Insta-farkle: 1" RAM mount "built-in" for the Yamaha FJR1300

Even after six years of owning Eleanor, my 2007 Yamaha FJR1300A I still don't know everything about her. However, it does help that I work for a motorcycle store that gives me a lot of products to ponder over and experiment on her. In this thought experiment, I came up with this idea from the plethora of RAM Mounts at my disposal.

Anyway, for those of you that own a Yamaha FJR1300 (all years), have you wondered about that random hole that sits on the left side of the handlebars next to your clutch's master cylinder? Yamaha did us riders a favor for aesthetics and put a plastic plug there to hide it. But of course being my curious self, I removed it and exposed what looked like a 10mm hole with coarse threading. After looking through a few screw-on style RAM mounts, I discovered that a RAM-B-349U (RAM M10 X 1.25 Pitch Male Thread with 1" Ball) and a little blue Loctite is a perfect fit for that hole!

Sometimes I wonder if Yamaha did this on purpose.

That is disturbing and beautifully functional.

For this thought experiment, I installed my Sony Webbie HD MHS-CM1 compact high-definition camera attached to a medium double-ball arm (RAM-B-201U), pointing inward. As you can see from the photo below, the arm is hovering over the clutch's master cylinder reservoir. The camera itself is mounted on a RAM-B-202AU (RAM 2.5" Round Base (AMPs Hole Pattern), 1" Ball & 1/4"-20 Threaded Male Post for Cameras).

Side view of the mounted camera.

Front view of the mounted camera. Of course, the camera can be tilted/adjusted as needed.

With the camera adjusted to be straight when the bike is upright, this device just barely clears the windshield when the bars are at full lock. Considering this is a taller unit than a lot of the newer "action sports" cameras, there would probably be more success with a GoPro Hero, Liquid Image, Venom, Contour, etc.

Here is the full handlebar lock video test of the mounted camera.

A shot of my somewhat busy cockpit. Other accessories here include two RAM Motorcycle Brake/Clutch Reservoir Base with (2 Quantity) 1" Balls (RAM-B-309-2U), Garmin Zumo 550 with Touratech locking bracket, a RAM X-Grip phone mount, RAM Drink Cup Holder (RAM-B-132BU). That brings a total of FIVE mounting options in front of me! The RAM Antenna Adapter Plate (RAM-344U) on the left behind the GPS once held my XM Radio antenna and will now hold my E-ZPass with a little industrial Velcro. 

A few final thoughts...
- Make sure the mounted devices clear the windshield and front panel at full handlebar lock. The restriction of your motorcycle's range of motion is just downright dangerous and not recommended.
- This would be a great alternative for those who only want one ball and doesn't want to install the Brake/Clutch Reservoir Base.
- Theoretically, the long arm could work if it was sticking out away from the bike, but I have not tried this with the long 6" (RAM-B-201U-C) arm option. However, both the short 2.38" (RAM-B-201U-A) and medium 3.69" (RAM-B-201U) arms will clear the windshield.
- What else can be mounted there? Perhaps a spotlight? Radar detector or SPOT GPS Tracker with an X-Grip pointed upward? Or for humor for the firearms enthusiasts out there, a cross-draw or left-handed draw pistol mount?