Tank Cam Mounts

[swanman]

I need to buy one of these. Does anyone know where I can get one in NZ, cheap preferably??
Looking for the sort that screws into the fuel filler surround.
Any one got one they want to sell.

Cheers

[swanman]

Actually yes and no, really just looking to record some rides for posterity.

[sAsLEX]

how about make it yourself?? That sounds as though it is not the most difficult proposition!

[StoneChucker]

The tank filler cap bracket (what ever you call it) is the ideal place to mount the cam. Just unscrew the allen key nuts, position the camera mounting plate and put the screws back in, through the plate. The only thing is, try use as many of the screws as possible. I did the above, using only one screw and the picture came out realllllllly blurry. So, if you can mount the plate with 4 screws, and the camera onto the plate with 4 points, it should work sweet. However, most cameras mount onto the plate with one fixture. When you get it right, it's the perfect height, showing the tacho and speed, as well as the full road ahead.

If you're doing high speed runs, taping cotton wool over the mic alleviates the wind noise to some extent. Also, tape the zoom button to the position you want. I recorded all my runs at the sprints, and got home to find the wind switched the zoom to full zoom (was 500x on the cam) making the picture blank for all it's worth.

Hope you get it sorted.
Dave.

[swanman]

Yes I am considering making one myself. But if I can just go buy one for not too much it is worth considering.
Stonechucker, can you give me more exact details about how you mounted your video camera?

[Skyryder]

The other thing you need to know is that your camera can be siezed and used in evidence agaisnt you. Be careful or you may become the butt of the local plodders jokes.

Skyryder

[louisb]

Have a look at these, second from the bottom:

http://www.cycoactive.com/gps/gallery/other_gpsmount.html

Not sure how much they are but it might give an idea where to start.

[bugjuice]

why, whatcha thinkin of filming? That'd be kinda cool to do something like that, but I'm sure it'd be too much work. I won't think anyone here would give it a go.. nahhh.. too much work, nothing to see here people, move on..

can't you hold it with your left hand while you ride...?? :wari:

[saul]

What if ya need to fill up??? What then?
You gotta unscrew this contraption... shit i have enough problems remembering which order to put things bac on again after gassing up let alone a cam..

Helmet/gloves/glasses.. oh wait glasses off first then helmet

Nope the cap still opens :niceone: The mount is situated on the semi circle on outside of the cap and is lotsss of fun :banana:

[Zapf]

The other thing you need to know is that your camera can be siezed and used in evidence agaisnt you. Be careful or you may become the butt of the local plodders jokes.

Skyryder

ermm.... time to carry an acid pouch for putting the tape into?

[sAsLEX]

ermm.... time to carry an acid pouch for putting the tape into?

strong magnet would so the trick, or just have nothing in the tape that identifies it as your bike while viewing the tape and dont go walking in front of it, then you were just carrying a camera with you on the mount because you dont have a glove box on the bike

[bugjuice]

actually, taking all this into account, could any of the cops here, comment on this? If you saw a bike behaving on the roads, but had a cam mounted somewhere, would it be considered 'normal practice' to stop them and question them? Even if everything was by the book?
Granted, if they were dicking around, cam or not, they'd be stopped, but if they were being good..

[onearmedbandit]

Fark I'd hope not. What if you're filming your favourite stretch of road at a safe legal speed, no reason there to be pulled over. No reason for the officer to need to view the tape. However if you were caught breaking the law I'm sure its popcorn and coke time at central.

[Sniper]

Hmmmm, being on a CBR250 and of South African blood, I used a more ingineous way of mounting my camera :)

It involver a block of wood and some cable ties, alond with some electrical tape. Worked a charm, and I even got my first wheelie on tape :niceone:

But yea, not really recommended

[Fryin Finn]

I have a helmet cam which I use on and off road. On my off road helmet the lens mounts under the peak with a notch cut out to get the angle right. on my road bike helmet it is velcro mounted to the side of my visor. Its a bit of a pain to set up and my first few rides shows the speedo which I dont want to do for obvious reasons. But the pics come out great. I havent mounted the lens directly to the bike but I imagine a bit more vibration will show up.
I really enjoy replaying my rides but others find it a bit boring. :confused:

[Lord Pac]

I have one that hasn't been used. Bought it for mine but then changed my screen to a dark smoke. So I put that away and bought some lipstick cams- which I haven't installed either. :mellow:

Let me know if interested- will email you pics. Cheers! :niceone:

[bugjuice]

I have one that hasn't been used. Bought it for mine but then changed my screen to a dark smoke. So I put that away and bought some lipstick cams- which I haven't installed either. :mellow:

Let me know if interested- will email you pics. Cheers! :niceone:
how do they work? Do you need a receiving box or something, mounted else where? What's the quality like? Could you stick up any pics, or pm/email me some? kinda interested in how it all works..

