Bulletpoint Radio Holder
For those who need a secure mount for the BTECH GMRS-Pro, albeit with modifications required, this is good way to go.
With a little modification and perhaps some light swearing you can make the Bulletpoint Mounting Solutions Radio Holder work with both the BTECH GMRS-Pro and your existing Ram mounts (less modification needed if you have a regular Baofeng/Rugged Radios style unit).
I needed a radio mount for the GMRS-Pro which could swap between my Jeep, my motorcycle, and any other vehicle where I needed a secure mount utilizing my existing Ram mount systems. The Bulletpoint system seems pretty nifty, being machined from all aluminum and whatnot, but they’re using 20mm balls and frankly, my balls are bigger. The Ram mounting system balls I purchased, that is.
If you own a regular Baofung/Rugged Radio this will probably fit as is and your only issue will be as to which mounting system to use. But to that end, you can probably buy any random holder for those and be fine as well. That said, my requirements were simple but explicit, and in this order:
- Has to be secure enough to stay in place on a dual-sport bike in most riding conditions.
- Has to fit the GMRS-Pro with nominal modifications.
- Has to fit the Ram system with nominal modifications.
Security
Typical systems use a pouch, base-style cradle, or just a flat surface to snick-on the belt clip. The latter two would work just fine in the Jeep but are not secure on a motorcycle, or any open-air vehicle for that matter. Having lost a phone on the freeway because of an insecure mount, it’s a non-starter.
After quite a bit of research I came upon the Bulletpoint website and they had what I needed. I do recall seeing someone on a blog post somewhere pointing me in this direction and I’d give them credit where credit is due if I could find the post again.
Their radio holder has a full-sided cradle for lateral security and a hole on the top and backside so the belt-clip locks securely in place. Also happens to have an aluminum ball mounted on the back. Meets requirement #1.
Fits the GMRS-Pro
From the factory it actually doesn’t fit and is just a little too small for the belt-clip, but pretty much the belt-clip only. I think the cradle might have been slightly too narrow but a very small flex and it was fine. But it could also have been the Plasti-Dip that I added for noise and vibration reduction which made it tighter.
To make it fit you just have to grind out the top and back belt-clip holes. You could choose to just widen the rectangle but I tried to get it as reasonably snug as possible, given the modalities of use. 15 minutes with the grinder and a few splashes of matching paint and it was fine (matte black is a universal color for Jeep bumpers and similar accessories, always keep some around).
Nice tight fit for the belt clip
Not pretty but I was doing it freehand. Dumb, but worked, in the end. Also, I know the Ram piece isn’t square, my clamp slipped but I made do.
Top grind, much cleaner than the previous grind. You’ll also note the mismatched nuts as well as the tight (and slightly angled) fit with the shaft of the ball.
Fit the Ram system
This is where the foul language will begin, if you’re so inclined.
First, note that 20mm comes out to roughly 3/4 of an inch (0.79, actually, so closer to 4/5’s) so while it’s close, it’s nowhere near.
I tried the ghetto redneck methodology and just added multiple layers of Plasti-Dip and if it were just going to sit in my Jeep it might have worked, but it had a lot of flex. Wildly too much to trust on the bike. Had I the experience I suppose I could have modeled something out of epoxy or JB Weld but I had neither the experience nor the inclination. Thus, I decided to remove the nice aluminum CNC ball, perhaps to save for the kayak or something.
Nope, that didn’t happen. Turns out the folks at Bulletpoint take their mounting systems seriously because there was no removing the mounting screws. They had to have been mounted with epoxy or superglue – including the back of the plate itself. I ended up having to drill out the screws and ended up drilling through the entire plate. I probably could have cleaned and rethreaded the holes but it wasn’t worth it to me, so I tossed it.
With that done I had to figure out how to mount a Ram ball. There were multiple choices but in the end I decided to go with their round plate with ball in composite and just cut the base down to size. In retrospect I probably should have purchased their aluminum version because the back of the composite version isn’t solid. I ended up taking some JB Weld SteelStick and filling in the back side to make it flush. If I did it again I’d try the aluminum version for a few more bucks.
Another difficulty was matching the size of the existing holes to the Ram plate and squaring off the top of the plate enough for some small lock-nuts to fit. Tight squeeze and I had to take a bit more material off than I wanted but not enough to worry about the strength. In might have been easier to just use the two-screw diamond plate and drill new holes into the case. I also could have found various adapters but adding multiple joints to the handlebars didn’t seem like a good idea at the time, although in the long run it’s something I could play with.
Proof in the Pudding The short version is that it works, at least on the highway and moderate gravel roads thus far. I know it’ll hold up on the tougher stuff but I often pull my tech gear off the handlebars at that point, just-in-case. I’m overall happy with the set-up although I do wish Bulletpoint had an option for the larger ball size. I can understand wanting to have a proprietary playground but I prefer adaptability. That said, it works well with my modifications and if you’re in need of the additional security and are inclined to do some machining and don’t mind spending $40 to make it work, it’s a good option for the GMRS-Pro and/or to adapt to the Ram world. If you’re in the 20mm ball category and have a normal 2-way, it’s good as-is.
