My $6 camera mount

[primal]

Today I stopped by Lowes to buy some parts for a camera mount. You all have probably seen instructions for this mount already, but I figured I'd post a thread detailing how I made it.

First, parts:

1 1" PVC T-joint, threaded (female)
1 1" PVC cap, threaded (male)
1 1/4-20 x 1.5" pan head bolt*
2 1/4" washer**
1 1/4-20 stop nut
1 1/4-20 wing nut*

*The only suitable bolts I could find were located in the "specialty" drawers in packs of 5
**Two difference sizes (see photos)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/th_1.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/?action=view&current=1.jpg)

T joint cut using my bandsaw:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/th_2.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/?action=view&current=2.jpg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/th_3.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/?action=view&current=3.jpg)

Drilling the hole in the cap for the bolt:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/th_4.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/?action=view&current=4.jpg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/th_5.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/?action=view&current=5.jpg)

Put it together:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/th_6.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/?action=view&current=6.jpg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/th_7.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/?action=view&current=7.jpg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/th_8.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/?action=view&current=8.jpg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/th_9.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v104/insignia100/Camera%20mount/?action=view&current=9.jpg)

Once the weather clears up I'm going to cut up an old bicycle innertube to line the inside of the T to hopefully dampen some of the engine vibration. Also, not pictured are the hose clamps I will be using to secure the mount to the handlebars.

If you decide to give this a go, I highly recommend using a generous dollop of grease on the threads of the PVC fittings. They're impossible to tighten down while dry.

Hope this inspires someone to make a mount and start uploading their riding videos! I'll try to post a test video sometime this weekend once the weather clears up.

[patrick_777]

I've seen this mount made on other sites. (here (http://www.knick-knack.com/howto/motorcycle/cheap-handlebar-camera-mount.html) - here (http://caferacersreturn.blogspot.com/2007/05/diy-8-camera-mount.html) - here (http://www.instructables.com/id/5-Motorcycle-Camera-Mount/) - here (http://www.riderforums.com/showpost.php?s=88cb833b1cd8f8124551f03aba7cf297&p=451525&postcount=1) - here (http://www.helmethairblog.com/entries/diy-5dollar-motorcycle-camera-mount/) etc...) The only thing that really bothers me about it is the lack of bushings and vibration resistance. Mounting to the bars will direct the triple-tree vibration right to the camera. Everytime I've mounted my cam to the bars, it's been impossible to control the road vibration making the video almost unusable.

I look forward to see how you get by that on your attempt for this design.

[BusyWeb]

This is a great idea.
And gave me some project idea for my camera.....
Thanks for posting project.
I wonder how it would work.
It might be O.K. with low-speed riding... :) , and that's enough for me.

[Water Warrior 2]

Cool project. Great penny tech idea.

[primal]

Well, here's the first video:

[youtube:14x0y1vf]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4T97Gs96Yk[/youtube:14x0y1vf]

I'm pretty impressed with the camera and the mount. There is waviness in the video, but that's all due to the camera (Kodak Zi6 HD), not the mount. The only bad thing is that the video quality pretty much sucks due to how much processing the video required (the original video was almost 700mb).

Primal,

That's a lot better than I thought it would be, actually. Very cool. I'm too lazy to do it myself (and lack a decent camera), but thanks for sharing both the idea and the video.

Keith

[adrianinflorida]

Great riding roads, Primal.

[RonWhitm]

Second the great roads comment, also that gadget works great, thanks for sharing. Watching was mesmerizing.

[Easy Rider]

Primal,
That's a lot better than I thought it would be, actually.

Yep. Good job.
I would have preferred to hear the engine, road noise, etc.........at least for a shorter clip. Did it record audio too ??

[Water Warrior 2]

Excellant. Nice roads and a great day for a ride. No complaints about video quality, very good overall. Also, your bike seems to ride very smooth with no vibration in the mount. Ya dun good. :rawk: :rawk:

[primal]

Thanks Water Warrior. :)

I've discovered one thing, though. You feel like you're going a lot faster when you're riding the bike than it looks like on the video! The video seems so slow, even though I was averaging about 10 MPH over the speed limit on that road.

[alanmcorcoran]

Looks pretty good to me. Video quality is at least as good as most YouTube.

It kind of serves like one of those golf videos where they analyze your swing. I notice you are more consistently "by the book" when you go to the right with some of the left turns initiated from the left side. (I'm not consistent myself...)

Or maybe just the camera is mounted on the left side?

[adrianinflorida]

Thanks Water Warrior. :)

I've discovered one thing, though. You feel like you're going a lot faster when you're riding the bike than it looks like on the video! The video seems so slow, even though I was averaging about 10 MPH over the speed limit on that road.
You don't have your peripheral vision adding to the sense of speed, it really makes video seem 'slower', and not looking into a turn, but having video follow the bike into the turn adds to that. Now you have to come up with a helmet cam mount. :)

[primal]

Looks pretty good to me. Video quality is at least as good as most YouTube.

It kind of serves like one of those golf videos where they analyze your swing. I notice you are more consistently "by the book" when you go to the right with some of the left turns initiated from the left side. (I'm not consistent myself...)

Or maybe just the camera is mounted on the left side?

Yea, I noticed that. It might be since there was little traffic on the road to make me wary of the left (#1?) lane. I do try to stay in the #1 lane when I can, though.