Two screws are used to fit the base, with a pair of 16mm and 18mm-long M4s supplied to replace the ones fitted to your bike. Make sure you use the right length, and don’t force them if they seem to be bottoming out. I’d recommend having the USB head connected to an outlet that’s disconnected when the bike’s turned off (or go for the hard-wired version). The wireless head does ‘remember’ its last state when powering up, so you could leave it turned on and ready to charge if you have a switched auxiliary supply. The extension arm pivots at both ends, and rotates where it meets the base, so combined with the rotation in the head you can set this in a surprisingly wide range of positions. On the VFR, space is very tight when the bars are turned due to the screen, but I was still able to get the phone to fit (if only vertically).

The advantage here is that if the weather is a bit dodgy, you can keep your phone on charge at all times – essential if using a sat-nav app, for example, as they are notoriously heavy on batteries. Is it more of a problem with some devices than others due to the construction of the OIS? If so, what is the difference in the devices? The mounting boss is raised slightly, though not as much as the previous version. It doesn’t interfere with handling the phone at all and traditional wireless chargers work fine through the case. These issues seem to be predominantly with iPhones, and when I spoke to SP Connect, they confirmed that the vast majority of problems they’d come across were with Apple devices, and of these they were mainly the iPhone X, 11 and 12 series, but not the 12 Pro Max, which has Sensor-Shift OIS. They told me that issues with the iPhone 13 are very rare, with none reported on the 14, both of which use Sensor-Shift. They also pointed out that unlike on Apple devices, the OIS on Samsung is deactivated when the camera’s not being used. While it should be positioned with the USB-A port angled downwards – so water and filth don’t collect in it – the case itself is IP66 rated (dust-tight and resistant to powerful jets of water), and the port is IPX8 (not dust resistant as it’s open, but fully resistant to immersion in water). There’s no USB cable supplied, though you’ll almost certainly have one to suit your phone already.Purely anecdotally, I have been told by a dealer that they had some instances of iPhones (I don’t know which models) experiencing issues while using a dampener, but I haven’t been able to verify them and there are a huge number of people using them without any problems. What I can tell you is that I’ve had no problems over many thousands of miles with a Samsung Galaxy S21 and a Google Pixel 7 Pro fitted to a BMW R1250GS using a dampener.

Is it the bike’s engine vibration that’s causing the issue when it happens, or vibration from the road? Both versions of the mount come with two sets of expanding spacers, but the Pro’s are a different design with a slightly larger range of 12.4mm to 25.4mm. For either to work, the tube must be smooth internally with a minimum depth of 45mm – if there’s any lip inside it won’t fit. Speaking of poor weather, if you don’t fancy risking your phone out in the wind and rain, you can get a waterproof ‘poncho’ to keep it completely dry and safe. Verdict It also keeps the battery topped up and the rain away. However, most importantly, it reduces the vibrations that can kill an iPhone in as few as a couple of rides, and that alone has to be worth the investment.

Wrap Up

There are lots of mounts around, ranging from super cheap to super expensive. However, there are several key aspects to bear in mind. One is weather protection; some smartphones, such as later iPhones, purport to be water-resistant but frankly, are you going to risk it? I’m not. Within our current offering, there are no identified issues. But if a phone were to be mounted onto specific machinery or equipment, potential issues could arise. Broadly speaking, no issues have been observed thus far. Mous has also developed a range of motorcycle mounts to suit its cases, though options are rather limited for now, and prices seem to be on the high side. With the amount of tech built into modern smartphones, many riders only need them on their bikes instead of standalone sat navs, for example. I’m one of those – I use Google Maps or an app called Waze to navigate by (both are free) and regularly stop to take photos of the route or sights and listen to music fairly constantly. So access to my phone on the bike is essential.

The issue is attributed to the vibrations generated by the bike's engine, rather than the vibrations from the road. This is evidenced by the absence of any vibration issues occurring to phones when riding a bicycle on and off road.Bar spacers are included allowing the standard version to fit 22mm (7/8”), 25mm (1”), 28mm (1 1/8”) and 32mm (1 ¼”) diameter handlebars, with the Pro also accommodating up to 35mm (1 3/8”) bars.