I know a few of you here have Go Pro HD cameras and use them with your rides... my friend got one today so we tested it out on our bikes. I had a little bit of trouble getting the suction cup to mount to my gas tank but eventually it stayed. I rode for about 20 minutes or so, all different speeds, then as I was heading down a steep hill the mount lost suction and fell off the gas tank.

Luckily I heard it fall and caught it next to my handle bars. Has anyone had this issue? Is there anything I can do to make sure it's really going to stay there? I've heard nothing but great things about this suction mount, I wonder if I was doing something wrong. I saw a video of it attached to a freaking helicopter for f's sake. I swear it was not going anywhere when I took off.

 

I got the standard Go pro in may. I used the the suction cup mount on top of my moto cross helmet. It stayed on through all the jumping, crashing and even hit a low branch. The suction mount works great!

 

Sorry about your camera.

Those little cameras are solid but the mounts are the weak link. Thankfully, b/f I got one, I read that the best thing to do is to affix a safety wire/line to the camera...such that, if the mount fails, you'll retain the camera til you can stop & secure it.

They recommend that when using the suction cups, that you clean the area thoroughly, such that the cups will retain proper seal. However, I've still read stories of it still happening. Best you can do is mount it the best you can & safety-wire/line it.

I've seen some guys that have made their own little mounts that attach to the subframe, etc. Sorry don't have any specific links but just wanted to pass on the info.

 

Safety line, yeah, we would have thought about that if we knew what we were getting into. He literally took the camera out of its box and we went on our merry way. Attaching it to a helmet is probably much more secure because there's an even surface to mount to. Thanks for the tip!

Well, here's the video of my ride, at the end you can see the camera get loose and fall. It looks like the camera was sick of life and wanted to kill itself. :P

This was my first time on these roads and my first time in any kind of twisty road area, so I am taking it real easy. We started off in Snoqualmie (Washington) and ended up in Sammamish. I live in the area but surprisingly I've never been on those roads. Beautiful Washington summer day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytVQ1_70JkM&hd=1

 

I can't believe you caught it. Good reflexes

 

Heh what no wheelies?

Nice vid. Something my Droid's car mount taught me: try cleaning both the surface and the suction cup with alcohol and set the mount while both are still wet. The alcohol will evaporate, drawing the suction cup tighter to the surface.

I went to go pull it out of my work truck to give to my girlfriend and it wouldn't budge till I hit the release. Prior to the alcohol, I'd shake it loose at least twice a week.

 

Thanks for the tip Kuroshio, we'll try that too. The camera is super fun to play with, I can't wait to go on more rides with it.

And I only do wheelies at night in the shadows like a ninja.

 

Sounds like you are not mounting it correctly. if you do it right the thing will almost Break off before the suction cup fails.