Bike/Helmet Cams
The Case for Bike/Helmet Cams
It's not that many moons ago when the "must have" item for drivers and bikers was the sat-nav.
Today, when road traffic incidents are on the increase, arguably the best piece of equipment to own has to be the camera, especially for bikers and cyclists. Insurance companies have already seen the benefits of camera evidence which, more often than not, is indisputable, thus making insurance claims much more reliable than statements alone.
With the range of cameras and camera prices now available, whatever price you pay has to be a
worthwhile investment in the long run, if only for peace of mind. Most bikers will, at some time, have been involved in an accident or near miss through a variety of reasons: stupidity, carelessness or whatever - and it's not always the other driver/rider to blame! Wherever the fault may lie, the camera generally captures it all, so even if the error is our own, we can learn from it, and that on its own can't be a bad thing.
What Camera?
Before purchasing a camera, it is worth first considering what you want from it. Some are quite bulky and heavy, and have loads of different features. Others are extremely simple to use or best suited for helmet use only. The standard resolution is about 720, but they can range from 420 to 1080. Some can be charged via USB while others require a separate charging unit. The variety is extensive. Perhaps you want it mounted on the bike fairing with multi-function and remote control; or maybe you prefer it on the helmet with single-button operation. The choice really is up to you.
My Helmet Cam
The image at the top of this page is my own helmet and cam on which I'd like to make some important comments. For practical and price reasons I chose a Road Hawk Ride cam costing just under £150. My bike is a Suzuki Burgman 650 Executive, and there is nowhere on it that a camera can be fixed easily; so it had to be a helmet cam, and my preference was for something light and simple. The Road Hawk "bullet" cam weighed less than two ounces, and came with a variety of fittings - any one of which I could have used. The sticky pads supplied were the highly-rated 3M pads, and were simple to attach, although here, a word of caution is necessary.
Common sense tells you that the surfaces should be clean and dry before fixing. I made certain that this was done, and fixed the mount as per directions. Four months later, I made a short town trip of less than a mile, and a top speed of about 30mph. Back home, I took the helmet off and set it on a chair. A day or two later, I went to put the helmet on and saw that the camera was not there! Indeed, it had fallen off the helmet in the interim. When I inspected it closely, I saw that the "sticky" was firmly "welded" to the helmet, but had come off its rubber pad, and that was not good! Good fortune prevailed inasmuch as the mounting had come off whilst the helmet was sitting quietly on its chair. How different it would have been had I been riding? It would have been£150 straight down the drain!
I contacted the company, but they chose to make no comment! In fairness to them, their handbook does suggest using a security chain. Since many helmet cams are much, much heavier, my cautionary advice if you purchase a cam for the helmet is to do exactly that - fix a security chain twixt mount and helmet; that way, should the cam come off, at least you're less likely to lose it.
To make matters worse, I replaced the pad with a new one, left it for six hours, then went off on a 60-mile return journey in some misty and damp conditions. Back home, I sat down to get on with some work, heard something fall to floor, and yes, once again the pad had come away clean! My only conclusion is that the pads - my batch at least - were not fit for purpose.
So, my cautionary note is:
"Do not put too much faith into sticky pads for cameras or sat-navs!"
A Very Useful Fixing Alternative
Most of us are probably aware that many adhesives, paints and stickers are not generally recommended by helmet manufacturers, but I required a solution to my problem, and I had it in my little box of tricks! I've been a modeller of miniature military figures for a great many years, and one of the most useful products I've used throughout, is an epoxy putty that comes in two sticks. You simply take a roughly equal piece of each and knead them together until the colour is even. At this stage, it is extremely tacky and pliable, but over a period of about 10-15 minutes changes to very soft and pliable "rubber," then more-solid rubber, then finally to stone hard.
During the first two stages, you can do virtually anything with it, and it will stick to any surface. It can also be trimmed with a sharp knife if necessary. The hard rubber stage is best left alone, but in the final stage, it can be tapped, drilled, sanded, pared and painted.
I mixed a small amount, rolled it into a long "snake" and pressed it all along the edge of the camera mount, then pressed it hard onto my helmet. Because it had long gone past its shelf-life, it had lost it's initial tackiness; nevertheless, it stuck fast to both surfaces, and I could trim it straight away. A little bit of smoothing with a wet blade, and it was done. It wasn't absolutely necessary, but I left it overnight to harden completely. The result? It's a solid fit, almost part of the helmet, and would need a hammer and chisel to free it - and certainly damage the helmet in the process!
If you need the name of the putty and where to buy it, just get in touch via our contact page.
Here in Wales 2, three different cameras are used by members; one has a Go-Pro, one has a Drift, and I have the Road Hawk Ride. Each one has its own merits, but all of them do provide that essential evidence if and when it should be needed.
The best advice I (as the author of this) can give, is to make that investment. Base it on your own requirements and budget, but do it before you become involved in one more statistic!
Note: If you have any comment to make on your bike cam, please send it to me for inclusion in our site. Alternatively, place it into our Forum or through our contact page.
