Video Cam's on bikes

[thrasherfox]

Ok, I tried to use my video camera on Rus's 40th b-day ride...

Didn't work out too well.

First problem. I am an idiot. I had accidentally write protected the video. So because my helmet was on, and I had the camera mount to my bike and the way I had it set up, it was a real pain in the arse to verify it was recording properly, so guess what? I didn't verify it, and it was NOT recording properly.

Huge bummer for me. I mean I am sure Rus would have like to have the videos but I don't think he was counting on it as much as I was..

However, the first problem was really irrelevant anyway, because on my way home from Santa Cruz today, I had the camera working, even checked it a few times to make sure it was recording.. fricken AWESOME!!! Had 90 minutes of video, had 30 minutes of video left and my battery had more than half juice left!! I was so jazzed!!

Got the camcorder home, juts hooked it up and viewed it on the computer..

Worthless, angle aint worth a crap, and even if it was, the mount I made is a BIG PIECE OF CRAP it was so jittery, totally useless.

Any of you out there real good at this stuff? I want to try and get off as inexpensive as possible, but I want to be able to make quality videos.

I saw the mount that goes on the tank, don’t really care for that too much for the following reasons:

a) I have a tinted double bubble and it will not work tell well videoing through the double bubble

b) I need my double bubble, and any of you out there that don’t have them. Get them!! I have been on my bike up to 150+ before walk in the park, no sweat. On this trip I had a tank back so I was not able to tuck all the way behind it, OMG!!! At 130 I was having to grip the fricken hand grips so tight just to keep from being blown off the bike!! AND a fricken bug hit my visor and I thought it was coming through and crushing my skull..

I saw on the internet a company that make some kid of cable that plugs into your DV port and supposedly you can mount the camera in the hump and run this cable where ever you want to get video.

Ok, enough of my lame explanations.. Does anyone have a good solution out there that is inexpensive AND allows me to still tuck in behind my precious double bubble AND not have all kinds of jitter….

 

[PACIFICBUSA]

ya gotta shave it, bro. Shave it long....shave it hard.

Oh yeah...you can also experiment with a sidemount camera. Just be sure that it doesn't stick out too much.

 

[ICEMANN]

Better yet, goto a web source like www.helmetcam.com or www.supercircuits.com and get a mini cam to mount on your bike. Camera's the size of lipstick or postage stamp with outstanding angles/depth of field. Plug it into your cam corders input and record PERFECT angles etc. I have one flush mounted in the nose section of the headlight. Then I just put my cam corder in the trunk and plug in the prerouted cable I ran. Perfect!

ICE

 

[Rich]

That sounds cool ice, did you put it inside the headlight? Just take the hi beam out?

 

[WWJD]

I got the dumbest best solution possible: DUCT TAPE. I bought a small, cheap Samsung and I duct tape it to the side of my older helmet and roll. there's no lean that shows on corners, since I keep my head level, but there is almost NO bump or jitter. I use a wide angle too which shows more of the sides of the roads going by and gives a feeling of speed - touble there is wide angle makes center things seem farther away. I hear others use a "Stem Stand". Duct Tape works for my and when I was using the silver kind, it looked so Ghetto, everyone laughed and it was a good time. I bought some black and that should look better

 

[ICEMANN]

No I didnt take the highbeam out... Basically I took the semi lazy approach to part and "YOUR A DUMB ARSE" for the other, strickly for the amount of time invested..

I ran all lines into the trunk unit so I can put my camcorder into the trunk and just plug in power and a/v lines.

Depending on which camera is mounted at the time. There is a jack for my helmet. So if I mount the camera on the helmet it self.

www.helmetcam.com (camera's ok but Ive got the mount) Allows any lipstick cam to mount to whatever. Bulletproof too. Got the cam from a "source". Also have the same color cam in the nose section.

The headlight itself can be seperated somewhat easily. CREDIT RHYTHM for this one. Use a heat gun an heat up the grey goop. Seperated the two halve slowly as not to streatch the goop everywhere cause it is still sticky as heck. Do your mods (drill a 1/8 hole for the lens to protrude thru) mount the camera, route the wires. clean up the reflector lens and put it all back together. Plug power and a/v jacks in and route to trunk area.

Thats it.
JD.