Well folks,
Dropped my bike twice already. Last week, I was pulling out of a parking lot, and stalled out and tipped over. This morning on the way to work, I was about to pull out of my apartment complex when....yes, I stalled out and tipped over. Same side, same impact point. Nothing broke or bent, but my fairing is a bit scuffed up. I don't really know what's going on.
I haven't changed anything, and have never stalled out before. I'm not sure if it was the bike, or if I was just not paying attention at all, but I really need to evaluate what is going on.
I'll snap a picture of the damage tonight and post it up in this entry. I'm pretty bummed, but more so, just upset at myself for being careless. I guess things happen though, and happen to the best of us. I'll try to buff most of the scratches out and just suck it up and continue to ride.
Sigh...
- Pandabear
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Alpinestars Waterproof - Maybe Not
Hello Friends,
My Chicago trip was successful! I won't go into too much here about it, as I am still editing my trip video, but I can say it was a very LONG ride.
I will say though, my friend and I started from Pennsylvania and when we left, there was a torrential downpour. We rode the first three hours or so through rain. Surprisingly I stayed bone dry!! My RS Taichi gear was absolutely phenomenal..jacket, pants, and gloves kept me perfectly dry. The only weak point was my Alpinestars SMX 5 boots.
I bought the waterproof version, and though I rode through some light rain on prior occasions, the heavy rain finally showed a flaw in the boots. While my right boot was completely dry, somehow there was a small leak in the front left boot which left me with a soggy foot for my 12 hour ride (ride + break times). Fortunately, the boot doesn't allow for much airflow so my toes stayed warm, thank goodness. So sadly, I had to send my A* boots out for warranty work.
In the mean time, I ordered a pair of Sidi Vertigo boots. I haven't yet ridden in them, but I did try them on. They seem to fit pretty well, more in line with my prior Spidi VR6 boots (the A* boots fit a tad better around the heel). I will review them soon, once I go for a ride in them! I purchased them from Revzilla.com yesterday, and to my great surprise, they were at my doorstep today when I returned from work. I guess it helps that I live about two hours from their Philadelphia warehouse!!
I will work diligently to get my Chicago video created...it is a LOT of video to edit, so it may take quite a while, but I'll do my best.
Look forward to a review on my new boots as well!
- Pandabear
My Chicago trip was successful! I won't go into too much here about it, as I am still editing my trip video, but I can say it was a very LONG ride.
I will say though, my friend and I started from Pennsylvania and when we left, there was a torrential downpour. We rode the first three hours or so through rain. Surprisingly I stayed bone dry!! My RS Taichi gear was absolutely phenomenal..jacket, pants, and gloves kept me perfectly dry. The only weak point was my Alpinestars SMX 5 boots.
I bought the waterproof version, and though I rode through some light rain on prior occasions, the heavy rain finally showed a flaw in the boots. While my right boot was completely dry, somehow there was a small leak in the front left boot which left me with a soggy foot for my 12 hour ride (ride + break times). Fortunately, the boot doesn't allow for much airflow so my toes stayed warm, thank goodness. So sadly, I had to send my A* boots out for warranty work.
In the mean time, I ordered a pair of Sidi Vertigo boots. I haven't yet ridden in them, but I did try them on. They seem to fit pretty well, more in line with my prior Spidi VR6 boots (the A* boots fit a tad better around the heel). I will review them soon, once I go for a ride in them! I purchased them from Revzilla.com yesterday, and to my great surprise, they were at my doorstep today when I returned from work. I guess it helps that I live about two hours from their Philadelphia warehouse!!
I will work diligently to get my Chicago video created...it is a LOT of video to edit, so it may take quite a while, but I'll do my best.
Look forward to a review on my new boots as well!
- Pandabear
Thursday, April 11, 2013
First Long Distance, Wish Me Luck!
Hey Friends,
I'm packing all my gear. Camera, chargers, cell phone, you name it. My friend and I are making a long trip to Chicago for the weekend. Exactly 668 miles each way... so long I'll need to lube the chain on the way! I'm not positive how I'll feel after a few hours, but we plan on taking many breaks.
