GS IN THE CITY

The AFX was too cheap, and loud. I made that purchase now knowing much about helmets at all, or knowing what kind of rider i was. It worked, but when winter 2014 came around i wanted something warmer and quieter. I loved the Scuberth C3 and convinced myself it fit fine. After some minor tweaking it was great. I loved that helmet and used the hell out of it for a full year. At a certain point i realized it actually didn’t fit right, with minor pain points that were still bothering me, but more importantly i noticed that there was space between the top of my head and my helmet. I moved on to trying my brother in laws newly acquired used Shoei GT-Air. I tried that for a week, and didn’t love it. Funny because i thought i would. I then found a used Neotec in perfect condition. I quickly snagged it up, loved it when it arrived, but upon my first ride realized right away that the shell was just too big.

I finally went to the RF1200, from Union Garage in Brooklyn. After my first ride, i have no more doubts. Its light weight, got a small shell, and is the safest of the bunch. My only minor grip is that i don’t yet have a tinted shield. They make tinted shields of course, but i don’t want to swap shields out. Im waiting for the photochromatic transition shield that should be coming out late april (i hope, as its been delayed several times).

It took almost 2 years, but i think this is finally the helmet that will stick with me for a while. Im excited to tour with it, as you barely feel it on your head. Less rider fatigue on long days.

Make sure to go full screen and choose 1080p:

Pros

Light Weight

Small Shell

You barely feel it on when riding

Comfortable interior

Comes with pin lock insert which i couldn’t live without

Safe (Snell Approved)

Beautiful Paint and overall Design

3 different size liners and cheek pads available

Cons

Too many vents to adjust, with small controls

Helmet gets loud when chin vent is open

Photochromatic transition shield not yet available after several delays

I’d prefer a ratchet closure instead of a D-Ring, but i might be in the minority on that one

RF1200 Left, Neotec Right

RF1200 Left, Neotec Right

RF1200 Right, Neotec Left

RF1200 Left, Neotec Right

RF1200 Left, Neotec Right

GT-Air on the left. Neotec on the right.

Schuberth Out. Why, and what’s next?

I loved my Schuberth C3. The quality and materials used were top of the line. It felt so good to touch and look at. Plush. Light weight. Quiet. So what was the issue? It just didn’t fit me right. (more…)

I took a little spill this week. My first. I’ve been thinking about what my first would be like for a while now. I knew it would happen eventually. Lucky for me it went well. And yes, it was my fault.

More photos and details below. (more…)

I tried to get my brothers to go, but they wimped out early.  I was set to go alone, when a buddy (eddie) i met ONCE from ADV NYC forum said he would go with me. He also got one of his buddies, Donny to come with us. I found one of the only open places around that allowed for drive up camping. My Harriman is a great website, and they had a little article on winter camping in the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. It ended up being a great place that i would for sure go back to again, next time with more people. Each spot has its own reservable Lean To, with a max of 8 people allowed per site. A fire place in each lean to, and wide open land with great hiking available. Can’t wait to take the wife and some friends there when it gets nice out.

The first thing i realized when finding our lean to is that having higher ground clearance is a huge plus. Eddie and Donny had to really be careful getting their bikes up the rocky and muddy hills to our spot. They did it, and it was great to watch. I felt really sure footed on my bike. It had the right ground clearance and the right Tires. Eddie has a touring bike, and Donny has a cruiser.

We arrived on site around 430pm and quickly built our tents as it got dark. Perfect timing. We then started building a fire by looking around for scattered wood. Around 6pm i decided i would just goto a local gas station and pick up a few bundles. Took me less then 15 minutes round trip, the station was closer then i thought.

We made some dinner, hung out, drank, talked, and kept the fire going. Being in the lean to was key. It started out around 50 degrees but by 10pm is was under 40F. The lean to was warm because of the fire, and kept the wind out. We didn’t know eacht other, which was actually great. We had plenty to talk about. Donny is only 26, and never heard of most of the things eddie and I were talking about. That was interesting for me. I’m not going to say I’m old, but I’m obviously not young anymore.

