Negatives of mounting front Camera behind windshield?

[askitee]

Santa brought me a dual camera system https://www.thinkware.com/Products/Dashcam/M1 . Rear camera was very easy to mount, but the front has me stumped.

I am looking at mounting it behind the front windshield, but wonder if that has consequences like

• too blurry in rain,
• reflected light during night riding,
• contending with bug gizzards obstructing the view,
• dust buildup behind and in front of the windshield,
• Windshield shake affecting the image quality,

Plan B is to make a bracket and mount it just beneath the front windshield.
Plan C is to mount it on the mirror and notch the casing of the mirror to accommodate the cable (8mm in dia).

Any input is appreciated

 

[EdMat]

Interesting choice, had not seen that one before. Nice to see more options one the market.

I debated mounting behind the windshield, but came up with the negatives that you did.

I just built a small bracket to mount my front Innovv camera. I think it was the best decision and has caused no concern in 20,000 miles.

 

[EdMat]

Maybe one day i will learn how to post a picture correctly. :banghead:

 

[Snoking1127]

Maybe one day i will learn how to post a picture correctly. :banghead:

Take photo's in landscape mode. Or edit them to be wider than height.

Edit example. I down loaded your photo and open it in Microscoft "Picture It", rotated it correctly and then cropped it. Chris

 

[Lynn8964]

Just visited the Thinkware site. Could not find any information related to how weatherproof their products are. I would expect the rear to be as they are normally mounted outside, but most front dash cams are designed to be mounted inside a vehicle. Is that information included with any of your paperwork?

 

[RayBJ]

I mounted my Garmin Virb in front of screen using 3M 2-sided tape on the lower cowl. Virb is controlled via the Zumo GPS.

 

[Snoking1127]

Interesting choice, had not seen that one before. Nice to see more options one the market.

I debated mounting behind the windshield, but came up with the negatives that you did.

I just built a small bracket to mount my front Innovv camera. I think it was the best decision and has caused no concern in 20,000 miles.

BTW, we got a Spyder RT that color for Christmas.

 

[EdMat]

Take photo's in landscape mode. Or edit them to be wider than height.

Edit example. I down loaded your photo and open it in Microscoft "Picture It", rotated it correctly and then cropped it. Chris

That's basically what I did to the two that are oriented correctly. My comment was more directed to the fact I was unable to delete the two incorrect pics.

 

[Snoking1127]

That's basically what I did to the two that are oriented correctly. My comment was more directed to the fact I was unable to delete the two incorrect pics.

Go to edit, go advanced, manage attachments and scroll down and you can delete attached photo's individually. Chirs

 

[EdMat]

Go to edit, go advanced, manage attachments and scroll down and you can delete attached photo's individually. Chirs

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

Now if my pea brain will just remember that tip next time it happens. Previous post pics now corrected. :2thumbs:

 

[Bfromla]

Just visited the Thinkware site. Could not find any information related to how weatherproof their products are. I would expect the rear to be as they are normally mounted outside, but most front dash cams are designed to be mounted inside a vehicle. Is that information included with any of your paperwork?

Wondered same thing did some digging they have one under Motorsport : M1 better suited & some other features :thumbup:
https://us.thinkware.com/m1/

 

[askitee]

Interesting choice, had not seen that one before. Nice to see more options one the market.

I debated mounting behind the windshield, but came up with the negatives that you did.

I just built a small bracket to mount my front Innovv camera. I think it was the best decision and has caused no concern in 20,000 miles.

Very tidy effort there.

 

[askitee]

Just visited the Thinkware site. Could not find any information related to how weatherproof their products are. I would expect the rear to be as they are normally mounted outside, but most front dash cams are designed to be mounted inside a vehicle. Is that information included with any of your paperwork?

Yes the M1 is what they refer to as an ATV camera suitable for outdoor recreation vehicles.

 

[tofriendscreek]

Santa brought me a dual camera system https://www.thinkware.com/Products/Dashcam/M1 . Rear camera was very easy to mount, but the front has me stumped.

I am looking at mounting it behind the front windshield, but wonder if that has consequences like

• too blurry in rain,
• reflected light during night riding,
• contending with bug gizzards obstructing the view,
• dust buildup behind and in front of the windshield,
• Windshield shake affecting the image quality,

.....

I have my GoPro mounted behind the windshield in the center of the dash. Seems to me most of the negatives listed are just as negative if the camera is mounted out in the open. I’ve never experienced problems with reflected light. My windshield doesn’t shake.

 

[Piratezz]

My two cents, if i had the desire to put a camera on my spyder, I would mount it, behind the radiatorgrille, only downside I can think of, is that the camera would sit to low. Last summer I saw a ducati driver, with a camera on it's helmet.

 

[ThreeWheels]

There's nothing wrong with mounting your camera behind the windshield.
You may find, however, that you'll get better pictures if you mount your camera as high as possible.
I had a camera mounted behind the windshield, another one on the left mirror.
Now I mount my camera to my helmet. I find I get more interesting photos since I can turn my head and photograph views on one side or the other.
Before that. all my photos seemed to look like a double yellow line.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

There's nothing wrong with mounting your camera behind the windshield.
You may find, however, that you'll get better pictures if you mount your camera as high as possible.

:agree: When I used my GoPro a few years ago to record some of my rides. I had the camera mounted just above the headlights on a rotating mount so I could catch videos of the scenery along the road. What I ended up with was a majority of the videos showing the boring road straight ahead, or the scenery in the top half of the frame. The lower half of the frame showed a good view of concrete barriers or guardrails.

The best setup is what Pierre (SpyderTV.net) uses, or what Martin the Vlogger (https://www.martinthevlogger.com/) has. Both are pedestal mounted up high behind the driver. They're up high and can pan the scenery. You'll have to search their stuff to find images showing the mounts.

 

[spyder01]

Ive got a Sena 10c on my helmet and when the windshield is fully up sometimes the camera is looking thru the shield and there is no problem at all.Even when the shield is a little dirty it still doesnt make much difference.

 

[Flamewinger]

Behind the windshield is just as good as in front.

"too blurry in rain," It will be too blurry in front of as well as behind the shield.
"reflected light during night riding," Depends on the camera.
"contending with bug gizzards obstructing the view," Bugs can hit the camera just as easily as the shindshield.
"dust buildup behind and in front of the windshield," Whether in front of or behind, dust gets everywhere.
"Windshield shake affecting the image quality," What shake? My windshield doesn't shake.

 

[askitee]

Thanks for all the responses.

I ended up going the same way as EdMat, though my cameras aren't as discreet as his.