Viewing Speedo in videos.

Motogato

Wannabie Member
Jan 21, 2022
16
16
3
33
I ride a
CBR600RR 07
Hey everyone,
I hope all is good your way.

I wanted to ask your alls opinions on being able to view the speedo in videos. I have found a way to black out my speedo to the camera only. I am concerned that it will take a dimension away from the videos because you wont be able to see how fast I am going.

Do you all think that being able to see the speedo is important in videos?

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question and help me out.

Cheers and safe riding!
 

HippoDrone

Admin
Jan 2, 2017
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West Sussex, UK
I ride a
1984 Honda CB100-N
2012 Moto Guzzi V7
2017 Suzuki GSX-R750
2020 Beta 390RR
2022 Aprilia Tuareg 660
If you are riding at a pace where you might need to to stop incriminating yourself then probably worth doing. If you are doing that regularly, then it might be worth doing it for the whole video rather than just when you are speeding too.
 

Motogato

Wannabie Member
Jan 21, 2022
16
16
3
33
I ride a
CBR600RR 07
Hey HippoDrone,
I hope all is good with you.

What I am doing is a physical modification, so after its done every video from then on has no visible speedo to the camera.

There are a few benefits that I want it for.
It dims the brightness for me, It helps me out in post, and I feel it makes the scenery and the motorcycle the subject of the video.
But the more I think of it, I feel that people may want to have the speedo visible.

Do you all feel that the speedo is an important part of motovlogging videos?

Thanks again,
Cheers and safe riding!
 
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Guest

Guest
Apr 6, 2018
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Can you show us a screenshot of what it would look like with/without this setup so we can give you better feedback?
 

Motogato

Wannabie Member
Jan 21, 2022
16
16
3
33
I ride a
CBR600RR 07
Hey Adrian,
Hope all is good your way!

Yeah of course.

Without.png
Blackout.png


Thanks Again!
 

Guest

Guest
Apr 6, 2018
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Hey there! Looks fine to me. My bikes all have a little speedo needle / analog display so I doubt they can see what I'm doing this unless they had my bike side by side to compare with a screenshot. They can still see your tach needle. Either one of your shots wouldn't bother me.

Nice bike!
 
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HippoDrone

Admin
Jan 2, 2017
7,683
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West Sussex, UK
I ride a
1984 Honda CB100-N
2012 Moto Guzzi V7
2017 Suzuki GSX-R750
2020 Beta 390RR
2022 Aprilia Tuareg 660
Yeah that looks fine, I normally try and mount my phone in front of the speedo blocking mine when getting fruity, your mod is far neater.
 

R-Rated

Remember to Have Fun! - Solar Bear 2020 Champion
Aug 4, 2016
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I ride a
2014 Harley Davidson (FLHTK) Ultra Limited
With my background I wonder why hide the speedo? Of course there are a ton of reasons to do so but the most common is the video creator does not want to get into some sort of trouble be it with insurance, an employer, Johnny Law, or some other authority type figure like parent or spouse.

If it is fear of getting trouble with the law, there are ways to calculate speed such as "clocking". Worse is if a cop stops you and really wants to get bothersome. They can call a magistrate for a warrant to seize your camera and cellphone so they can pull the GPS data. Worst case scenario would be if the rider crashes out and the cops reconstruct the events which means a device called a drag sled is used. Those crash reconstruction officers are math geniuses using the drag calculations that factor in surface of the vehicle and surface of the road to come up with speed.

So it really does not matter if you blur or hide a speedo. There are ways to figure out the speed if someone really wants to go through the trouble.

Personally, I like seeing the speed regardless because it is adds more a genuine feel to the video.
 
Last edited:

Skipshift

Perpetual Rookie
Aug 23, 2021
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Arkansas, USA
www.youtube.com
I ride a
2012 gsxr 600
I enjoy videos with and without speedos in frame. It depends what you're trying to display more; the speed you're going or the scenery you're riding through. If a ride has a lot of head turning views, I'm way less inclined to bother even glancing at the speed.
Judging by what I've watched of your videos I am paying more attention to where you are riding, not so much how you are riding. So if it's a personal preference for your video edits, then do what you like. I don't think there would be any downside to having it out of view.

