April,
2002 - About 20 years ago, I strapped on a helmet cam and
took a lap around a motocross course for a local TV station. The
thing was about the size of a loaf of bread and weighed about
eight pounds. Plus, I had to carry another six pounds of batteries
and hardware in a belt-pack.
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| Roger
Blaine (of Action Sports Cam) drilled two holes in the
visor and used a pair of small bolts to attach the camera
support bracket. This is the preferred mounting method, as
adhesives are just not strong and secure enough. |
For a half
lap, the helmet cam didn't bother me much, even though I was sure
aware of the big lump strapped to the side of my helmet. It was
when I launched off the biggest jump on the track and hit the
landing that the side effects of the helmet cam became instantly
known.
Figure that
camera weighed about eight pounds, and when I landed from the jump
on flat ground, I'm sure I pulled two "Gs" worth of
impact. That meant … for a fraction of a second … the helmet
cam weighed over 20 pounds.
My neck got
badly tweaked to the side and the helmet camera whacked on the top
the shoulder caps of my chest protector. I wobbled off the track
like a wounded duck and nearly crashed my brains out.
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| Completed
setup is unobtrusive. Single wire leading from camera must
be taped down to keep from flopping in the wind. |
I rode the
last part of the track rather slowly and when I got back to the
pits, had the TV people take the blasted thing off. For most of
the next week, I had a badly strained neck and a headache.
The video?
It was OK, at best. However, there was a lot of shuddering and it
seemed like every bump and rut was transferred right to the lens.
It was really hard to see what I was really going over, as the
immediate horizon shook and vibrated badly. When I hit a big bump
or rut, the tape skipped badly, or froze for a moment.
I watched
the tape a few times, and then lost interest in it. But right now,
I wish I had that crude old video tape.
 |
| Our
helmet - ready to aim. |
Why? So I
could compare it to what I experienced during the Desert Vipers
Grand Prix!
At that
event, I had the opportunity to test one of the new Action Sports
Cams during my race. Good friend, C.H. Wheat (owner of IMS) asked
me to evaluate this new helmet camera for him, and I did it
reluctantly, recalling my sore neck episode from long ago.
However, I
was pleasantly surprised to find out that the new camera (which is
full color and soundweighed in at a feathery 2 ½ ounces. It
attaches to your visor and hooks up to a small digital camcorder
that you carry in a fanny pack. The camcorder we used was a Sony
about the size of a thick paperback book.
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| The
small mini cam (not included) can be carried easily in a
fanny pack. Make sure you stuff some foam or cloth in
there to keep the camera from flopping around. |
Helping me
with the setup, was the designer of the new camera system, Roger
Blaine. Roger quickly attached the tiny camera to the front of the
visor with a pair of tiny bolts after drilling some holes. The
single wire from the camera got taped down so wind wouldn't flap
it around at higher speeds.
Aiming the
camera was easy: After getting hooked up, Roger turned the video
camera on and had me sit on my bike in the normal riding/racing
position. He then asked to stare at an object about 30 feet away.
Then he had me look at another far away. After a half dozen
sightings, with Roger looking at the viewfinder and me aiming my
head, he figured we were in the ballpark.
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| After
zipping up the pack, only one wire with a simple click-in
connection remains. |
I then rode
the bike around a bit, got out in the open desert and made a few
high speed passes down a dirt road, and headed back to the pits.
Roger made a small adjustment downward on the camera, as most
riders tend to lower their head position as they go faster. I took
one more small ride to check it out, and Roger pronounced it
spot-on.
My race was
Sunday at 10:15 and with all the typical pre-race jitters and
excitement, I actually forgot I had the Action Sports Cam on. The
start was via dead-engine on the paved streets of the town of
Adelanto, a pleasant community in the SoCal high-desert.
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| Roger
hooked everything up; your editor chose to carry the fanny
pack on the hip instead of the back, just in case he
experienced yet another awkward crash. |
Since 50,000
fans showed up that weekend to watch the racing, I figured I
better at least get a decent start before my rather old and crusty
body started to protest.
My KDX 200 lit off instantly, and I was able to lurch from the
fourth row to the first row quickly. As we ran down the long paved
start straight, I was amazed that none of the other bikes pulled
the little 200.
Actually, I
shouldn't have been surprised.
You see, the
day before the event, I looked up Larry Roeseler (yeah, that LR!)
and asked him if Kawasaki had any tall gearing for my KDX. The way
I had it, the bike peaked out at 80 mph.
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| Aiming
the camera was simple: I stared at an object in the
distance while sitting on the bike in the normal
riding/racing position, told Roger what I was looking at,
and he checked the image location in the viewfinder of the
camcorder. It only took a few minor adjustments to get the
Action Sports Cam aimed spot on. |
Larry turned
me over to the nice folks from Team Green and they managed to
scrounge up a custom made 14 tooth countershaft sprocket. This was
especially nice, in that the largest c/s sprocket offered by
Kawasaki dealers was 12 teeth!