It's not that many moons ago when the "must have" item for drivers and bikers was the sat-nav.
Today, when road traffic incidents are on the increase, arguably the best piece of equipment to own has to be the camera, especially for bikers and cyclists. Insurance companies have already seen the benefits of camera evidence which, more often than not, is indisputable, thus making insurance claims much more reliable than statements alone.
With the range of cameras and camera prices now available, whatever price you pay has to be a
worthwhile investment in the long run, if only for peace of mind. Most bikers will, at some time, have been involved in an accident or near miss through a variety of reasons: stupidity, carelessness or whatever - and it's not always the other driver/rider to blame! Wherever the fault may lie, the camera generally captures it all, so even if the error is our own, we can learn from it, and that on its own can't be a bad thing.
What Camera?
Before purchasing a camera, it is worth first considering what you want from it. Some are quite bulky and heavy, and have loads of different features. Others are extremely simple to use or best suited for helmet use only. The standard resolution is about 720, but they can range from 420 to 1080. Some can be charged via USB while others require a separate charging unit. The variety is extensive. Perhaps you want it mounted on the bike fairing with multi-function and remote control; or maybe you prefer it on the helmet with single-button operation. The choice really is up to you.
My Helmet Cam
The image at the top of this page is my own helmet and cam on which I'd like to make some important comments. For practical and price reasons I chose a Road Hawk Ride cam costing just under £150. My bike is a Suzuki Burgman 650 Executive, and there is nowhere on it that a camera can be fixed easily; so it had to be a helmet cam, and my preference was for something light and simple. The Road Hawk "bullet" cam weighed less than two ounces, and came with a variety of fittings - any one of which I could have used. The sticky pads supplied were the highly-rated 3M pads, and were simple to attach, although here, a word of caution is necessary.
Common sense tells you that the surfaces should be clean and dry before fixing. I made certain that this was done, and fixed the mount as per directions. Four months later, I made a short town trip of less than a mile, and a top speed of about 30mph. Back home, I took the helmet off and set it on a chair. A day or two later, I went to put the helmet on and saw that the camera was not there! Indeed, it had fallen off the helmet in the interim. When I inspected it closely, I saw that the "sticky" was firmly "welded" to the helmet, but had come off its rubber pad, and that was not good! Good fortune prevailed inasmuch as the mounting had come off whilst the helmet was sitting quietly on its chair. How different it would have been had I been riding? It would have been£150 straight down the drain!
I contacted the company, but they chose to make no comment! In fairness to them, their handbook does suggest using a security chain. Since many helmet cams are much, much heavier, my cautionary advice if you purchase a cam for the helmet is to do exactly that - fix a security chain twixt mount and helmet; that way, should the cam come off, at least you're less likely to lose it.
To make matters worse, I replaced the pad with a new one, left it for six hours, then went off on a 60-mile return journey in some misty and damp conditions. Back home, I sat down to get on with some work, heard something fall to floor, and yes, once again the pad had come away clean! My only conclusion is that the pads - my batch at least - were not fit for purpose.
So, my cautionary note is:
"Do not put too much faith into sticky pads for cameras or sat-navs!"
A Very Useful Fixing Alternative
Most of us are probably aware that many adhesives, paints and stickers are not generally recommended by helmet manufacturers, but I required a solution to my problem, and I had it in my little box of tricks! I've been a modeller of miniature military figures for a great many years, and one of the most useful products I've used throughout, is an epoxy putty that comes in two sticks. You simply take a roughly equal piece of each and knead them together until the colour is even. At this stage, it is extremely tacky and pliable, but over a period of about 10-15 minutes changes to very soft and pliable "rubber," then more-solid rubber, then finally to stone hard.
During the first two stages, you can do virtually anything with it, and it will stick to any surface. It can also be trimmed with a sharp knife if necessary. The hard rubber stage is best left alone, but in the final stage, it can be tapped, drilled, sanded, pared and painted.
I mixed a small amount, rolled it into a long "snake" and pressed it all along the edge of the camera mount, then pressed it hard onto my helmet. Because it had long gone past its shelf-life, it had lost it's initial tackiness; nevertheless, it stuck fast to both surfaces, and I could trim it straight away. A little bit of smoothing with a wet blade, and it was done. It wasn't absolutely necessary, but I left it overnight to harden completely. The result? It's a solid fit, almost part of the helmet, and would need a hammer and chisel to free it - and certainly damage the helmet in the process!
If you need the name of the putty and where to buy it, just get in touch via our contact page.
Here in Wales 2, three different cameras are used by members; one has a Go-Pro, one has a Drift, and I have the Road Hawk Ride. Each one has its own merits, but all of them do provide that essential evidence if and when it should be needed.
The best advice I (as the author of this) can give, is to make that investment. Base it on your own requirements and budget, but do it before you become involved in one more statistic!
Note: If you have any comment to make on your bike cam, please send it to me for inclusion in our site. Alternatively, place it into our Forum or through our contact page.
