Went out on a rideout with a pal today and noticed his front and rear cameras, unfortunately he couldn't show me any footage as he's not worked out how to view yet! Anyways got me thinking that would quite like some on my blade, bit of insurance against numpties, good deterrent and for the days that I feel like I'm riding like rossi (the ice cream not the doctor!) or travelling through some picturesque road somewhere, be nice to have some footage. So system my pal has is the innovv k2 - looks really neat and gets great writeups, but saw the price on amazon @ £289!! Don't mind paying if its good - anyone with experience of the system that knows how to use it? Good points, bad points? Anyone recommend another system? Cheers
I made a passing comment to my wife a few years ago that I might consider filming some rides etc. The following month it was my birthday and she bought me a fake copy of a GoPro by surprise. It works fine and is a fraction of the cost. Have to say I wish she hadn't listened to me, used it twice then didn't bother again. Just realised.... A) Why would I want to sit at home after a ride and watch all of it/some of it again. B) Why would I want to show it to anyone/why would anyone else want to watch it. C) Why would I want to incriminate myself if I got pulled over. Yea it wasn't for me. Its been in a cupboard drawer for the past 4 years.
On bike camera footage is good if something interesting happens or something is worth seeing. But usually it doesn’t/isn’t. It can however make you drive a bit more sensibly. If that’s what you want. I have a GoPro camera and use it occasionally. Sometimes the footage is good but most of the time it’s a bit boring.
I've got a GoPro (Hero 5 black, I think). I commute into Central London weekdays and it's really noticeable how car drivers react when they see the camera perched on my lid. They tend to ditch their mobile when I pull alongside too. (And no, I haven't got a fake Police bib!) The footage is sometimes boring, sometimes funny. I had some chap inadvertently squeezing me into another vehicle, ended up leaning on him & had his door mirror in my armpit before he realised I was there. I kept the footage & reported it, just incase I'd damaged his car & he reports I've left the scene. Heard nowt since. The playback is excellent, with reg plates clearly visible. Not so good when the lens is wet though. The battery lasts for just over an hour (I carry two) & a 32gb card holds 2 hours of 60fps footage. It's very easy, if quite slow, to transfer all or some of the footage to a memory stick to keep. I'm sure you can edit out bits you don't want to be seen, but I haven't bothered learning that. I've got into my routine of deleting the memory when I get to work & the same when I arrive home - as long as there were no 'events'. If there were, I transfer that section to a memory stick in case it's needed later. The camera records in sections of about 4gb each. I'd very much recommend one.
Guess it's one of those things that could come in handy, but most of the time doesn't get used - bit like insurance really! At least with this if some idiot tries to play the blame game the evidence is there - but can the footage be used in a case? Might be the camera is a novelty that soon gets forgotten about unless something 'interesting' happens - hence why one that's permanently wired in and always on takes away some of the burden (at a cost!)
I purchased a tom tom bandit pro and use it with a yoke mount. Initially purchased it for my NC500 trip and still use it on rides out. On the off chance I need it should the worst happen!
Permanently wired cameras are less hassle, especially charging, but you lose the advantage of an overt camera as a deterrent. Wired-in ones have to be tucked away, unless you want to remove them when you leave the bike anywhere. Might as well have a helmet cam. I've got a stick-on mount on one helmet and a chin mount on the other. Both work well and have the advantage of filming what you look at, instead of just front/back.
I can see the advantage for those of you who commute and for touring to film trips away. I had a cheap one a few years ago - set it up on the back of the bike to face rearwards. It was nice looking at the footage taken in the rain - you could see the line the tyre drew on the wet road and your line around corners, how close to the white line - the spray, and to look at the faces of the people in the cars that were being overtaken. Other than that, never used it !
I have a cheap chinese set fixed on the bike filming (front + rear) every time I ride + the GoPro on the chin. Quality of the chinese set is trash, but is good enough for the purpose I want. I don't really use it to watch footage after my rides, I use it primarily to have proof if something goes wrong and it's not my fault.
just one thing to consider but Im sure this does not apply to anyone here If you get pulled over for a minor speeding offence that would normally be 3 points and a fine, you could end up getting a ban if they decided to review the footage - they could go through all the recordings and calculate all the speeds from the last x days (depending on how big the memory card is). You only need 4 minor speeding offences to get a ban.
Absolutely. One major benefit if the Innovv is that it is discrete so you're less likely to get stitched up
I don’t think they have the power to do that (Footage thing) I watched a video of the White Dalton solicitor on 44 teeth who was explaining this sort of thing
All they need is good reason to believe that it contains evidence of an offence. The fact they have pulled you is enough for them to take the evidence which could reveal other crimes..... Why take the chance.
No there’s something in PACE about them not being able to take a helmet camera because it’s deemed not to be part of the vehicle. I can’t remember it exactly.
https://www.whitedalton.co.uk/motorbike-blog/2016/02/the-camera-never-lies-2/ This is it. It is full of conjecture to be honest. The killer is "Section 19 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act gives a general power of seizure where the Constable has reasonable grounds for believing it is necessary to see something, in this case, an SD card, in order to prevent evidence being concealed, lost, damaged or destroyed.". So if they stop you, there's a very good chance they could seize your evidence if they feel it appropriate and there is nothing you can do about it.
People walking around and have a detail look at my bike and never saw the front cam at all. Only a few asked me about the rear camera. There is no easy access to the micro SD card on my bike. Everything is hidden and you have to know where it is to find it. The camera is much smaller in real than on the pictures.
I use them on track days for a bit of fun but I wouldn't want to go on a ride on the road with anyone running cameras. I think mine is a Hero 2 which works ok... I think the newer ones fix the shakes better.