Sleeping in the cold wasn’t terrible. I had my Kelty Cosmic Down 21 bag, expedition weight thermals, and a sleeping bag liner. I was nice and toasty all night. The next morning, Donny was out by 630am to get back to his job while eddie and i slept in. I woke up around 830am and felt a little weird. I woke eddie up, which he was not happy about. He didn’t sleep much all night. I didn’t feel like making breakfast or coffee, my stomach felt really weird. I thought getting to a diner would make it all better. I got eddie ready to go, and all of a sudden my stomach was exploding. I ran to a local port o potty and.. well.. ill spare you the details but it came out of the bottom end. We then left to find something local, and came upon a dunkin donuts. Not even a minute in there, and i ran outside and started puking. Then i basically had my head on a table for the next 2 hours while eddie just hung around patiently like a champ, eating away at his marlboro packs. 2 hours later, i puked a little more, bright yellow bile. We finally headed back to camp, where i slept for another hour or two. I don’t know what happened to me, but it wasn’t good.

Eddie was really patient, and helped me pack of 80% of my camp. We packed up and headed back to brooklyn. I couldn’t believe i made the ride home. So while it was anawesomely fun night, the next day was a nightmare. I don’t regret a thing. I just wish i knew wtf happened to me the next day.

O well, new experiences, new places, new friends, id call that an adventure. Im looking forward to next years JMC.

I’m not going to do a full review here, after all I’ve barely had it a day. But i will give my initial impression along with some photos and video.

The main draw with this camera is the bluetooth functionality. Pairing it with my SENA SMH10 Intercom on my helmet, and the camera really shines. I’ll get in to that soon. Another stand out feature is that this camera is made for motorcycle riders. It comes with a huge variety of mounts in the box. The side helmet mount specifically is amazing. More on this soon.

Bluetooth Control Features

Once the camera is paired with my intercom, i can control it just by pressing buttons on my intercom. I get audible feedback from the camera overtime i do something. Keep in mind, my intercom is really easy to use with gloves, and I’m already really familiar with using the button set to control my phone through it.

From a completely off state, i can power on the camera by pressing the phone button 3 times. That takes the camera from completely off, to on and ready to go. Same thing to turn it off. This is a great battery saving feature while on longer trips. Side note, you can easily power the camera while recording, which you could not do with the Sony. Its even got  waterproof USB port.

Once the camera is on, i can press and rotate the jog wheel on my intercom, the camera will switch modes between video mode, single shot mode, burst mode, and time lapse mode. The camera will announce each mode to me. If i glance at the camera in my rear view, i can easily see a big bright LED light on top of the camera that changes color depending on mode. Red for video mode, Purple for time lapse mode etc.

To activate or stop recording, i just press and hold the jog wheel in for 2 seconds. The camera announces recording to me. If i glance at the camera, i can see the red light flashing meaning its in video mode, and recording.

Bluetooth Audio Recording Feature

The biggest downside to my sony is that when recording from the side of my helmet, the video would be great, but the audio would just be loud whistling from the wind noise. Unusable. What the SENA does is pairs with any bluetooth headset and will overlay the audio from the bluetooth headset right on to the video. Initially I thought this would be great just for being able to narrate the ride right on to the track, making the video more interesting and easier to cut later. After playing with it, I’m noticing that its not just the voice overlay, but the engine noises are clearly audible as well, meaning i can finally hear down shifts, riding through the gears etc.

The bluetooth audio and control features are the number one reasons i wanted this camera. The voice overlay, along with being able to turn the camera on and off all through my existing intercom system that i already own is huge for me.

