Wot I did on my hols ...

[mikek_7]

... a 10 day trip to the Dolomites with a friend on an R1200R. Down through Germany (Eiffell mountains etc) to Austria met up with an Austrian friend on a 20odd year old Kawasaki 650 (can't keep up with the b****r), over the Alps via the Grossglockner and into Italy.

a great old BMW poster from a small museum


Two days in Bolzano with rides out into the mountains trying to keep out of the way on the mad locals who seem to ignore every common sense rule of survival! Then back over the Alps via Timmelsjoch, across Austria and into the Black Forest for the B500 Schwarzwaldhochstraße. We've done this several times in previous years, but always in the rain - this year was brilliant sunshine.

bottom of Timmelsjoch

in the dolomites


Then a quick dash back through France on the autoroute, stopping at the Verdun WW1 battlefields and the old F1 circuit at Reims. Then the worst part of it all - back up north from Dover.

Just under 3000 miles in 10 days and only 2 days of rain. In previous years, I've always said that I wanted to video some of the rides, so this year a had a GoPro - best record of a trip yet. I'm still editing the 40+ hours, but I've finished a few bits.

approach to Hahntennjoch http://youtu.be/BfofDZVkDRc

Hahntennjoch
part 1 http://youtu.be/3fq8nj4U8_o
part 2 http://youtu.be/QqNQmN394cI
part 3 http://youtu.be/c7fzvhd9aZU

Austrian roads http://youtu.be/pesLf8wDwu4

B500 http://youtu.be/M5DzoI7Cxi8

back across France http://youtu.be/ZRlmIKvCO_0

I'll ad more as I get time to finish them. And please ... no comments about bad lines/missed overtaking opportunities/screwed up corners!! I'm a very average/slow rider.

roll on next year!

[Blackal]

Sounds good!

What camera did you use, and resolution/FPS?

Quite a good view through the screen too.

Will have a closer trawl through the videos later.

Cheers!

Al

[mikek_7]

Its a GoPro HD Hero 2. All recorded at 720p at 25fps rather than full 1080p as it only does 4:3 at full HD and I wanted 16:9 for the telly, Uses a fair amount of SD cards - a 32Gb holds about 7 hours ie a couple of days rides just recording interesting bits. Battery lasts 2-3 hours, so 2 batteries a day.

The timelapse setting is brilliant. The across France one was a shot every 10seconds which gave me about 3000 5Mpixel images!

As you might expect, YouTube really hammers the quality even at HD, the originals are better quality than I expected. All in all, a great record of the trip as I can see the scenery properly for the first time without worrying about the next corner!

[Boxermed69]

Great stuff Mike. Thanks for sharing.

Mike

[Dai wiskers]

Watched the first two video's will be checking the rest out later look good so far



Was that the best pic you could get of the Z650? i always wanted one of them in my youth; never fancied the Z1 or Z900 the 650 just seemed right thinking about it it was probably the 650 bit that sounded right i still have a soft spot for A10's & A65's

[slparry]

Watched the first two video's will be checking the rest out later look good so far



Was that the best pic you could get of the Z650? i always wanted one of them in my youth; never fancied the Z1 or Z900 the 650 just seemed right thinking about it it was probably the 650 bit that sounded right i still have a soft spot for A10's & A65's

Me too ... a bog on top of the Wayfarers

I've had two z650's .. a B1 and an F1, one zx750-a2 and a Z1R. The smaller engines are nice enough but as usual cubes are best I'd love another Z1R

[mikek_7]

Watched the first two video's will be checking the rest out later look good so far

Ta - doing more editing at the mo, so I'll try to add to the list is people want to see them.


[quote="Was that the best pic you could get of the Z650? [/quote]
this year yes ... I've been trying to find one from previous years. He's had it since new and rides it like a ferret up a drainpipe. He has no respect for bikes in front going slower and frequently overtakes more capable bikes on those tyres would look more at home on a moped! BUT when it gets to going up the passes in the Alps ... its my turn! - going down, he gets past again

[StreetFlatTwin]

The vids look great your a lucky man! The GoPro's are amazing bit s of kit - dead easy to use.

Did you have the GoPro on the tank with the bicg sucker or something else?

I used a handlebar mount to record my footage and the screen was a pain in the .......the top lip just seemed to be where you wanted to look!!

see what I mean here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScHsgRM5Fz4

A photo of your set up would be great!!

[mikek_7]

The bar mount is in front of my GPS mount which places is about 3" above the top yoke and just in front. Because of the combined weight, I had to add a stabiliser bar.







The side mount uses the suction cup mounted so the camera is just above the LH barrel. I was a bit worried about heat ... but it was just a case of keeping moving!



I'm still editing, but there is a clip from the Dolomites here ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXRzpop6-Xc
yes, more fluffed corners and bad lines, topped off by cyclists.

The vids look great your a lucky man! The GoPro's are amazing bit s of kit - dead easy to use.

Did you have the GoPro on the tank with the bicg sucker or something else?

I used a handlebar mount to record my footage and the screen was a pain in the .......the top lip just seemed to be where you wanted to look!!

see what I mean here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScHsgRM5Fz4

A photo of your set up would be great!!

[url][/url]

[Blackal]

Clever mounts (and a bloody clean bike ).

You don't get any panel vibration on the suction-mount? or do your knees dampen that out?

I must admit, using a Contour HD bullet-cam, I run a safety tether (a wire trace - normally used for pike fishing) to a hardpoint - just in case the sucker/mount comes free

Al

[mikek_7]

I was worried about vibration, but as you'll see from the B500 (http://youtu.be/M5DzoI7Cxi8 ) there is very little. Probably bracing with the knees helps, but I suspect its down to a very wide field of view.

What I like about the side mount (apart from the view) is that it picks up all the intake noise.

I always meant to have a safety wire, but never got round to it. The suction cup holds *really* well (supposed to be secure up to 150mph) but I'll probably do it over teh winter. Being a non-fisherman, what's a wire trace?!

clean, looks it in the photos, but it had just been washed! It doesn't look anything like that at the moment ':oops:'

Clever mounts (and a bloody clean bike ).

You don't get any panel vibration on the suction-mount? or do your knees dampen that out?

I must admit, using a Contour HD bullet-cam, I run a safety tether (a wire trace - normally used for pike fishing) to a hardpoint - just in case the sucker/mount comes free

Al

[url][/url]

[Lpb]

Good video.
What GPS mount is that please?
Thanks
Lloyd.

[mikek_7]

Its Techmount ... expensive, but really good. The one they list as a fork top mount (http://tinyurl.com/bqwno98) now looks nothing like the one I have http://tinyurl.com/cpm595n)
In the 6 years I've had it, its never needed adjusting and looks as good as new.

Good video.
What GPS mount is that please?
Thanks
Lloyd.

[/url]

[Blackal]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXRzpop6-Xc

That car coming towards you in minute 2:44 wasn't taking any chances, when he saw you overtaking.................

A good video - enjoyed it.

Al

[mikek_7]

Yes m'lud, guilty as charged ... A bit of a borderline overake. But, by Italian standards, it was very restrained.

One day I'll find out how to get round hairpins at a reasnoble lick. Looks like a good excuse to go back next year!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXRzpop6-Xc

That car coming towards you in minute 2:44 wasn't taking any chances, when he saw you overtaking.................

A good video - enjoyed it.

Al