Killed two G1W cams with bike vibration, looking for something sturdier

[Zach]

Hi,

I have a motorcycle that I use for racetrack instruction, and I have outfitted it with Blackbox G1W cameras front and rear for recording students. They worked fine for a while, but appear to be getting less and less reliable, presumably due to vibration. I have mounted the cameras into the fairings like so:

Even before these cameras started failing, they were less than ideal because to get the videos off of them I had to hit a button on the back of the casing after connecting to the USB cable. This was a pretty big pain with the cameras installed the way they are.

So, here are my requirements:

*) Very sturdy against vibration, no need to be waterproof
*) Runs off micro-USB power and will turn-on/record when power is applied and turn-off when power stops
*) Will allow copying of the videos simply by connecting to the cable
*) Small enough to fit in these same areas of the bike

Interested in any pointers, thanks in advance.

 

[Sunny]

Innovv C3.
BulletHD.

 

[niko]

Nice installation, especially rear camera.

 

[kamkar]

Thats what i was thinking Niko

I am however that this machine could shake 2 G1W apart.

Allso think the newly listed bulletHD must be some what ideal, though with mods like that there seem to be room for a DSLR in the rear at least
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...stant-motorcycle-dashcam-novatek-96655.12423/

 

[SawMaster]

The mini USB power sockets factory soldering may be your problem. You wouldn't be the first to have a failure there- it's easily repairable for an electronics tech. They can also 'reflow' any other suspect connections while they have the case open; only takes a few minutes. With any cam, the leverage exerted by power cords on the sockets is considerable so make sure they are well-supported near the camera to minimize that stress.

Not enough dashcam experience here to recommend the best one for you, but many others here have that to offer.

Phil

 

[dash riposki]

Maybe a mobius in the front, and a Contour Roam in the rear?

I think there is more vibration/shock in the rear of the bike. I remember seeing some pretty violent shakes in the rear during hard braking as a spectator at Wera and Ama races.

 

[Zach]

Innovv C3.
BulletHD.

Thanks, both of those look pretty good. Can you or anyone else confirm that the videos can be copied off either of these cameras with access only to the far end of a USB cable? The way I've got these mounted it will save me a lot of time if I don't have to access the camera bodies to get at the videos.

Allso think the newly listed bulletHD must be some what ideal, though with mods like that there seem to be room for a DSLR in the rear at least

Unsure if joking, but I'm intrigued by your DSLR comment - are there DSLR bodies that would work well in this kind of application?

 

[Street Guardian USA]

So, here are my requirements:

*) Very sturdy against vibration, no need to be waterproof
*) Runs off micro-USB power and will turn-on/record when power is applied and turn-off when power stops
*) Will allow copying of the videos simply by connecting to the cable
*) Small enough to fit in these same areas of the bike

Interested in any pointers, thanks in advance.

BULLETHD BIKER PRO

With WiFi you can access all settings and videos via iOS (iPhone/iPad) and or Android (Phone/Tablet)
It runs off miniUSB, but a 12V to 5V power supply is included. You can run 2 systems off one power supply as well since it has two USB ports.
It's very small!

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...stant-motorcycle-dashcam-novatek-96655.12423/

 

[kamkar]

No Zach i was only commenting on there seem to be a lot of room back there, i once tried to use a samsung pocket camera to capture footage while driving my 660 ccm quad bike, and that camera was shaken to bits in 2 - 3 short sessions on a fairly "flat" private track.

You are far better off with the dedicated bike cameras, or maybe the cheap action cameras that do have record start with power on.
But i can see acess to at least the rear camera would be a problem if you use a regular action camera with the SD card in the camera itself.

It could be that action cameras would be possibel to acess as a external harddrive if it had a USB cable attached, you could then power it thru that USB for the recording sessions, and then when it come to get the footage off the camera plug it into a laptop to DL the video.
But i am not sure if it work that way, but i will get hold of my friends gopro 3 silver and his SJ4000 ( gopro clone ) to see if that can be done.
But i cant go visit my friend before monday, so it will have to wait a little.
I will be happy to conduct that little experiment for you.

This was way back in 2006, true action cameras have come a long way since then.

The C3 got the lens at the end of a 4-5 foot cable, in the other end is the main unit ( quite small ) where the micro SD card is.
I think if you stash the main unit under the seat there should be enuff wire to reach both front and rear of the bike, but if not the cable is extendeable as innovv use a regular micro HDMI wire.

The bullet HD cam work in kinda the same way, but the main unit of that one do seem to be a little larger than on the C3.

If it was me i would try to go for somthing with 60 FPS, that way you can slow the footage down with 50% and still maintain a good smoothe framerate when you examin the skill of ther person behind you.
I know the C3 only have 30 FPS, i am not sure if the Bullet HD is better in that regard.

