SIDE NOTE: In the Scenic Forum you can find the "Big Phone Mounting Topic" where everyone can share their experience on mounting solutions.
LAST UPDATE: Dec 5, 2022
In my review of the Quad Lock Moto Mount Kit + the Quad Lock Wireless Charging Head I mentioned that my iPhone camera got damaged through the motorcycle vibrations. Meanwhile Quad Lock developed a vibration dampener, to address just that.
The quad lock vibration dampener costs 20 USD (disclaimer: I will receive a small commissions when you use this link).
This review will cover the unboxing, the installation and a road test of the Quad Lock Vibration Dampener. If you prefer to watch video, here it is. Please note that this article contains a bit more information compared to the video, especially about the road test.
Unboxing
The Vibration Dampener comes in a small box which caries 3 things: the dampener itself, a small alan key and the installation instructions. Easy enough.
Installation
Installation is very easy. The Quad Lock Vibration Dampener has an integrated screw on the bottom and some thread at the top. Basically, you insert the dampener between the mount and the current Quad Lock Adapter (or, in my case, the motorcycle wireless charging head). So, you’ll have to unscrew the adapter using the included alan hex key, then screw the vibration dampener to where the adapter first was and then screw the adapter on top of the dampener. It’s as easy as that.
If you’re using the extension arm and the wireless charging head like me, you’ll have to make sure that the three ‘tentacles’ of the dampener are positioned in such a way between the extension arm and the charging head, that movement of the dampener is not obstructed.
Road Test
For the road test, I mounted my phone the same way I always mount it. In portrait mode on my Yamaha FJ-09, which is exactly the same position that rendered my iPhone XR camera useless before. Then I went for a 2 hour ride, trying all kinds of speeds and road surfaces. The only thing different between this ride and the rides where my camera was damaged were two things: (1) The vibration dampener and (2) I was using my new iPhone 12 Pro in stead of my iPhone XR with already damaged camera. (I did get Apple Care on my iPhone 12 Pro, especially for this vibration dampener review).
This is where the above video does not give the complete story. At high speeds my Go Pro knockoff vibrated so hard in the wind that I couldn’t use that video. But…
The Quad Lock Vibration Dampener handled superb! Most importantly, my iPhone camera was still working after this ride. Goal achieved!!! I must admit, the dampener felt really flexible when wobbling it with my hand… flexible enough that I suspected the phone screen would be unreadable at higher speed. Fortunately I was wrong. The screen was readable at all times. In fact the phone seemed more stable than the bike around it.
UPDATE DECEMBER 2022: I have used the Quad Lock vibration dampener with 2 phones (iPhone 12 pro and iPhone 13 pro) on 3 motorcycles (Yamaha FJ-09, KTM 1290 Super Adventure, KTM 690), for thousands of miles now, and have yet to encounter an issue with the camera. My last trip on the KTM 690 (a single cylinder known for vibration in the handlebars) was quite heavy off-road. We’re talking rocks, gravel, forest roads, river beds, etc. I also had my iPhone 13 Pro mounted. It’s still working.
Conclusion
I’m very impressed with the Quad Lock Vibration Dampener. Especially now, after many thousands of miles, I would recommend it to anyone using Quad Lock on their motorcycle.
SIDE NOTE: In the Scenic Forum you can find the "Big Phone Mounting Topic" where everyone can share their experience on mounting solutions.
Looks like a well engineering smart phone vibration damper. A must have for anyone using a smart phone on motorcycle.
Keep us posted on long term review. Kam
Can dampener work on bicycle mounts ?
Ach deshalb ist meine Kamera kaputt! Und ich dachte mir wäre mein Telefon ein Mal zu viel runtergefallen…
If you tell Quadlock that their system damaged your phone then they will send you a code for a free dampener. Well they did for me anyway.
They didn’t for me!
Damper, not dampener.
Is this issue specific to this mount? I have RAM arms and Proclip docks for my phone on the bikes, and have not had any issue. Been using those for years.
Dampener is what it’s called by quad lock themselves.
As the quad lock mount is pretty stiff (without the dampener) it seems to happen a lot with their mounts. But it’s not exclusive to their mounts. Also depends on other aspects of your setup. Have a look at the other article that I’ve linked to at the top.
Carlos is quite correct though. A Dampener would infer that it is making something moist or wet. Well, they are American. What can you expect! It’s also made from Aloominum 😆
Actually, they are Australian 🙂
Dampen also means “make less strong or intense” (Oxford dictionary).
Working in automotive suspension you get people “correcting” you daily.
Damper/Dampener(even Dampner).
If someone “dampens your spirits” did they make you less happy or pour water in your Scotch? 🙂
4 year QuadLock user. appreciate the new product works as their others do.
I wholly agree with this review. Ordered mine as soon as I got the email about it. I find the phone more readable than without the dampener as well as compared to my previous X-grip Mount. It does seem to transmit far less vibration to the phone than without it…and I feel the phone is much more secure in quad lock than the X-grip.
Fitted one to my Tiger XCx. Easy to fit. So far, so good!!
Let’s all provide feedback in a few months as to the effectiveness of the Dampener.
Good suggestion… I’ve opened a forum topic for this: https://scenic.app/forum/topic/the-big-phone-mounting-topic/?part=1#postid-1104
I don’t know how or when it happened other than post use of the Quadlock case. My iPhone XR has a cracked back glass.
Sure I drop my phone, who doesn’t, but this is the first time I have broken the back of it. This is something that has never occurred with other cases I have used.
Would definitely report that to Quad Lock. I have never heard of this before. Maybe they can shed some light on it.
Yeah! Had the same issue twice with my iPhone 11 pro. Both times the camera module was replaced by apple.
Didn’t have to pay because it happened during warranty.
After that I removed the mount and used my tankbag again instead. It’s not the good for tracking but better than crashing my iPhone.
Now this Quad lock with dampener looks very good and I guess I’ll give it a try.
I’ll see if I can alsi get ths wireless charging part. Looks very interesting Guido!
Thanks for this review and unboxing.
Bye
Thomas
Timely review! Just had my camera go on my iPhone 11 due to vibration. Will look into this product. Thanks for sharing.
I would suggest recording a video that’s a few minutes long with your phone before and after installation of the dampener so we can compare how much vibration is absorbed by this dampener in a side by side video.
I understand the suggestion, but I don’t want to expose my phone to a mount without vibration dampener anymore. As mentioned, it broke the camera of my iPhone XR twice. Even though I took Apple Care on my new phone I don’t want to go through the process of having to repair it.
Just as a side note, if anyone is intending to use the wireless charging module with the new iPhone 12pro or pro max, they will need to use a QC3.0 USB din connector or module. Not many around for the DIN connector for a motorbike, but I found one on Amazon and it seems to work so far!
Waterproof Motorbike 12V 24V QC3.0 USB Type C PD Fast Charger Power Adapter Hella DIN Plug Socket for BMW Ducati Triumph Motorcycle https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08GS5BLGX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_eou2FbRKQW41T
Received my Quad Lock case (iP12mini), stem mount and dampener today. Ofcourse had to give it a spin right away. Worked very well as far as I could see (I haven’t used a phonemount on the motorbike before, so don’t have any comparison), during this 55km ride (avg 42km/h; max 101km/h).
Not sure whether others have noticed something similar, but when I placed the phone in landscape, I noticed a lot more vibration than when placed in portrait. Maybe I have to adjust the position of the dampener and/or mount if I were to use the phone in landscape as the preferred placement?