Mounting Options

So it comes with a boat load of mounts. A DUAL suction cup mount, a single suction cup mount, a handlebar mount, a surface mount. All with a special QRM quick release mecahinsm letting you easily remove the camera and move it to another mount somewhere else on the bike. They also include a full waterproof case, even though the camera itself is good in the rain. The waterproof case is for pools, diving, etc.

It also comes with helmet mounts, the standard surface mount for top of helmet, the google mount, and most importantly it comes with a side helmet mount. Now with my sony, I had to work hard to come up with a solution to mount it to the side of helmet and it stuck out a bit far and looked funny. The SENA comes with a very similar mount to what they ship with the intercom on the other side of my helmet. Basically this is a clamp mount. It slips between the helmet liner and the outer shell, and clamps on tight. Its minimal and unobtrusive when not being used. Now some helmets don’t let you slip something in between due to the construction choices of the helmet manufacturer. So my loaner helmet in the photos, the bell, i could indeed use the clamp mount, but on my Schuberth helmet, i can not. So for the intercom, i use a mount almost identical to the clamp mount in shape, but instead of clamping, it used strong double stick tape to keep it to the side. Over a year installed with zero issues. SENA was smart, and added this option for the camera too. They offer a very small double stick curved mount that goes on the side of the helmet andmimics the functionality of the clamp mount. Once you have that side mount installed, wether clamped or with double stick, you then slide a small female ball connector on to it. Then you take the actual side camera mount that interfaces with the camera, it has a ball on the back, and goes in to the side mount. You use a small wheel to tighten it on and that lets you choose angle at the same time. It’s really strong, and easy to use.

This is key, the side helmet mount is the one i use most, and they got it right. I don’t think any other action cam comes with this many mounts in the box, or even makes any helmet mounts that equal these. I was concerned from the photos and videos before i bought it, that since the clamp mount wouldn’t work on my helmet, would they supply any thing else that would do the job. So, they do, and its great. See the photos in the slide show.

A few initial thoughts so far

Good:

Controlling modes, power, and recording on off from intercom is amazing

Bluetooth audio recording is amazing

Great size (about same size as go pro, but the lens is on the small side which is better)

Amazing mounts – all included

Love the helmet side mount options – best in industry

The LED status light shows if you are recording or not and also changes colors depending on what type of recording (red for video purple for time lapse etc)

Really easy to see recording light on camera to know if you are recording or not

Audible feedback through intercom to know what mode you’re on and if you are recording or not.

When you get a phone call the camera automatically  utilizes the external camera mic until done with phone call.

Standard thread mount for tri pods

Good in the rain without waterproof case.

Bad:

Gets crazy hot when charging

Lack of Siri access during recording is a downer (usually use the phone button, which in this case would snap a photo)

No live view through iOS app to aim camera

Time lapse recording takes over your intercom even though it’s not recording voice – preventing you from listening to music.

When recording audio from intercom you hear a very small bit of echo in your speakers. You hear yourself and the road played at a very low volume through your speakers

No protective clear lens cap for use while recording – cameras lens is exposed to elements at high speeds or off roading

No auto overwrite of recording for use as continuous “dash cam” (good for non stop recording in city traffic in case you have an accident).

Hard to get battery out

Hard to open and close rear door  (though its getting easier as it breaks in)

Needs better anti shake recording setting (miss that from my Sony) but i think i can correct that with software editing

 Some Video: Time Lapse (posted on instagram with a filter, with compression, and its a square)

Test video on the highway uncompressed on my side, but youtube does its own thing to compress i guess. Also keep in mind, I’m in a loaner helmet thats noisier then my normal helmet, and I’m wearing a balaclava over my mouth to keep me warm, which is muffling my voice.

Read more about the camera at SENA’s promo site.

Starting with some research on advrider forums, i found a decently price H7 bulb that looks to be be watertight, at $40. Use “inmate” for a 10% discount code. Both bulbs recommended to me are too big for the housing on my F700GS. Seems to be an issue with all LED replacements of good quality as they need a heat sink.

