Mounting a GoPro on the CB1100. Some ideas.

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Ptero why would a go pro mounted on the chin piece be illegal (blocking view perhaps?)

Ferret, that is the sort of question that, if asked by your children, the answer would most likely be, "Because. Now go outside and play." Cormanus' answer is a level above that and I thank him for it.

At the risk of derailing my own thread, here in the land of OZ we have complicated, continuing and ever evolving laws, debate and litigation over something as simple as a motorcycle helmet. All helmets must meet the Australian standard AS1698 and must bear an official sticker that certifies this. NSW has recently amended this but I will leave that alone. This leads to the situation where I could buy a top of the line helmet in, say, the US, but as it does not have the official sticker it is not an approved helmet. It may even be made in the same factory and be the exact same model as the approved helmet, but without that sticker it's a hefty fine in your future.

That approved helmet must not be modified. When action cams came on the scene the helmet mount was a popular option amongst the motorcycle fraternity. Police saw this as an opportunity to make the roads safer and bring these outlaws to heel by levelling fines in the region of several hundred dollars for using not approved helmets. That is the helmet has been modified by attaching a camera. Like lambs to the slaughter all paid up and looked for other means of mounting their cameras. Until some brave souls, with pockets deep enough to keep lawyers from fretting about their next choice of luxury car, mounted a legal challenge.

This challenge is based upon the view that there are NO specific regulations that provide specific criteria by which an approved helmet becomes unapproved. Stickers, communication devices, custom paint jobs, those funny reindeer horns, rabbits ears and Viking horns and other things that have been attached to helmets by motorcyclists have all attracted the wrath of the law. But do they make a helmet illegal? Well the best legal minds in our great country are now wrestling with this issue. In NSW the Police Commissioner has issued instructions that no more fines for helmet cams should be issued until a legal resolution has been arrived at. If this is fact, it has not been widely broadcast. But, if I take that at face value, and I'm not sure I should, can I cross the border into, say, Queensland, and feel assured that at the end of the day I will still be able to have the cash to buy myself a cold beer? I dunno. So until all is resolved I will mount my GoPro on my helmet only when I feel that I am far from the cruel clutches of the law.

So, Ferret, what about the good old US? I remember feeling distinctly uncomfortable in NC, wearing an Aussie bought helmet, with a helmet cam mounted, when that unsmiling, gimlet eyed, short back and sides, heavily armed officer of the law with the ironed shirt complete with regulation creases approached me and looked impassively at my driving licence. Still, apart from PTSD all was well.

Cheers