Motovloggers with their travelling videos reign big on YouTube

With tiny yet amazingly capable GoPro cameras hooked onto their helmets, the riders rocked. On roads less travelled, they captured every visual treat with arresting dynamism. For these young, adventurous, tech-savvy 'motovloggers,' travel is a passion, visual story-telling an art and YouTube a platform to scream out their travel mantras.

Two Bengaluru motovloggers are now masters of the game: Arun (YouTube channel: GoPro Man) and Raghavendra (Bigbang Biker). Arun had kicked off his GoPro journeys three years ago, covering lesser known places around the city. In a short time, his YouTube subscriber base crossed 22,000, the viewers wanting more.

For Arun, it was about documenting every journey and capturing every twist and turn of his rides. "The camera is either hooked on to the helmet by a side mount or attached to my body by a chest wrap. It gives a better view," he says.

The footage is raw and unadulterated. So, he  keeps the narration to the barest minimum, and lets his viewers decide, comment and offer suggestions. "The most difficult part for me is editing. Every video of 10-15 minutes takes about a week. But it is worth it. The video analytics tell me 40-50% of the content is engaging," Arun explains.

In January 2016, when Raghavendra turned motovlogger with an overhead camera, the objective was clear: "To record stuff on the street, to see how Bengaluru really is, and to record the transport and the people," he recalls. But eventually, what gave that passion an edge was his avid interest in motorcycles "from 70cc to 1,600cc."

Mixing vlogging, biking and travel tales, he found his audience on YouTube. "When I started my YouTube channel, I had no idea my subscriber base would cross 55,000. Their feedback and suggestions kept motivating me to do more, better videos."

To add more life and drama to his videos, Raghavendra syncs the visuals from his GoPro Hero-4 with an external mike. "The mike sits inside the cheek pad of my helmet. So, when I spot someone jumping a signal, I say that aloud. The camera syncs the recorded video and audio," he explains.

So, what makes motovlogger videos stand out from other travel visuals? "These vloggers have really disrupted the travel vlogging space with their cool presentation. They give you a feeling with their dashcam setup that you are riding the bike yourself," analyses a YouTube insider.