Riding home from work

[Charlie-brm]

4EverFJ, you didn't mention where you mounted the camera. It appears to be a body mount or helmet, going by the smoothness and height.

I'm still playing with my setup, also an inexpensive alternative to a Go Pro. Unfortunately it fogged up inside the protective case. I didn't know that could happen even in fair weather at warm temperatures. I was trying a mount on the front portion of my fairing. Photobucket website is down at this moment or I would post an image.

[4everFJ]

4EverFJ, you didn't mention where you mounted the camera. It appears to be a body mount or helmet, going by the smoothness and height.

I'm still playing with my setup, also an inexpensive alternative to a Go Pro. Unfortunately it fogged up inside the protective case. I didn't know that could happen even in fair weather at warm temperatures. I was trying a mount on the front portion of my fairing. Photobucket website is down at this moment or I would post an image.

It is mounted on the right side of the helmet.

I like helmet mount because it allows the viewer to see what the rider sees.

[PaulG]

Coincidentally I just bought two more Ion Air Pro Lite cameras today.  Factory Direct had them on sale for $89 each.  Thats about 50% off the MSRP. I paid about $350 for my kit 3 yrs ago - but it included a bunch of extra gizmos.  The sales guy told me I had the new flyer, because in last weeks flyer they were $45 each.

So they let me have them for that.  That's about 25% of the MSRP.  What a steal!   

So now I need to figger out where to mount all three, and test them this Sat.  Now I'll be able to make videos with three different real time POV's.  Of course it will take me 3X as long to edit them too. 

Must be a lot of inventory trying to compete with GoPro.  Their loss is my gain! 

[Charlie-brm]

Factory Direct is great for deals, as long as you already know the quality of the exact thing you are buying and are good with it. Every manufacturer lets out a few duds or troublesome models and those are often what end up at Factory Direct, learned the hard way with DVD recorders, TV antennae and computer stuff. But since you already are satisfied with those cameras, excellent score! I like the IONs and almost went that way - still might.

Like an ass, I dropped my WASP camera while removing it from the hard case and of course it hit face down on a patio stone, leaving 3 chips in the lens that are now the "belt of Orion" in the sky of any footage I record. Replacement lenses cost more than a new camera.

I have at least 4 suction cup mounts plus attachments and adapters. Experimenting. This is my favourite. Very strong grip and rigid. I'll throw them in my pack for the September Ontario ride.

[PaulG]

I have a suction cup mount, but it just has one cup.  Where did you get the multi-cup mount?  I have yet to experiment with mine, and was wondering if one cup was enough.  Ion has another version of the camera for cars that use a suction cup hanging off a quarter panel.   I was wondering if that was strong enough, considering the vibes and bumps transferred through a bike would be more.  I already checked it out on top of the tank and it's not tall enough to see over the dash, so I was going to try and mount it like yours - off the fairing panel.  I'm also going to rig up a rod to connect to the rear foot peg or something like that as a mounting point.  Eventually a set of crash bars would solve everything.

[Firehawk068]

I have a suction cup mount, but it just has one cup.    I have yet to experiment with mine, and was wondering if one cup was enough.  Ion has another version of the camera for cars that use a suction cup hanging off a quarter panel.   I was wondering if that was strong enough, considering the vibes and bumps transferred through a bike would be more.

Yes, The single GoPro suction cup is strong enough.

I have this one.



I used it this past Saturday.
I mounted it to my windshield the previous night, and rode with it in place all day Saturday (15-hours).
I just removed it this morning, and it was still stuck on there tightly. (6-days later)
I can tell you for certain that it is enough to hold strong even at 90+mph.  



Now if I could just figure out a way to keep the bugs from sticking to the lens...............

[PaulG]

That GoPro mount is basically the same as the Ion cup, so that's good to know. I also use my left mirror stalk using a bar clamp mount, along with the helmet.  So now to start fiddlin about.

Thx

[Firehawk068]

One thing I noticed, using this suction cup mount, from reviewing my footage from Saturday's ride.
My fairing buzzes.............ALOT!
I shot all of Saturday's footage using the 720p/60fps setting.
At approx. 55mph (3500rpm), the fairing resonance is loudest, and it must be pretty close to the 60fps frame-rate that I was using. It caused some weird things with the video footage during those times that I was riding in that speed range.
The next time I'm out, I'm going to try the 1080p/30fps setting and see what happens.

