I ordered one of those bags a while ago. They are not the easiest to see though as the plastic is actually ridged. They are waterproof though - which will stop as soon as you cut a hole in the back to run the mount though. You'll have to find some way to seal that up. Good luck! Make sure you post your ingenious solution here!
Sugru is awesome. It cures and it's like rubber. It will be solid as long as the layer isn't too thin. It's damn pricey tho! Another option would be plasti-dip. But sugru would work well as long as it's not so thin that it tears/comes off.
You would be best to use 22mm pipe to use an adaptor designed for mirrors & standard handle-bars. I'm sure someone here will be able to tell you where you can buy it in the US. 7/8-inch is the exact size.
Yuck! Don't they do a satin finish or similar?Here's a picture of it on the bike. Coated by line-x. The coated bar I could sell for $30 to someone's door via priority mail in the states, $17 for uncoated.
Excellent work, a great fab.Previously I had my sat nav mounted on my bars. I've gone back to using the stock '08 bar clamps and also wanted to be able to mount my GPS in a position nearer the clocks where it would be more protected from the elements and also easier to see. I've managed to do this now.
I bought a 50cm long copper bar with a diameter of 22mm on ebay, chopped it down and flattened and bent the ends. I mounted this above the clocks using the top two inner fairing mount holes. The GPS mount I built originally fits onto this perfectly - although I modified it slightly by adding some rubber to stop it damaging the paint on the bar.
I just used a hammer to bash the ends of the pipe to get them flat and also to bend. I then drilled a hole in each flat part for a bolt to go through. I painted all the bits using Plastikote BBQ paint because it can be cured in the oven to go rock solid. I think it looks a lot better than the copper and mix of other colours I would otherwise be getting.
I have a fan-assisted oven and I waited till my girlfriend was out and use it to cure the paint so it will be rock solid. I heated the bits up to 150c for 10 mins, then let them cool for 10 mins, then heated them up to 200c for 15 mins and let them cool before installing. This worked great for me but it may vary depending upon the material you painted and your oven.
Here you can see a comparison between the painted object and the original copper pipe:-
Here is one of the bends at the end of the pipe:-
As you can see, it's been marked by the hammer, but most of this is covered by the washer:-
Here is the mount. I cut up a rubber air-pipe length-ways and glued it on for added grip and protection:-
Here is just the pipe installed. I think it looks great! I'm really glad I bothered to paint it and the washers etc:-
Here is the mount installed onto the pipe. I have since painted the big silver bolt black by the way:-
I have my sat nav in a waterproof bag designed for a walkie talkie. I just cut the end off the part that would cover the antennae for the wires to go through. As you can see, it all fits fine:-
There isn't as much glare on the screen as it seems in the last picture. I have headphones plugged into it anyway to direct me:-
And here you can see it all mounted up from the side:-