Larry looked
me straight in the nose (my nose is on the large side, you see)
and said: "You will have the fastest KDX 200 on the planet
with this gearing and your small rear sprocket!"
He was
dead-on right, so I figured from that moment on, never to doubt a
ten-time Baja 1000 winner.
My little
200 pulled like it was on steroids and passed a whole bunch of
Open Class bikes on the many fast straights during that event.
Heck, it even had more top end than a 520 KTM 6-speed, which
surprised the heck out of that guy as it eased by in top gear.
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| Before
the race, I latched on to some serious gearing for the KDX
200. Chris Real (of Torco oil fame) was helping racers at
the GP with their machines, and changed the countershaft
sprocket for us. Nice guy - good oil! |
Anyway, I
enjoyed that truly great one-hour Grand Prix, even though my tired
old knees were hurting at the end. I think I got 2nd in my class
and as much fun as it's possible to have with your clothes on.
It wasn't
until I idled back to the pits that I remembered the helmet
camera! That's right … I never even noticed it during the race;
forgot completely about that sucker.
Anyway,
after I spent a few minutes of dry heaves and spitting out lumps
of dust, Roger had the video from the ride hooked up to a TV and
turned it on.
I was
astonished!!!
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| Once
under way, I actually forgot I had the Action Sports Cam
on. |
The run down
the start pavement section looked like it had been shot by a
professional movie crew! With the mild wide angle lens, the camera
was able to take in a large cross section of the action.
It was wild
watching the bikes dart all over place, and even wilder when I
realized that it was me in the race! Honestly, my dirt biking
friends, I never realized just how crazy our sport is until I was
able to look at it on tape.
Anyway, I
still had a lot of work to do for Off-Road.com (photos,
announcing, finding some free beer, etc.) and Roger made a copy of
the entire tape for me to review later on.
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| Due
to the tall gearing (Thanks to Larry Roeseler from
Kawasaki) the KDX was able to pass many larger bikes
during the race and allow the editor to snare a solid
second place in the Old Geeks Class. The memories of that
race can now be enjoyed over and over again, thanks to the
Action Sport Cam. |
That night
when I got home, I popped the video in the VCR and watched it on
my big-screen TV. It virtually blew me away! The quality of the
image and the feeling of being right in the middle of the action
was so real, that it was unreal!
And when we
got to the high speed straights, the feeling of speed was so
incredible that I found myself holding on to the couch with a claw
grip to keep from falling on the floor.
All the
memories of the event came flooding back into my mind. I was able
to re-live every turn, every pass, every mistake and every jump on
that 12 miles Grand Prix course.
Later, I
showed the video to some friends, some of whom knew absolutely
nothing about dirt bikes and racing. The dirt-savvy friends noted
that the action was intense and top quality, and the non-savvy
friends were big-eyed. Noted one lady: "My God, that's
frightening! And you pay to do this?"
Since I
first got the video, I have shown it to lots of people, and have
watched it by myself several times. In fact, one night after a
really bad day, I poured myself a tall adult beverage or three and
watched it again with the sound real loud, so I could hear the
engine bark and the wind howl as it whistled by.
Pure
therapy, I say!
THE BOTTOM
LINE
I've done
literally hundreds of Product Evaluations in my life, and rarely
went nuts over many. This one deserves a solid Thumbs-Up, or Five
Stars, or whatever else you can give it.
It's a tool
that can preserve the memories of this great sport like nothing
else you've ever experienced. I suspect that I'll appreciate this
helmet camera and the tape from the Grand Prix even more as the
years go by. I just wish that I'd had something like this 30 years
ago.
Do yourself
a favor. Get one and use it. Take it on your trail rides, races,
or even on play days. Put your golden memories on tape so you can
enjoy them again and again.
We were so
impressed with the Action Sports Cam, that Off-Road.com acquired
one and it's now a part of our arsenal of valued equipment. Pat
Chicas, the ORC Publisher quickly snatched the unit out of the ORC,
camera safe and now calls the Action Sports Cam, "his".
We don't think so. He is always busy with other business interests
so, we'll put the cam to work at many other events when he's not
looking. One idea, is to wear it as "Hat Cam" as we
cover Rock Crawling events. This will let our photograher shoot
video and stills at the same time.
WHERE TO
GET IT
Action
Sports Cams
3362 Ruth Elaine Drive
Dept. IM
Rossmoor, CA
90720
Website: www.actionsportscams.com
Cost: $495
(does not include camcorder)
Shipping: UPS Ground - FREE
RUSH 3-day shipping: - $20
Special orders: contact us (562) 493-6439
Accepts all major credit cards
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