Mounting a GoPro on the CB1100. Some ideas.

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Cheers

[Cormanus]

Good work, lad.

You've put new mirrors on Last Blast?

[curlyjoe]

I had never thought of mounting the gopro on the clutch fluid reservoir. I like your point of representing the true angle of the bike. It must also be easy to turn the camera on and off. How is the wind noise from that position?

I have been using a chest harness which is a bit of a hassle in that it's hard fumbling for the on/off switch on the go.

Great stuff and thanks for sharing the great video of the twisties!

[JF Coastal_imp]

Pretty cool Pterodactyl. .. I usually end up just leaving a mount on top of my headlight for easy on and off... I'll have to play around with a few of these ideas.

We should have a sticky thread on here somewhere with people posting gopro testing / settings / everything related. ..

What settings do you leave yours on ? 1080 / 60 fps ?

[redbirds_imp]

Very instructive Ptero. Sparky watched the video with me and thinks your Aussie accent "divine". Great music also "La Bamba".

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Good work, lad.

You've put new mirrors on Last Blast?

Thanks mate. Yes the mirrors have been there for some months now. I was inspired by Chip Beck's posts. When I first put them on I was a little disappointed with "the look" compared with the OEMs. But after a few days I became accustomed to the new look and now wouldn't go back. The actual mirror function I certainly prefer to the OEMs. As a matter of interest the mirrors, as are Chip's and others on the forum, from the CB500F. Just under AUD 35 apiece. I looked at mirrors from a Crossrunner and could not detect any difference to the CB500F mirrors but they run out to about AUD 113 apiece. The parts bloke tells me it is because they are made in Japan and the CB500F's made in Thailand.

I had never thought of mounting the gopro on the clutch fluid reservoir. I like your point of representing the true angle of the bike. It must also be easy to turn the camera on and off. How is the wind noise from that position?

I have been using a chest harness which is a bit of a hassle in that it's hard fumbling for the on/off switch on the go.

Great stuff and thanks for sharing the great video of the twisties!

Joe, yes, it easy to control and monitor the operation of the camera when it is mounted on the clutch fluid reservoir. Another way to control the camera is through a Smart Remote (SM). The SM will control the camera recording and functions from up to 600ft (180M) away. Useful, I guess, if you want to take some "ride by" or other footage with the camera on a tripod. However the SM is really good for controlling the camera if it is mounted on a chesty or any other mount that is not easily accessible. No one should become part of the scenery because they were fiddling with a GoPro. On the other hand it might make for some exciting footage. In the photo immediately below you can see the SM mounted, by velcro strap, on the bars just above the USB charger. It is not as big as it might appear in the photo and it can be attached anywhere that is convenient. I have used it strapped to my right wrist. It is not a cheap bit of kit though.



Noise is something I have just begun to experiment with. On a video I posted () there is a section towards the end with raw noise recorded. I like it as the Staintune noise is good and wind noise minimal. You can hear peg touchdowns at points. I was using the open back case mounted on the clutch. There has got to be a better way though. To this end I bought a Røde microphone, pictured here:



It is plugged into the Mini-USB input on the camera. More on that in a moment. A 1.5 meter M-M 3.5mm extension cord allows it to be positioned just about anywhere on the bike. Below is an example of it plugged to the camera on the bike fuel tank side. I am having some success placing the microphone on the pillion grab bars just above the muffler. At first I tried it with the wind cover but found that the cover also reduced the muffler sound. Without the cover it is much better, it just needs to be in a wind protected position. I want to try it put behind the screen I have fitted to my bike. Work in progress.



To plug a microphone into the GoPro camera while in the waterproof case, irrespective of the back used, required some modification to the case. So, after some thought, I drilled a 10mm hole in the case, centred over the Mini-USB port. With a little bit of rounding off to the Mini-USB cord end it fitted so that it is water resistant and would keep light rain out.



When not in use I plugged the hole with a rubber blanking grommet that, despite coming in an imperial size, fitted the metric hole perfectly.








I only had one type of grommet available when I did this so, on looking closely, you might think I have installed it arse about with the rounded head inside. Not so. The grommet, if fitted with the heavy face inside, will not allow the camera to fit into the case. With the rounded face inside, the camera rests flush against the grommet ensuring a waterproof seal. I have tried it to two meters of water and all OK (despite my advancing years I still like to play with a longboard and a kayak).

However, microphone aside, this modification gives another, and entirely unplanned, benefit. Battery life of the GoPro allows about two hours recording and shooting. This figure is rubbery as battery life depends on a number of factors. Two hours might seem enough and in most cases this is so, particularly if a spare battery is carried. But if you are touring and plan to ride six hours and then, say, camp out at a spot where a charger is not available, then you have a problem. Also some people like to use a "looping mode" where the camera operates continually up to its battery limit. This modification allows the camera to record and charge concurrently. Or just charge if required. This is good. It is done by connecting the charging cord to that same Mini-USB port. See this:



So this will give unlimited recording time as long as the USB charger is operating, plus two hours.

Pretty cool Pterodactyl. .. I usually end up just leaving a mount on top of my headlight for easy on and off... I'll have to play around with a few of these ideas.

We should have a sticky thread on here somewhere with people posting gopro testing / settings / everything related. ..

What settings do you leave yours on ? 1080 / 60 fps ?

JF, I try to record in as high a definition as possible, up to 4K. So that is my default setting. However it will depend on other factors. One is that all fields of view are not available in some definitions. For example in 4K only Ultra Wide FOV is available. Battery life is also affected by definition. But in general 1080p/60fps is a good compromise. The first video I made, the one referred to above, was made in this resolution. Higher definition is great for viewing your videos at home but come with the penalty of long upload and download times for sharing. If everybody had optical broadband at the highest possible speed then not a problem. But, alas, not so in the real world.

Hope the above is of interest.

Cheers.

Very instructive Ptero. Sparky watched the video with me and thinks your Aussie accent "divine". Great music also "La Bamba".

Thanks 'Birds and Sparky.

Cheers

[the Ferret]

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

[Cormanus]

Ferret, it's a matter of some debate in Australia, including in the courts. It is illegal to modify a helmet in any way. According to some police, attaching a GoPro is a modification. I don't think definitive ruling has yet been made by a court.

[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

[the Ferret]

Wow, that's insane. There is nothing about a camera that would change the safety of the helmet one would think.

In the USA? Well in most states we are not even required to wear helmets. I have heard that the police don't like being videoed ( or photographed for that matter) but I don't think it's actually illegal to do so, and many do film encounters between themselves and police.

Another aspect is police feel they should be able to confiscate the camera to use as evidence of wrong doing by the motorcyclist, but I believe that has been settled in court, with the outcome being the cameras are private property of the owner and cannot be confiscated, but police can subpoena them I believe.

All I have said is hearsay however since I have never verified things I have heard/ read since I have no desire to film my riding anyway. I mean who wants to see bad lines ridden slowly?