First ride of the year on Eccles in the snow

[Sidecar Bob]

Less than 4 weeks after Mr.H's last ride of the year the scenery looks a bit different. This wasn't the 1st ride of the season on Eccles (CX650E based winter machine) or even the 1st ride outside of our village but it was the 1st with snow on the ground.

I cut this video short because there is a lot of camera shake. I had hoped that replacing the old, rusted out exhaust system would make a bigger difference but it looks like I need to start experimenting with the camera mount again.

[NotSoLilCrippseys]

Sidecar Bob. Nice video.

Have you considered a shock mount - or maybe that shake is with a shock mount attached. They can be a little spendy for casual use, but perhaps...

[Sidecar Bob]

Comparing to the relatively shake free video taken on Mr.H, some of the shake on videos taken on Eccles is caused by the V twin engine (you can see that when I accelerate from stops) but most of it is due to the way I had to mount the camera, which amplifies the engine shake as well as bumps in the road.

Mr.H's camera mount is on the handlebar where any vibration (not a lot on a 'Wing) is usually damped by my hand on the bar. Unfortunately there is not a good way to mount a camera on Eccles' handlebar that where it could see between the fairing and the sidecar top and wouldn't hit the fairing or sidecar top when I steer.
I considered mounting it to the fairing/radiator bracket (below the fairing) but I'd prefer to keep it where I can see it, not to mention reach it from the seat to turn it on &c.
So my only option was to attach it like this

2 - Parts cut & fitted.jpg

3 - Installed.jpg

That shook really badly so I added a 2nd vertical member

4 - Stiffened.jpg

That made a big difference so I tried adding a plate to stiffen it more

5 - Plate brace.JPG

I have an inexpensive shock mount and did some experimenting and modified it a bit (I studied Acoustics in college and I still remember some of the vibration damping stuff) but before I got a chance to really tell if either of those helped the baffle disappeared from one of the mufflers, engine vibration increased and experimentation stalled with the plate removed and the isolation mount in place.
At that time I added a lollipop baffle to tame the noise until the end of the season and I didn't get around to getting the parts to replace it properly and the previous exhaust was still hanging around so I welded & patched it to get through last winter.
This year I replaced the entire exhaust system so now I can finally continue with the experiments.