I was standing at the lights, waiting for them to turn green. I might be a baboon, but I am an old baboon, so when the lights turned green, I did not take off immediately. I looked left, only to see a car skip the light, and turn right. I waited for the car to pass, and then I set off. As I got to the other side of the intersection, I heard the sound no motorcyclist wants to hear. Behind me, a delivery bike went straight into the path of the offending car. Fortunately for him, the car only clipped his front wheel, but he went down anyway. Now, the blame game started, as the driver of the car insisted that he crossed on green, when clearly it was not the case. This got me thinking that if I had a dashcam on my bike, I could have just replayed the scene and proved that the car was in the wrong. So, I went searching for one.
Motorcycle dashcams have been around for some time, and I have seen them evolve over time. The principle is simple: there is a control module with wires that lead to two cameras, one in front and one in the back. Then, on the handlebars, you have some form of device that lets you control what gets recoded or not. These units have evolved, and the latest generation dashcam I got my hands on is the AOOCCI C6 Pro. They are supplied locally by Car Dashcam Store.
Opening the box, you can immediately see that AOOCCI thought of everything. From mounting hardware, cables, and even zip-ties to make the installation neat. There were quite a number of items to go through. First up was the unit itself. It is a rather beefy unit with a 6.25” display. It has a built-in GPS and a plastic shade to help with glare. The previous version of dashcams I saw had a separate GPS module, which led to even more wires sticking out the back of the unit. The C6 is very neat with only four wires exiting the back. There are two wires for the front and rear cameras, a power cord, and another for a remote control that can be mounted on the handlebars as well. I found this to be redundant, as all the functions of the remote are available on the C6’s touchscreen.
The unit does provide you with a wired power module with an inline fuse. If you don’t want to take your bike apart and find a place for this unit to live, you have the option of running the C6 off USB. Almost all modern motorcycles have a USB socket somewhere on the dashboard. I prefer this option, as my skill with electricity and a soldering iron is well-documented as being awful!
The unit comes supplied with a 64GB microSD card. Once the unit is powered on, it immediately starts recording, and you can set up the loop interval you want. If you set it to one minute, the unit will save one-minute clips. Once the card is full, it will start overwriting the oldest clips. The unit is equipped with a G-sensor that will detect an incident or sudden deceleration. When this sensor is activated, the current loop recording is moved to a separate “locked” location. This means that it will not get overwritten by the loop recording.
One of the standout features of the C6 is that it comes equipped with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. This opens up a wealth of features available on both platforms. My Royal Enfield has map functionality, but you have to run it from the Enfield App. I have found that this app drains my phone battery, so I use it sparingly. The C6 can now be used as my navigation module. Connecting to Android Auto was simplicity itself. It pairs wirelessly without the need to connect your phone via a cable.
When I initially started up the unit, the GPS took a very long time to lock onto satellites, but after its initial search, the subsequent start-ups went a lot faster. The display is crisp, and you can select your desired view with simple left and right swipes. You can choose to see the view from the cameras or the Android Auto screen. All recordings have the speed, altitude and current location overlaid.
Another surprise in the box was two tyre pressure sensors. Not only do they display the tyre pressure, but also the tyre temperatures. This is a very handy feature if you don’t ride a very expensive motorcycle. You have to pair them with the unit, and you can set limits where the unit will warn you if the tyre pressures go out of range.
The main feature, though, is the cameras. They have 1080p quality, and although they do not rival modern action cameras for quality, they provide a clear enough picture to get you enough evidence in the event that you are involved in an incident. You also get a bag full of mounting hardware to mount the cameras pretty much anywhere on the bike. They also have one spare mount, should one break.
The unit itself mounts on rubber grommets to reduce vibration. All the mounts are secured with screws with tamper-proof heads. You need a special tool to screw them in. The bracket that mounts to the handlebar has differently sized spacers, so they really thought about all eventualities. If you don’t want to use the AOOCCI hardware, you can use a standard RAM mount to secure the unit. The same applies to the cameras. They use standard GoPro mounts. Everything you need to install the unit onto your bike is included, even the screwdriver to unscrew the panel to get to the SD card slot. If I have one gripe, it is this panel. AOOCCI does have an app with which you can transfer footage off the unit, but if you would rather access the microSD card, you have to unscrew this panel every time. But, that said, you will not download footage all that often, as this is just for emergencies. This panel also ensures the IP67 water- and dustproof rating.
AOOCCI also offers this unit without the cameras, with a mount that fits into the standard BMW cradle. They are available in two sizes and are called the BM6 and BM7. The number denotes the size in inches. For a price far lower than that of the BMW Navigator, this unit not only fits in the BMW cradle, but it also integrates with the BMW multi-function wheel.
Overall, I am very impressed with how far these units have come. As I said, the video quality is not great, but it is good enough to identify a number plate. The fact that I can have Android Auto on my bike now is a big plus for me, and the added functionality of the cameras is just a bonus.
Car Dashcam Store also provide dashcams for cars, so go check out their website!
As a parting shot, I would like to add the following: having a dashcam might help you if you are involved in an incident where you are not at fault, but it can also incriminate you if you were at fault. So, when you ride with one of these, make sure you stay on the right side of the law!