Edit: the C3 is plauged by some issues and other problems, mine do work fine in a car but it do have the "magenta flash" where 1 of the frames once in a while have a magents hue over it.
So the C3 might be a strech to recomend, i apologise for my oversight.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

The bullet HD cam work in kinda the same way, but the main unit of that one do seem to be a little larger than on the C3.
I know the C3 only have 30 FPS, i am not sure if the Bullet HD is better in that regard.

Similar size to the C1/C2/C3, easier to mount actually with the adhesive clip.

Also 30FPS
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...stant-motorcycle-dashcam-novatek-96655.12423/

 

[Zach]

Thanks for the help, all. I just ordered a BulletHD Biker Pro from Pier28. If it works well I'll pick up a second later.

 

[kamkar]

I think you will be happy with that one Zach, and if not Jon is top of the line when it come to customer care

Hope you post some fotage of some newbs wresteling ther bikes around the track, if not i will win the lotto soon and come by for some knee dragging fun

That is if i can rent a bike and get to drive without a licence for the street

 

[Zach]

Hope you post some fotage of some newbs wresteling ther bikes around the track, if not i will win the lotto soon and come by for some knee dragging fun

I don't usually post footage of students I'm working with unless I've cleared it with them, but I do have some videos from the G1W up already. Here's one where I'm out playing with another instructor in the intermediate group. We're both local club racers, so it might look like we're going fast, but we're way off what any of the real racers do at COTA. This video has footage from three different cameras, my two G1Ws and his action cam (unsure what it was). The sound on his clips is pretty terrible, something went wonky when I uploaded it to youtube.

 

[kamkar]

looking good

COTA make Danish "race tracks" look like a gocart track we dont even have a track long enuff to host anything intresting, or rather i do think we have a rally cross track or 2 thats up to the standarts for that kind of racing.

The paved tracks are small and not open much due to noise restrictions and what not, it is a wonder how we still manage to put out some decent racers like Jan Magnussen and his son + a fjew others that race open wheel classes.
I dont think we have anyone worth mentioning driving bikes unless its one powered by legs whirling around

Our longest track is 2400 M long ( 1.49 miles )

PS. There is plans to build a +5000 M long track, but its not the first time plans like this have surfaced, so i will belive it when i see the cars go round it. ( 2020 )

 

[Zach]

Update: I purchased two BulletHD Biker Pro cams from Pier28 and have replaced the G1Ws on my bike. I'll be trying the cameras out for the first time this coming Saturday. Here are some pics of the install. The GoPro mount compatibility is really nice, and allowed me to fine tune the lens position. The biggest difficulty in mounting is that the lens units are long and the HDMI cable that sticks out the back side needs to run pretty straight as it comes out. Compared to the G1Ws, the lens unit and cable needs at least 1.5" more depth. To make the rear mount work I hacked into the subframe to make clearance, you can see the cut edges in the last photos.

 

[kamkar]

Sweet, hope you will be able to share with us some footage from them.

 

[Deleted member 46308]

Jon is top of the line when it come to customer care

+1

 

[Zach]

Ok, I used the BulletHD cameras yesterday and got somewhat mixed results. The front camera worked fine all day, but the rear camera shut off in the middle of the first session and then didn't record for the rest of the day. I am hoping that it may be something as simple as the lens cable having come loose, but I haven't gotten the bike out of the hauler to check yet.

The sound on both cameras is pretty terrible, but that may be because of where I located the control units on the gastank. I'm not sure if that's where the microphone is, but I think it has to be given how much wind noise there is even though the lenses are covered up. The quality of the video is pretty good, noticeably brighter than a GoPro Hero 3 that another instructor was using.

Here is a sample clip from the front camera:

And the only bit I got from the rear:

 

[kamkar]

I think the microfone is in the head units on your tank.

That track look nasty, but you guys seem to be dooing okay there

I think trying to secure the plugs from the camera to the head unit with a little duct tape or so might be a good idea to try, or maybe some form of rubber band on the wire behind the plug that then wrap around the headunit to keep the plug seated.

If the plug is only mini USB the hold might be on the weak side with the forces you guys put on them.

Perhaps a wire hire holder of some form close to the 2 main units so there is only little "loose" wire that the G-forces can act upon and pull in.

 

[Zach]

Update: Jon (Pier28) was very helpful over email and diagnosed that it was a problem with an earlier version of the cable that connects the lens unit. He had actually already included the correct cable also in the box, but I didn't know there was a difference and had assembled with the old one. With the cable swapped out, both cameras appear to be working normally. I'll get to try them out this coming weekend at a different track.