Recording Your Ride (Without Going Broke)

Nice action cameras are small, easily lost, and expensive. While recording video in 2016 is probably easier than ever, getting the video you want while on the back of Harely is still a challenge; though, not quite as difficult as it was in the 90’s when folks made due with carrying Hi8 camcorders around their necks. Dropping $400 on a fiddly device is a hard call to make. Especially, when the problems of wind noise rear their head. Or when you want multiple angles.

So what’s a cheapskate responsible and frugal rider to do?

Strap Your Phone to Your Chest

Truth is the best camera in the world is the one you have on you. Smartphones in general have decent video capture while some (like the iPhone 5-7) are outright excellent. Strapping it your chest like some sort of V-Twin loving Iron Man is not the worst idea. There are harnesses all over the web, typically ranging from $30 to $50, that strap to an adjustable holster.  Going the DIY route works too if you don’t mind tweaking the harness until it’s right. This guy put together a makeshift mount with half a card box and nylon backpack straps. Another built an impressive bit of kit with harbinger hooks and rubber straps:

Put a Camera on Your Head

Essentially, this is the equivalent of the dash cam for a car. Mounting a camera to handle bars tends to result in video with a noticeable wobble (a.k.a. the “jello” effect) due to the fact the Harley’s vibrate. A lot. Strapping the thing to your chest remedies that somewhat, but it’s difficult to know what you’re shooting without having a viewfinder. Camera glasses fix that by using your natural viewfinders. They can be had cheaply, but the quality of the video, storage capacity, comfort, ugliness, et cetera, all tend to scale with price. Go Vision is a brand that at least one user on the forum has experience with, and they can be had for less than the cost of a GoPro.

Buy an Inexpensive One (or Two)

“Cheap” in this case meaning inexpensive. Folks in the forums are fans of the SJCAM and DBPOWER for their low prices. It’s also worth mentioning that both of these cameras are typically bundled with a variety of mounts and clips. If phrases like “image stabilization” and “noise cancelling” are utterly unimportant to you, then this is probably a good route to go. People who lose things constantly might also find this appealing as might those people want multiple camera angles. Ultimately the appeal of low-price action cams is that they’re disposable AND adequate.

Raider Bill used a DBPower unit attached to his helmet to get the video above. You hear some wind noise, but the video quality is good. These cameras have no image stabilization though, and honestly, most action cams don’t. Youtube does an okay job, but it’s really a matter of preference.

Get a Standalone Microphone

The reality is that camera microphones typically perform poorly on cars and motorcycles. That’s not due to the microphones themselves, but because moving at 40+ mph creates a lot of wind. If you want a video without a soundtrack penned by Rush (of wind), drop a few dollars for an external mic that connects to the device you’re using.

Of course, this requires a bit of planning. Most action cameras have a mini or micro-USB port. Microphones that connect to either format can be had for as little as $8. These mics usually come with a little clip so you can attach them to a significantly less windy place on your person. If that’s not an option, you’ll have to use a completely separate microphone and edit the two tracks together.

Pro Tip: To make matching the soundtrack and video easier, turn on both and clap before starting your ride. Later, in whatever video editing program you’re using, sync the clap from the video to the clap on the microphone. Easy-peasy.

Got a tips of your own? Join the conversation in the forums! >>