[StoneChucker]

I'm not really sure what else to say, from what I've already said. The one I used was the small circular disc from the top of the camera's tripod. Disc was somewhere between a 20c piece and a 50c piece. It had a screw in the centre of one side, which you screwed the camera onto (camera had a hole in the bottom with thread. The otherside was flat, with a plastic disc of the same size glued to the bottom, to prevent any damage to the metal of the filler cap assembly. My friend then drilled a hole through the side of the disc, which is the hole I stuck ONE of the petrol cap screws into (and back into the petrol cap - thats the outer most screws). Once tight, the camera just screwed onto the disc. The only decent footage I have is going up the rimutaka's. I think the vibrations go away at certain revs, and under acceleration. Ideally you'd have four mounting points on the plate and camera. And, would be good to have some sort of shock absorption between the camera and plate OR plate and tank. Possibly some foam, rubber or polystyrene? I'm not sure if one would ever get it perfectly vibration free.

Hope that helps SOME? There are heaps of other methods. At Manfield, I saw someone who had just ductaped the camera on. You'd need to be sure the tape didn't damage the paint though.

You also get sucker mounted plates, which you can buy online. Most retail solutions are shockingly overpriced, but sometimes it's just easier to pay up :brick:

Dave.

[カワサキキド]

Have you thought of mounting the camera on a small sand bag to absorb the vibrations?

[bugjuice]

Have you thought of mounting the camera on a small sand bag to absorb the vibrations?
sand bag? yeah, the extra few kilos should help keep that front wheel down..
damn front wheel.. won't stay down.. :wari:

[digsaw]

mounting a vid cam on your bike is something i have been doing,rather easy to do but not so easy to get it right,dont have vib problems but wind noise and having bits vanish from the cam has been a bit of worry.Am making a vid of a run around the Coromandel loop with a side run up Tramway gully,all so have a 3min vid of some of the Thames coast road which some people who have never been up this way might like to see if only i had some place to upload it too then any body could view it. :wari:

[dss3]

If seeing a pic of one helps, have a look here at a pretty simple one. If I can get a hold of a camera i'll make one up for my bike, probably use aluminium though, rather than mild steel. Could probably get one made up for someone if they give me relevant measurements.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4530615477&category=34284

_daryl

[bugjuice]

If seeing a pic of one helps, have a look here at a pretty simple one. If I can get a hold of a camera i'll make one up for my bike, probably use aluminium though, rather than mild steel. Could probably get one made up for someone if they give me relevant measurements.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4530615477&category=34284

_daryl
that's a pretty simple cool idea, but can't adjust the angle of the cam tho, so might be quite limited to certain bikes, unless you bend it.. Can't be too hard to make tho..

[Biff]

GP Motorcycles Camera Mount (http://www.gpmotorcycles.co.nz/images/spares/trick/EXPORT%203%20(37).jpg)

[Motoracer]

Well... When Loosebruce get's back on the road and TS get's back on the road and I am able to borrow a road bike from someone, we *were* gunna do a vid cam run.

Bruce has got a pencil cam that can be attached to any part of your bike with MotoGP quality vids with no destortions over bumps. The camera itself sits inside the tail unit which is pretty handy.

[Lord Pac]

how do they work? Do you need a receiving box or something, mounted else where? What's the quality like? Could you stick up any pics, or pm/email me some? kinda interested in how it all works..

There are diferent types of cams. You can get the RF ones (wireless) like the Motogp boys- if you have the $$$$$.

the ones I have are wired. they connect to my dv camera through AV in- which is under the passenger seat. This is where I bought mine from- www.rfconcepts.co.uk (http://www.rfconcepts.co.uk/) under helmet camera

:niceone:

[bugjuice]

There are diferent types of cams. You can get the RF ones (wireless) like the Motogp boys- if you have the $$$$$.

the ones I have are wired. they connect to my dv camera through AV in- which is under the passenger seat. This is where I bought mine from- www.rfconcepts.co.uk (http://www.rfconcepts.co.uk/) under helmet camera

:niceone:
thing with UK cams is the whole PAL/NTSC thingy.. just something to bear in mind cos some might not work. Can you get dual cams?

[swanman]

All very good inputs here. My current preference is still for the tank mounted cam from the fuel filler surround. This achieves a good shot of the clocks and a good forward view too. Admittedly there is the police factor.
The suction cup idea looks a bit dodgy, especially as half my tank is plastic.
The pencil cameras look good too. Options really boil down to price, availability and practicality.

[**R1**]

I have almost finished making one to fit my R1, i have slotted the holes for the filler tho, as it would be nice to use it on other bikes....i will post some pics when its done....in the oldn days tho i used to fold up a towl and tape the camera on...worked well, just duznt look the shit tho, and we all know how important looks are:whocares:

[Waylander]

Any of you ever thought about getting a few of those little spy cams that they sell somewhere and mouting a few of them to diferent places on your bikes?

Like maybe on the tank, the front fender and maybe the pillion peg on the left side to show shifting?
Would look cool if you edited it right and some of those cams have good picture quality. Thinkin about doin it myself but it wouldn't be very good to see a cruiser ride down the road was gonna have the laptop in my backpack recording them to hard drive so I can edit and burn to DVD of somethin.