Motorcycle "Dashcams"

[Pukmeister]

Has anybody fitted, or thought about fitting, a dashcam to their scooter?

I recently decided to fit one to my Tmax to loop record my daily commute, just in case of an accident where it could mean the difference between winning an insurance claim or not. I chose to buy a cheap item from Aliexpress of all places as it was budget but had simultaneous front and rear recording in 1080P to a micro SD card and could be downloaded to a mobile phone app over WiFi. Many brands are available but a lot are plugged by "influencers" and seem to have greatly inflated prices.

The item I bought is a VSYSTO D6WL waterproof unit and cost me £64 inc taxes and delivery and it arrived in five days. Fitting it underseat was a breeze, all done in about and hour and a half with simple snap together plugs plus a 12V fused feed and a switched 12v signal wire to trigger it on/off.



https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006 ... ry_from%3A

I noticed the same cameras are being resold on Amazon for around £95 or more, unless you have a damn good reason to throw your money away I would buy direct on Aliexpress instead.

The footage is excellent, its so good I have just bought and received another unit to fit to my BMW GSA. For the relatively low cost it seems like a good investment in case of an accident/incident.

[Waldorf]

That looks good!
I've given the subject a great deal of thought since I was 'attacked' by an SUV whilst riding the NIU. I bibbed the horn, guessing that he was completely unaware of my presence, whereupon he brake-checked me, allowed me to pull alongside to overtake then speeded up, allowed me to overtake then tail-gated me - all several times.
He'd wound his window down, as had his passenger, to abuse me.
Finally, I got alongside and called across, pointing to my body-cam (which wasn't switched on) and told him I'd got it all on camera and would send it to the police.
At that point, he slowed down, letting me get ahead, causing me no further trouble.
I was quite shaken.
Last week I had a run-in with a bint in a white BMW but I won't bore you with the details.
I have a 'Smile, you're on dash cam' sticker on the back of the Berlingo. It does seem to work.
I've ordered one for each of the bikes; perhaps I should actually buy and fit cams.

https://rb.gy/pfbwjm

[StephenC]

I have an app on my phone called Autoboy which activates when it connects to the car's Bluetooth. But I don't have a mount suitable for the scoot with which to use it (and also no Bluetooth to automatically activate it). Probably should sort that out.

[Waldorf]

That sounds good.
I plan to make brackets which will slide in between topbox and rack; I don't take off the boxes. (That's the theory, anyway).

[Pukmeister]

Waldorf,
the kit I bought is well worth the money its honestly a bit of a no-brainer to fit one. I've had a couple of non-fault motorcycle accidents in the past and had a legal battle in 2005 (which I won in court) so I wish I'd had a dashcam for that, I believe with video evidence available it wouldn't even have got to court. A day in court defending yourself is not a pleasant experience I can assure you.

The camera kit is amazingly well made, how they can sell it so cheaply is beyond me. The camera brackets supplied attach with 3M adhesive pads and stick like sh1t to a bears fur, or you can screw them on. The system can also take still images, via a press of the button on the remote control box (handlebar remote) and it has a G-sensor that will record if your bike is knocked (adjustable sensitivity in the app). Video records on a loop of 1/3/5 minutes as set in the app.

The phone app is a free download from the app store and simple to use. I soon realised that the front and rear video footage is stored in separate folders on the SD card so you have to browse to each folder for the front/rear video files respectively then upload to your phone, I initially thought I had a dud camera or wiring but it was just me failing to RTFM. There is a live video mode to stream live video directly to your phone when installing the cameras and adjusting them for horizontal. There is also a short USB power lead so you can set up and test all the kit indoors prior to fitting it to the bike. All in all, its a great setup.

Thanks for the link to the sticker, I need to get one stuck on my topbox for the tailgaters, I just ordered myself one.

[mottza]

I tend to have my gopro fitted on my bike and should use my old one on the rear.

[Waldorf]

Pukmeister, thank you very much for the comprehensive information; these days, I need it!
I've bookmarked the link you posted; I'm not at home at the moment but will act on it as soon as I am.

The stickers I bought aren't the cheapest but are bright and clearly visible so worth the extra, I think.

Mike

[Andym]

Going to give the autoboy app a go. Thanks for posting. My phone mount will let the camera see something.

I have a helmet cam built into my bluetooth but rarely use it. No one wants to watch you epic production of "Three laps of the M-25 on a Tuesday", it's not going to win an Oscar!

The reaction of road rage idiots to cameras can go either way. Either they back off or want to fight you for the card. I try to simply get away from them. I'd avoid interaction along the lines of "I recorded you and will grass".

I only ride for pleasure and try to avoid the worst places you'd need a camera. The bike mounted set up looks good for commuters though. If Honda started fitting one OE, no Chinese tech to fail over the winter certainly I'd be interested. I bet they won't because privacy laws vary.

Andy

[Pukmeister]

Andy, to be fair these bike dashcams have been around for a fair few years and are pretty simple and robust so not much to worry about over "Chinese tech failures".

Sadly I can't find a way upload pictures from my laptop or tapatalk on my iphone otherwise I'd show some install pictures of the unit under my riders seat along with some sample footage. As I said earlier, the unit I bought for £64 was the better waterproof version (D6WL) so under seat is a great place to fit them on a scooter for weather protection with ease of access to the SD card slot if needed, I only had to drill a 20mm diameter hole in side of the helmet/storage tub and then all the wires ran easily inside the bodywork, cable tied to the chassis so a very quick, easy and neat install job.

Agreed that the camera is not fitted to get into altercations and grass people up vigilante style, its just in case the worst should happen or that someone deliberately tries to run me off the road (its happened to me before).

[John A]

The item I bought is a VSYSTO D6WL waterproof unit and cost me £64 inc taxes and delivery and it arrived in five days. Fitting it underseat was a breeze, all done in about and hour and a half with simple snap together plugs plus a 12V fused feed and a switched 12v signal wire to trigger it on/off.

Did you fit the camera under the seat? Seems illogical to me, or else I'm confusing myself!