Mounting a camcorder on a motorcycle

Last year I wondered why I could not mount my camcorder on my bike and enjoy my trips back home on the couch. And so I did. On the web I found various ways of mounting camcorders to motorbikes: in the tankbag, on the filler cap, on the handle bars. I decided to do it my own way: I bent a sheet of alumimium in such a way that I could fix the camcorder using the headlight bracket.

I then had to find something to protect the precious family camcorder against the elements. At the local Halford's I found a carrying bag meant to be strapped to a (pedal) bike's saddle, which fit my camcorder exactly. Cut out a hole in the front for the lens, and took out the whole back to get access to the operating buttons. Then bought a UV-filter to protect the lens and tried to fit everything on the bike.

After a test ride it turned out that the sound was not to good and the camera quite unstable. I now use tie wraps to really fasten the whole bunch and that keeps it steady, even on patchy British roads. I still do not like the sound I get; to much wind noice and the occasional jitter. I bought a microphone and fitted that under the seat, right behind the K&N intake filters. That does not work yet; I think the impedance of the mike does not suit the camera's. I'd like to find out if I can sort this out with an adapter, or that I will just have to buy a new microphone. Any advice would be welcome. I expect the sound from the intakes to be worth the trouble.

It worked fine on two trips so far, although everything that could go wrong did seem to go wrong. Mr Murphy had me thinking I was fully recording the beautiful passes around the Sella mountains, after which I found out that operating the camera with bike gloves makes it necessary to check and double-check if it is indeed running. When I finally managed to avoid that mistake, I ruined one potentially beautiful footage by accidentally leaving the camera in tele angle. You get quite interesting pictures, a bit MTV-like, but not much to really enjoy the ride.

I really like the position of the camera, a bit lower to the ground, directly connected to the steering movements. What also helps is that I selected my camcorder, a Panasonic NV-DS27EG, on being one of the few with a zoom lens that starts at a truely wide angle (28mm equivalent), which boosts the impression of speed and keeps the rider in front in the picture when cornering.

Ideally I would get myself a working external microphone, a 12V adapter to avoid having to rely on the battery, and an easier way to get the camera out for some free shooting or to change the tape.

For some on-bike video footage, see my first experiment in making a video: a 30-minute ride up and down the Passo Giovo (Jaufenpass).