Wish me luck! Won't get much great footage since we are superslabbing it, but if I see something cool, I'll be sure to capture it! Have a great weekend!
- Pandabear
I'm packing all my gear. Camera, chargers, cell phone, you name it. My friend and I are making a long trip to Chicago for the weekend. Exactly 668 miles each way... so long I'll need to lube the chain on the way! I'm not positive how I'll feel after a few hours, but we plan on taking many breaks.
Wish me luck! Won't get much great footage since we are superslabbing it, but if I see something cool, I'll be sure to capture it! Have a great weekend!
- Pandabear
Thursday, April 4, 2013
2nd Video, New Mounting Location!
Hey Friends,
Tried a new mounting location on the bike. I figured this would cut down on the shaking, and give a clearer image. What I didn't think of was that the wind noise will be drastically reduced, and the engine noise (vroom vroom!) would be much more audible. Two drawbacks (or maybe one, depending on how you see it) are you can now hear the brakes applying, and the real one, you can't toggle the camera on/off when riding, as it's out of reach.
A perk of the location is that it makes the ride look nearly as aggressive as what I see in person, as opposed to the "easy" riding shot on the helmet. Here's the video:
The video quality is now in 1080P. I mounted the camera to the front fender after sampling multiple locations. I placed the camera onto the mount, peeled the adhesive covering, lined up the camera, and pressed onto the fender. Then I removed the camera and applied pressure around all the edges to get a good application.
And this is how it looks from the front, pretty nifty, and pretty discreet!
All in all, I like this view a lot better. It's more aggressive, it's better for capturing natural audio, it picks up the Firey's sounds well enough, and it's more discreet.
Tried a new mounting location on the bike. I figured this would cut down on the shaking, and give a clearer image. What I didn't think of was that the wind noise will be drastically reduced, and the engine noise (vroom vroom!) would be much more audible. Two drawbacks (or maybe one, depending on how you see it) are you can now hear the brakes applying, and the real one, you can't toggle the camera on/off when riding, as it's out of reach.
A perk of the location is that it makes the ride look nearly as aggressive as what I see in person, as opposed to the "easy" riding shot on the helmet. Here's the video:
The video quality is now in 1080P. I mounted the camera to the front fender after sampling multiple locations. I placed the camera onto the mount, peeled the adhesive covering, lined up the camera, and pressed onto the fender. Then I removed the camera and applied pressure around all the edges to get a good application.
 |
| Contour Low Profile Mount |
I went up to my apartment, and fifteen minutes later, I decided to test it out (Contour recommends leaving it overnight before usage though). Slid the camera onto the mount:
 |
| Mounted ContourROAM |
 |
| Front view of ContourROAM |
The biggest downside is the inaccessibility to the on/off switch. For long continuous rides, it'll either be on or off which will kill the battery. For those rides, the camera will be better suited on the helmet mount. But for short rides, or rides where there are many stops before or during the action, the fender mount is going to be the mount of choice!
Should have a fun ride coming up this Saturday. Stay tuned. Also, going to make a video of my Chicago trip next week. 1300 miles round-trip! This year's big adventure!
Ride Safe,
Pandabear
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
My First Video!
Hey Friends,
Here is my first video with my Contour Roam camera. It was shot using "out of the box" settings, so 720P and medium microphone sensitivity. The next video will be in 1080P, though I don't think I can make the wind noise any better. Turn down your volume!!
I used Windows Movie Maker and used basic transitions and captions to put it together. In the future I will put music onto my videos perhaps, and maybe create a catchy little intro!
Enjoy!
- Pandabear
Here is my first video with my Contour Roam camera. It was shot using "out of the box" settings, so 720P and medium microphone sensitivity. The next video will be in 1080P, though I don't think I can make the wind noise any better. Turn down your volume!!
I used Windows Movie Maker and used basic transitions and captions to put it together. In the future I will put music onto my videos perhaps, and maybe create a catchy little intro!
- Pandabear
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