk

Yes I noticed the loose top grips as well. I had a sturdy, rubberized case.

The X-Grip does not put a lot of pressure on the phone. It's 4 points of contact with no direct support on the longitudinal axis, relying on friction to hold it in place for those directions.

In my opinion this device is just not well-engineered enough to be trustworthy. I will definitely not be using it again and whatever phone mount I end up finding will definitely have a physical cable tether as well.

With a modest amount of force I could can cause the replacement phone to slowly slide out of the X-Grip due to that lack of direct longitudinal support.

Maybe you have a good phone/case/mount combination that makes it work for you. Even so I think it's more of a question of when and not if the claw mount gives up your phone.

 

[m0n4g3]

ram mounts for all the mounting options, and then slipgrip mounts for the phone.

Welcome to SlipGripCarMounts - Innovation in Progress

The X-Grip would NEVER hold up anything decent in 4 point IMHO, and having to rely on ****ty little rubber bands might be ok for in a car, but NOT on a bike.

Use some common sense and make sure you have something decent gripping at your at times $1000 investment.

The slipgrips i have (Nexus 6 with supacase unicorn beetle, and Pixel XL with otterbox defender case) allow me to pull on the phone only and rotate the steering, via the m8 bolt on the handle bar clamps.

 

[Doddy666]

I honestly can't see what you guys are saying, my mount holds both my phones really tight. I would not put my phone in it if I didn't think it could easily hold it (which it has done for over 2 years) I tested it before using it by flinging it towards the sofa and I couldn't get it to come out or even move.

Sent from my SM-T280 using Tapatalk

 

[Beaker]

I got this from Ultimate Addons. Works great for me and no way will it come off

 

[roy826]

I use a X-grip ram mount with my iphone in a otter box case. Never had a problem with it so far even on gravel wash board roads when I had it mounted on my Super Tenere. Been over 130 mph on the GSX with it and phone still right where I put it.

 

[Zak]

I got this from Ultimate Addons. Works great for me and no way will it come off

I have the same and never had a problem

 

[CaptainSlow]

I have a second cheap phone that I mount to my handlebars when I go on rides, and my good phone stays safe in my jacket pocket. If my cheap phone mount breaks and my cheap phone falls out, it's not a huge loss.

You can buy a cheap android smartphone for well under a hundred bucks these days, so not much point in spending almost as much on a high quality phone mount.

 

[roy826]

My phone flew off yesterday at 135 mph, full tuck at the time, phone smacked my helmet visor and went sailing. I was on a straight back road near my house. Was on a quick ride to test out the gearing, chassis changes and new tires. I found the phone un hurt laying at pavement edge. iphone 5S in a otter case. Not a scratch on it. I don't think it ever hit the aspahlt, impact with my helmet visor apparently deflected it up and to the right and wind took it clear of the pavement. I felt lucky and went home and parked the bike for the day. It was not tethered in the grip just clamped. I won't be using the grip anymore. Never really trusted the concept anyway.

 

[TheDude]

My phone flew off yesterday at 135 mph, full tuck at the time, phone smacked my helmet visor and went sailing. I was on a straight back road near my house. Was on a quick ride to test out the gearing, chassis changes and new tires. I found the phone un hurt laying at pavement edge. iphone 5S in a otter case. Not a scratch on it. I don't think it ever hit the aspahlt, impact with my helmet visor apparently deflected it up and to the right and wind took it clear of the pavement. I felt lucky and went home and parked the bike for the day. It was not tethered in the grip just clamped. I won't be using the grip anymore. Never really trusted the concept anyway.

Otter boxes are awesome. I try and tell everyone who has a smartphone my testimonial about them (ran over when i backed my truck up & flew off my car roof and 50 mph and only minor cosmetic damage to the rubber). Looks like you have one now!

Out of curiosity what do you guys use your phone's for on the bike? You cannot manipulate them wit gloves on correct? I use my for Pandora through my Sena, but I keep it in my pocket. I figure if I cannot manipulate the phone without having to stop and take my gloves off, then I don't need it mounted on the bike. But what are you guys using them for? Being able to see GPS is the only thing i can thing of?

 

[roy826]

Otter boxes are awesome. I try and tell everyone who has a smartphone my testimonial about them (ran over when i backed my truck up & flew off my car roof and 50 mph and only minor cosmetic damage to the rubber). Looks like you have one now!

Out of curiosity what do you guys use your phone's for on the bike? You cannot manipulate them wit gloves on correct? I use my for Pandora through my Sena, but I keep it in my pocket. I figure if I cannot manipulate the phone without having to stop and take my gloves off, then I don't need it mounted on the bike. But what are you guys using them for? Being able to see GPS is the only thing i can thing of?

Just a convenience thing of knowing when I get a call or a text. I have my house for sale right now so I need to catch all incoming stuff ASAP. They give me basically no notice when they are coming to the house. Most of the time I don't use the RAM Xgrip with my phone in it. I have used the mapping on it at times when my GPS is not on the bike. Xgrip is a cool thing if you have wind protection like a fairing but on a true naked bike its a recipe to lose your phone.

 

[Blood Simple]

Otter boxes are awesome. I try and tell everyone who has a smartphone my testimonial about them (ran over when i backed my truck up & flew off my car roof and 50 mph and only minor cosmetic damage to the rubber). Looks like you have one now!

Out of curiosity what do you guys use your phone's for on the bike? You cannot manipulate them wit gloves on correct? I use my for Pandora through my Sena, but I keep it in my pocket. I figure if I cannot manipulate the phone without having to stop and take my gloves off, then I don't need it mounted on the bike. But what are you guys using them for? Being able to see GPS is the only thing i can thing of?

Many gloves are touchscreen compatible nowadays.

https://www.revzilla.com/short-cuff...l&implicit_facets[]=237&implicit_facets[]=282

 

[TheDude]

Many gloves are touchscreen compatible nowadays.

https://www.revzilla.com/short-cuff...l&implicit_facets[]=237&implicit_facets[]=282

Awesome! Thanks for that. I didn't realize so many are touch screen compatible. I saw the a few gps units with touch screens are now "glove compatible". I may end up getting one for the gsx-s. I guess I won't be using a ram mount for it tho haha. With Sena I can have Siri read my text messages and text back as well as accept calls and make calls. So if I have a gps mounted on the bike I don't think I'll need to mount my phone. Thanks for the input guys!

 

[Doddy666]

I did 6000 miles on my r6 streetfighter with the ram mount holding my s7 edge, never moved a smidge. The edge model has the least contact point of any phone, I'm surprised any phone would fall out if they have the correct size mount.
One thing I did do when I got it was glue the rubber ends on and clean them to get the mould release off.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Blood Simple]

Awesome! Thanks for that. I didn't realize so many are touch screen compatible. I saw the a few gps units with touch screens are now "glove compatible". I may end up getting one for the gsx-s. I guess I won't be using a ram mount for it tho haha. With Sena I can have Siri read my text messages and text back as well as accept calls and make calls. So if I have a gps mounted on the bike I don't think I'll need to mount my phone. Thanks for the input guys!

I just came across this stuff. Which apparently makes any glove touchscreen compatible.

Make Any Glove Work With a Touchscreen Device | AnyGlove Formulas for Winter Gloves & Leather Gloves

 

[scooby61]

I use the larger x mount with the claw grip for my 5" Garmin it's never even shifted and I've hit some large potholes. I've put my galaxy s5 in it but I used the rubber thingy to secure that. Other checking the claw periodically to ensure its tight I've had no problem. Sorry about your loss but so far it's been great for me.