Camera mount suggestions

[dbeardslee]

I've got this little Mobius Actioncam, and I'd like to mount it on Betsy to shoot some videos. It's got a standard 1/4-20 nut on the bottom, and I'd like to mount it so I get the speedometer and the tach in the shot, as well as the road ahead. Anybody got any ideas on how to mount it?

I've got an old skydiving camera helmet that I could use in a pinch, but it's not made for riding motorcycles, and I'd rather mount it to the bike.

[MaximPhil]

Look at the RAM mounts. A bit pricey but they work very well.
http://www.gpscity.ca/mounts
Phil

[bikerphil]

Doug, I made a bracket with a crazy bend one time and attached it to one of the speedometer housing bolts. Worked great, took some video of the Tail of the Dragon. It was easy to turn the camera on and off mounted there.

[dbeardslee]

I went with MaximPhil's suggestion and ordered parts from GPS City. They've got some pretty cool mounts with a lot of adjustability, and I think it will work for what I want to do. I really want to get the tach and speedo in the shot and I think this will allow me to mount it on the handlebars and get the shot I'm looking for. A little pricey, but not too bad. $40 and change with free shipping for what looks to be a good quality setup.

I also dusted off the old skydiving camera helmet, took the ring sight and electronics off it, and mounted my Mobius. Probably won't need my dirt-finder either. I might take a little ride tomorrow and see how that works while I'm waiting on the other parts. I'll look like an idiot, but I'm used to that.

[dbeardslee]

The mount from GPS City came in today, and I have to say I'm impressed. Very solid, very adjustable piece of equipment. I got a handlebar ball mount, the 5.25" extension, and a camera ball mount and when you put the three of them together they get the Mobius right where I wanted it to be. I can get the gauges in the shot with a good view of the road ahead.

I took a run up to the hardware store and decided to test the mount by shooting video to and from. I noticed kind of an annoying buzz in the videos, and I'm not sure what's causing it. The clutch cable was laying against the clamp part of the handlebar ball mount, so I moved the cable a bit. Maybe that was it, or maybe I'm just getting some vibration through the handlebars. Dunno. I've been meaning to make some handlebar weights for the new bars anyway, so maybe I'll get busy and get 'em done and see if that fixes it.

In the mean time, anybody up for a vicarious run to the hardware store? Actually the ride back was more interesting - listen real close at about the 2:01 mark and you'll hear why.

Going to the hardware store... Coming back

And thanks for the tip on GPS City, MP. Definitely looks like it was the way to go.


.

[3Phase]

Thanks for the ride-along, that was fun!

.

[dbeardslee]

Thanks for the ride-along, that was fun!

.

No sweat. I managed to lose a side cover badge on that trip. The guy on the Harley seemed like a nice fella, but I could see him looking for badging on Betsy, but the darn thing had just fallen off on his side. I think he was trying to figure out what it was that just spanked him.

[trbig]

Camera mount? I thought that's what my left hand was for?

[CaptonZap]

Camera mount? I thought that's what my left hand was for?

Yeah, it has to clutch something, doesn't it?

[dbeardslee]

Camera mount? I thought that's what my left hand was for?

I used an old skydiving camera helmet yesterday and had it on my head, but it was too high and I couldn't get the angle across the gauges I was looking for. When I could get the gauges in the shot it was angled down so far you couldn't see much of the road ahead.

This ball mount setup puts the lens 10-11 inches behind the gauges and slightly above them so you can see the rpm's and mph's while still getting a good shot of the road ahead.

Now if I can just figure out how to get the buzz out of the audio. I think I'll fab some handlebar weights tomorrow and see if that stifles it. If that doesn't work I might cut a piece of inner tube to insulate the mount from the bars a bit.

Yeah, it has to clutch something, doesn't it?

Pretty punny!

[STEPPENWOLF]

Dang Doug you have become a very old man rider.What happened to ya?
Haven't been up that way in awhile.Now I go to the cemetery and and Christ Hospital and no farther north.
Is that the same hardware store we went to for 5 five drill bits to get that bolt out of my head?
Mount seemed to work well,camera seems to work well,big thing now days is Go Pro seems like they work well.A few ideas for different mounting positions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wPDwCRLoJE

[dbeardslee]

Dang Doug you have become a very old man rider.What happened to ya?
Haven't been up that way in awhile.Now I go to the cemetery and and Christ Hospital and no farther north.
Is that the same hardware store we went to for 5 five drill bits to get that bolt out of my head?
Mount seemed to work well,camera seems to work well,big thing now days is Go Pro seems like they work well.A few ideas for different mounting positions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wPDwCRLoJE

Go Pro is like Apple Computer - only their stuff seems to work with 'em. Their mounts are kind of proprietary. I've got a Mobius Actioncam that I bought for putting on a quadcopter. It's just a regular old 1/4-20 camera mount. The down side is there's no screen on it, so you can't tell what you shot until you play the video back. It's tiny though. Wish they had 'em when I was jumping 'cause putting the old style video recorder on my head and then opening a parachute dang near broke my neck the first few times.

Now I go to the cemetery and and Christ Hospital

Just be thankful you go to them in that order.

[STEPPENWOLF]

Doug I am:-)
It was just a few suggestions on where to mount for different angles.Kinda makes it fun.
Imagine it mounted on the right side of the bike on a case guard doing a long sweeper on the right side..
You know I putt along the road but I have a smile and look around alot,I take a pic or two and have lots of videos so change the angle,view now and then,just make it fun.I was a bit off center on my bike but made the castle look beter than my bike,hard to do. Just don't go with one angle

[dbeardslee]

You know I putt along the road but I have a smile and look around alot

Remember, I've been behind you while you were "putting along down the road." I had to dang near drag a knee to stick with you in the turns... more than once. But every time I think about the rides we took I remember that big orange turkey crossing the road over in Indiana. I wonder where the heck that thing came from.

[STEPPENWOLF]

Remember, I've been behind you while you were "putting along down the road." I had to dang near drag a knee to stick with you in the turns... more than once. But every time I think about the rides we took I remember that big orange turkey crossing the road over in Indiana. I wonder where the heck that thing came from.

How I ride leading a group is not how I ride by myself.I ride nice and easy in the straights but I tend to wait to the last second to lay it over in a curve.
Just my style..that turkey was just crossing the road...the group had nothing to worry about unless I hit it.The free wild turkeys are every where around here.guess I got used to them like the deer.