MotoPlug powered phone holder: a handlebar cradle with the USB charger built in
The MotoPlug Motorcycle USB Powered Adjustable Phone Holder & Charger from Rocky Creek Designs clamps to a round handlebar, holds your phone in an adjustable cradle and charges it through a USB port wired straight to the bike’s battery. One clamp, one cable, no separate charger to tuck behind the headlight.
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Features of the MotoPlug Motorcycle USB Powered Adjustable Phone Holder & Charger
Start with the clamp. It fits round handlebars from 22 to 32 mm (7/8″ to 1-1/4″), and the kit brings spacers to take up the difference; one of the listing’s photos names them as 22, 25 and 28 mm. An aluminum locking ring tightens with the included Allen key, and a ball joint behind the cradle sets the angle.
The cradle holds the phone between two side arms on steel rods, closed with a knurled knob. The box and the listing text say it takes devices 60 to 100 mm wide; one listing photo says 6 to 9 cm, with a maximum thickness of 1.2 cm, and that thick cases have to come off. If your phone sits near either edge, measure it in its case first.
Power comes from the battery: red to positive, black to negative, with about 150 cm of cable according to a listing photo, and the label on the back reads 12–24V input. An ON/OFF switch on the cradle cuts the charge when you don’t need it. The listing rates the USB port at 5V/2.5A, while the face of the cradle in the photos is printed “QC 3.0”. In the box: a USB cable, which the listing says suits Apple and some Samsung phones while a photo shows micro USB, Lightning and USB-C tips; the Allen key; and a spare fuse. The box claims an IP66 rating, certified to EN 60529, against dust and strong water jets.
Rocky Creek Designs, maker of the MotoPlug. One-year limited warranty, says the box
The Rocky Creek Designs name and a one-year limited warranty badge are on the box. On Amazon it’s sold and shipped by Customized Choppers, a UK motorcycle parts shop that also lists it on its own site and on eBay.
Why does the MotoPlug Motorcycle USB Powered Adjustable Phone Holder & Charger cost what it does?
You’re buying two parts in one: the cradle and a charger already built into it, with the wiring to the battery included. When Adventure Motorcycle magazine tested it in 2019, it came in at roughly half the price of other popular phone mounts, and the tester pointed out it can save you from buying a dedicated GPS if you run a navigation app. What it doesn’t add is wireless charging or an anti-theft screw, which both mounts in the comparison below include.
Compare the MotoPlug Motorcycle USB Powered Adjustable Phone Holder & Charger with similar items
Both mounts below also clamp to the bars and charge the phone from the bike’s electrics, and both were in stock when I checked. Both add a Qi wireless pad and a USB-C port, and both use safety screws that make the mount harder to remove; the BRCOVAN also comes with a mirror-mount base, and the GIYOKAJU with a removable sunshade. The MotoPlug keeps it simpler: one USB port, a cable and a switch.
Pros and cons of the MotoPlug Motorcycle USB Powered Adjustable Phone Holder & Charger
- No loose screws or blurred screen over roughly 3,500 road miles and 500 off-road, in the magazine’s test
- Charger built into the cradle: no adapters, no cord flapping in the wind
- Straightforward mounting: pick a spot, choose the spacers, tighten the ring
- With a navigation app, it can stand in for a dedicated GPS
- Changing music or route takes a couple of swipes
- Roughly half the price of other popular mounts when it was tested
- No instructions in the box, the tester found
- Too thick a spacer stack can strip the locking ring’s threads
- Finding the right spot takes trial and error; a tank bag can block the screen
- Any screen on the bars invites distraction, the tester warns
Benefits of this powered phone mount
Tidiness is the big one. The charger lives inside the cradle, so the only cable you route is the one to the battery, and the magazine’s tester singled that out as what sets it apart from mounts that need a chain of adapters. That same tester ran it on pavement and dirt without anything working loose, which is the part that matters when your phone is the only thing between you and a wrong turn.
Other benefits of the Rocky Creek MotoPlug
The spacers let one clamp cover most round bars from 7/8″ to 1-1/4″, the ball joint lets you angle the screen away from glare, and the switch means you’re not charging when you don’t want to. The seller adds that, paired with your bike comms, you get turn-by-turn directions and music through the helmet.
What riders say about the MotoPlug phone holder
I found one hands-on test, and it’s a good one: Adventure Motorcycle magazine, 2019, about 4,000 miles split between road and trail. The tester liked how easy it was to fit, how solidly it held the phone and the built-in charger, and found no screws backing out over the whole test. The gripes were practical: no instructions in the box, spacers that can damage the ring if you overdo them, and some trial and error to keep the tank bag out of the way. The unit they tested only came in bright blue; the photos on Amazon today show it in black. Amazon showed no customer reviews for it when I checked.
Frequently asked questions
Often bought with motorcycle phone mounts like the MotoPlug
Conclusions on this MotoPlug phone holder
If you want one tidy unit that clamps to round bars and keeps the phone charged on long rides, this is a simple way to get it, and the one real-world test I found says it stayed put for thousands of miles, on and off pavement. Check your bar diameter and your phone’s width, plan where the tank bag goes, and decide whether you can live without wireless charging. The call is yours.