Crash helmet cam

Johnmcl7

missile wrote: »

I would suggest you avoid fitting to your helmet.

Michael Schumacher's brain injury was caused by the mount for his Go Pro penetrating through his helmet and into his skull

No they weren't - this was a rumour created by a journalist with no medical information and which he eventually retracted after being sued by GoPro where it turned out he'd made it up himself. In various separate tests by different manufacturers, official GoPro mounts were found to break correctly in an impact although some unofficial ones may not. The one helmet camera mount which could make a head injury worse was was when it was placed in a 'selfie' position hanging over the front of the helmet pointing at the user, in a crash the camera could go into the person's face.

OP - it's really a question of budget, there's plenty of adhesive mounts that will fit a motorcycle helmet without issue. The cheap SJ4000's are similar to GoPros and offer a £50, the Drift cameras start at around £100 and are a cylindrical shape which is more suitable for motorcycle helmets. At around £150 GoPro have the tiny cube shaped Session although batterylife isn't that long and you can't change the battery.

John

Johnmcl7

Richard53 wrote: »

Regardless of Mr Schumacher, helmet manufacturers are very careful to design the helmets NOT to catch on irregularities, as the head rotation caused when a helmet picks up on something is a major cause of brain injury. My Shoei helmets both have flimsy plastic vents for this very reason - they will break and fly off in an impact, rather than digging into the road surface and spinning your brain within your skull like a top.


I would have thought sticking a hard plastic mount (and the adhesives are very good; they have to be) to a prominent point on the surface was the last thing you would do.

The camera mounts are designed to work in exactly the same way - in testing they correctly broke away under the impact although cheaper, non-official ones may not break in the same manner.

John

Richard53

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

The camera mounts are designed to work in exactly the same way - in testing they correctly broke away under the impact although cheaper, non-official ones may not break in the same manner.

John

I'm sure you are right. However, the mount would need to break off at the adhesive/helmet level, otherwise there is still a projection left, albeit a smaller one. In my experience, once those adhesive pads are in place, they are the last thing to break, and often need heat and a solvent to move them. Anything, even a little stub, projecting from the helmet surface is a bad thing, in my view. But if the makers say it is safe, who am I to argue?

Moto2

Helmet cams are fine other than having to charge it all the time or connect the power lead each time you get on the bike. There's no modification to the helmet needed so no threat to it's integrity.

Something mounted on the bike near the headlamp or mirror stalk and hard wired to a switched live would be more preferable.
The Innovv C3 or K1 are a good solution, hard wired and fitted with capacitors rather than batteries.
This is the C3 camera head mounted on one of my bikes

consumers_revenge

Im ordering one for the handle bars, can you just wire to a switched live or do you have to do anything fancy?


Cheers.

forgotmyname

Switched live is fine as long as you remember to remove the cam or switch it off.

Although they draw small amounts of power so shouldnt drain the battery too much if left on for a few hours by mistake.

Moto2

forgotmyname wrote: »

Switched live is fine as long as you remember to remove the cam or switch it off.

Although they draw small amounts of power so shouldnt drain the battery too much if left on for a few hours by mistake.

By switched live, I mean it powers up with the ignition switch

Richard53

Moto2 wrote: »

There's no modification to the helmet needed so no threat to it's integrity.

Most helmet manufacturers advise against putting stickers etc on their helmets as the adhesive can react with the material to weaken the helmet over time.

Kalamazoo

Not really much point in mounting on the handlebars for accident recording purposes imo. You generally look towards the threat, so would be better placed on your helmet for that purpose. The only incidents you'll catch this way are ones that happen directly in front of you.

Moto2

Richard53 wrote: »

Most helmet manufacturers advise against putting stickers etc on their helmets as the adhesive can react with the material to weaken the helmet over time.

You know, very reputable companies like Sena and Scala and Go Pro make equipment that sticks to the side of helmets. some of these even get fitted at the bike shops at the time of purchase
I'm sure there are some adhesives that may harm a plastic helmet (can't see it happening on Kevlar or fibreglass though) so a blanket don't put stuff on the helmet warning may well be issued.
Although there's nothing in either my Schuberth or Shark books about this.
The Shark one also gets a new sticker put on it at every race meeting, maybe someone should warn the ACU scrutineers?

OH, and in France you're required to put reflective stickers on your helmet