First one must ask, does such a thing even exist? I have been looking for a good camera mount for a couple of years now (for past posts on this topic just search this blog for “mount”). My needs were, I thought, simple. All I wanted was something that was both solid and yet flexible enough to allow clamping on various spots on my bike. I tried the GoPro mounts (poor vibration characteristics), RAM mounts (better) and most recently built a fixed bracket that is attached to the lower triple tree (best). But none of them had the mounting flexibility I was looking for so I contacted someone with lots of experience making motorcycling videos – Gary France of Flies in Your Teeth fame. Having enjoyed watching countless videos he had posted from his US trip and others I was sure he had the answer. And he did: rough-guide-to-camera-mounts-2.html
So I decided to try the Cardellini setup he recommended. I found a mini-ball head on eBay (not a Manfrotto but good enough, I hope) that was tapped for the 3/8”-16 tpi thread on a Mini Cardellini clamp. And I ordered the clamp from Cinema Gadgets in California. The ball head arrived a week or so ago and the Mini Cardellini clamp arrived today. (The ball head was coming from China so it was here in a week whereas USPS and Canada Post managed to store the clamp for an extra week before delivering. Go figure.)
I will still use my fabricated bracket mount (the design of which I am changing to incorporate a rubber grommet that should further reduce vibration) for simple forward-facing videography but this new setup will give me the ability to mount my camera in all sorts of unusual places for, hopefully, more interesting videos.
And of course, as with all winter motorcycling acquisitions a waiting period is involved before the items can be put to use. In my case I expect it will be another 10 weeks before the ice and snow are off the roads and riding is once again possible here in the frozen north.