Also, using this single point suction cup, although it is strong enough to not worry about it coming off, there is some shaking of the camera over bumps. I imagine it would be worse if you added a longer arm to move the camera up higher.

That mount that Charlie-brm posted looks like it would be rock-solid no matter what you mounted to it.  

[FJmonkey]

Welcome to the world of harmonics and finding the natural frequency... You are on the right track, play with frame rates to find the sweet spot. Or change the vibration frequency of your FJ at a given RPM...

[jscgdunn]

One thing I noticed, using this suction cup mount, from reviewing my footage from Saturday's ride.
My fairing buzzes.............ALOT!
I shot all of Saturday's footage using the 720p/60fps setting.
At approx. 55mph (3500rpm), the fairing resonance is loudest, and it must be pretty close to the 60fps frame-rate that I was using. It caused some weird things with the video footage during those times that I was riding in that speed range.
The next time I'm out, I'm going to try the 1080p/30fps setting and see what happens.

Also, using this single point suction cup, although it is strong enough to not worry about it coming off, there is some shaking of the camera over bumps. I imagine it would be worse if you added a longer arm to move the camera up higher.

That mount that Charlie-brm posted looks like it would be rock-solid no matter what you mounted to it.  

Yes I have had the same issue with the suction mount....I think arm is too long.

[4everFJ]

Welcome to the world of harmonics and finding the natural frequency... You are on the right track, play with frame rates to find the sweet spot. Or change the vibration frequency of your FJ at a given RPM...

Or, use a helmet mount. No buzzing and vibrations 

You will never get a vibration free mounting on the fairing, frame or handlebars of the FJ...

[Bones]

I've had my GoPro mounted all over the fairing and found the best spot with the least interference from vibration to be just above the headlight. I turn it on before riding off because it's hard to reach there, but wouldn't be a problem with newer ones with the remote control. Btw, I use a lease to secure the camera to one of the wind screen screws, the suction cups are strong but it's for my peace of mind.

I've had mine mounted to the crash bars as well, ideal spot for no vibration, but view is obstructed a bit from the front wheel. Good for seeing your suspension working though.

[FJmonkey]

Randy mounts his cam just above the light as well. And Mike (midget) has some good footage of suspension from his engine guard bars. And neither seems to have vibration issues. Helmet mounts do allow for much more range as well as where the rider is looking. All have good and bad issues. But having 3 mounted, great coverage, but you still need time to ride and not bogged down editing. Bring on the ride videos. Show the world that life behind bars can be a good thing. 

[Charlie-brm]

Welcome to the world of harmonics and finding the natural frequency... You are on the right track, play with frame rates to find the sweet spot. Or change the vibration frequency of your FJ at a given RPM...

Yup. That's the whole issue. With the 3 cup, I have more of a triangulation mount. The key after that is to keep any extensions necessary as short as possible. You can see it's squat. I have singles with suction that will pull my bathroom mirror off the wall but that's not the point. It's the rigidity and even if you can't feel it, a single arm is buzzing and it's worse the further out from the base. And i am using the official Yamaha security lanyard as my leash, clipped on to my handle bar 

I'm getting my feet wet in the whole thing but I looked into studio setups, like if you see an opening scene in a movie of a wheel rolling by a curb, or the view of the driver from 3 feet outside the window. They use 3 points secured with suction cups that are $200 a piece, placed at strategic locations on different body panels instead of one panel, clamping carbon fibre rods of several feet length, meeting at a gimbal base holding a very expensive DSLR. You're into a few $grand.

[ZOA NOM]

Found a great loop recording bullet cam that is hard wired and starts/stops recording with the key. It's called a BulletHD Biker Pro..

1080p @ 30fps
720p @ 60 fps

64g SD card

built-in mic isn't great, but the video is superb

$179

https://bullethd.com/en/cameras/8-biker-pro.html   I'll stitch together some video from my daytime ride to work and me nighttime ride home and post it up tomorrow.