AdvMonster has a good blog post showing how one of their customers cut out their housing to fit the LED. I did something very similar, but less elegant.

I pulled out the old bulb, put the new one in. I realized that the new bulb has a small metal grommet that can attach in place, having the stock bmw clasps hold it in place, and then you can actually twist the LED out of that separately. So with the little metal grommet in place, i removed the LED module and brought it upstairs with me along with the light housing rear cap to do some cutting.

I used a dremel and sawed out a not so smooth circle slightly bigger then the LED module. I then went back down to reinsert the LED module, and fit the cap over. I will need to return to it with some caulking of some sort to make it more water tight.

After riding with it for a week, i don’t have such a good feel for the distance improvements. Being in NYC is already a bright place. I’ll need to get some country riding in to really know. But i do know that I’m a whiter more obvious light. For $40 and 20 minutes of installation I think its well worth it. That was for my low beam only. I’ve decided ill order another one for my high beam. Its worth it.

After all that, ill have to save up for some good LED Aux Lights. I feel that will be the biggest upgrade in terms of visibility and longer distance light coverage on the road out ahead of me.

STOCK – still daylight out, hard to tell

LED – still daylight out, hard to tell

yes I’m bald. thats why i shave my head.

i figured out how to remove them today, and clean the cases.

the magic eraser by mr. clean is amazing. I’ve been using it to take scuffs out of walls for years. a tiny bit of water and some rubbing would solve almost all wall problems.

i tried it on the vario cases and it worked just as well. the only issue is that the white juice that comes out of it can stain the case if you don’t clean it up soon after. so rub away, and after your cases will look filthy covered in white juices. quickly get a wet paper towel and rub down the case. repeat as needed getting out all the scuffs.

then when you’re done, get some rubbing alcohol and a rag and wipe the entire case down for a nice clean shine. the alcohol cleaning is actually great. using alcohol swabs you can see the dirt coming off.

see the attached photos to see the before and afters.

yellow scuffs came right out

more scuffs

close up

all gone!

clean!

alcohol swabs

magic eraser

i was nervous about doing this, i really wanted it to look good. i looked around at my cases to try and figure out what areas i wanted covered, then i measured everything (several times). i then created a new Pages document and laid out 2* 8×11 pages with boxes the size of the areas i wanted to fill. i laid them out the best i can to try and take advantage of the sheets the best i could, getting the most use out of them. i needed an online tool to help me convert ruler measurements to decimal measurements and back. after i figured out what shapes to use, how many, what sizes they should be, and how to organize them on the pages, i then took an 8.5×11 paper and clipped it to the 3m page. i drew out the line where the 3m page ended, so i can know how much space i had, as the normal white paper is bigger then the 3m paper. i then unclipped the 3m paper and proceeded to use a ruler and a pencil to plot out all my shapes as best i could. i used dots every 1/2″ or so to mark distances, and then i use the ruler to give me complete lines going along those dots.

i then double checked all my measurements, and clipped the paper back to the 3m sheet so that everything was aligned. i used a cutting board from the kitchen underneath the sheets, and then took an exacto knife with a new blade, and proceeded to slowly and carefully cut along all the lines. the dots that i used early to plot my lines helped a lot. just like when on a motorcycle going through a long bend, you focus and keep your eyes ahead of you through the bend, thats how i cut. i concentrated on every next dot and my hand followed (instead of concentrating on the line where i was).

after all the cut outs, i then cleaned my case with running alcohol pads in the areas i was going to apply the stickers. a lot of good dirt came off, and i learned thats a great way to clean the case. i placed the stickers on while they still had the backings on to see how they fit. some of them i had to trim down a little. applying them was easy, bubbles should not be a worry. just be careful, and then smooth them out with your fist.

i put reflective stickers on the backs of all my cases, and the sides. i think they came out great, and i have a little bit left over that ill apply to some small areas on my bike.