Fwiw, I agree with what R-rated said above. If the goal in hiding the speedo was to try and avoid problems with law enforcement, they have tools at their disposal to figure your speed either way.
 
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Motogato

Wannabie Member
Jan 21, 2022
16
16
3
33
I ride a
CBR600RR 07
Hey there! Looks fine to me. My bikes all have a little speedo needle / analog display so I doubt they can see what I'm doing this unless they had my bike side by side to compare with a screenshot. They can still see your tach needle. Either one of your shots wouldn't bother me.

Nice bike!
Hey Adrian,
Hope all is good with you.

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it!
If I find that it really bothers people, I can always overlay a HUD with the speed later.

Thanks again!,
Cheers and safe riding!
 

Motogato

Wannabie Member
Jan 21, 2022
16
16
3
33
I ride a
CBR600RR 07
With my background I wonder why hide the speedo? Of course there are a ton of reasons to do so but the most common is the video creator does not want to get into some sort of trouble be it with insurance, an employer, Johnny Law, or some other authority type figure like parent or spouse.

If it is fear of getting trouble with the law, there are ways to calculate speed such as "clocking". Worse is if a cop stops you and really wants to get bothersome. They can call a magistrate for a warrant to seize your camera and cellphone so they can pull the GPS data. Worst case scenario would be if the rider crashes out and the cops reconstruct the events which means a device called a drag sled is used. Those crash reconstruction officers are math geniuses using the drag calculations that factor in surface of the vehicle and surface of the road to come up with speed.

So it really does not matter if you blur or hide a speedo. There are ways to figure out the speed if someone really wants to go through the trouble.

Personally, I like seeing the speed regardless because it is adds more a genuine feel to the video.
Hey R-Rated,
I hope all is good with you.

I appreciate the feedback!
I feel that the speedo really does give an extra dimension to some videos as well. Most people probably cant even see mine half the time because its in shadow of they are using a phone to view it.

Thanks again for the feedback,
Cheers and safe riding!
 
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Reactions: R-Rated

Motogato

Wannabie Member
Jan 21, 2022
16
16
3
33
I ride a
CBR600RR 07
I enjoy videos with and without speedos in frame. It depends what you're trying to display more; the speed you're going or the scenery you're riding through. If a ride has a lot of head turning views, I'm way less inclined to bother even glancing at the speed.
Judging by what I've watched of your videos I am paying more attention to where you are riding, not so much how you are riding. So if it's a personal preference for your video edits, then do what you like. I don't think there would be any downside to having it out of view.

Fwiw, I agree with what R-rated said above. If the goal in hiding the speedo was to try and avoid problems with law enforcement, they have tools at their disposal to figure your speed either way.
Hey Skitshift,
I hope all is good your way.

I appreciate the feedback very much!
I am really trying to make the focus of the channel WV and the CBR, not the speed or the riding. I want them to be more scenic, smooth and easy going with some fun, but not overly aggressive like many sportbike videos are. People can go watch maxwrist or superbikeracer for those types of videos.
Hopefully the blackening of the speedo will help with shifting the focus.

Thanks again for the advice,
Cheers and safe riding!
 

nophix

Where's my coffee?
Apr 15, 2012
215
312
63
42
Stevens Point WI
I ride a
2015 Yamaha FJ-09
I honestly could go either way. Some of the main channels I watch have the speedo visible. A couple blur it. I'm usually so busy focusing on the rest of what they're showing that it doesn't really matter. That said, I've never bothered to blur mine, and I get fairly spirited. Never had a concern. If I understand my State Trooper rider buddy, it isn't valid evidence in court, so unless it's being used as secondary to an investigation, say for a crash, it's a non-issue. At least where I live, they can't ticket you from that alone, they actually have to physically catch you in the act for it to hold up.

However, I have a pretty distracting gauge cluster, so I wouldn't mind toning it down, especially n the night videos. I've thought about doing the reverse screen polarity mod for that reason alone.
 

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