IT WORKS !!

Make sure you press the HQ button.

With grateful thanks to Bob for his advice and tips, I finally made my super battery to keep the camera running on my bike. Bob steered me in the right direction, it’s all about Milli Amps (MA) and bake bean tins when it comes to batteries.

The battery holder for the bike is made from two cigarette packets, rubber bands, sticky tape, sponge, and bean tin lids cut up to make all the contacts. I managed to find some good rechargeable batteries in town, 2 x 2100MA and 4 x 2500MA.

Last night whilst making the battery holder, I left the camera running to see how long it now records video for. Previously it recorded for just 4 minutes before to two batteries inside the camera were completely drained, last night it recorded with 6 external batteries for over an hour before the 1 GB SD card was full…..Sucsess!!

Today I went for a run over our local accident black spot twisties to Gocek,  just to see if everything worked on the road, it did, so this means more video’s in the future, but they will not be so ”roady” as this one…..This video was just for demonstration.

VOLTS, AMPS, AND WHO KNOWS WATT !!

Never under-estimate the will power of a penny-pinching tight bastard, I’m nearly a week in to this camera project. I could go out and buy a proper video camera tomorrow, but no, I’m still trying to convert my ordinary still camera’s in to DVD quality video camera’s for use on the bike lol.

This is progress so far, I made up some cardboard battery shapes, with metal screws at the tip and wire running along them out of the camera. These take the place of real batteries inside the camera, but make contact inside the camera in the usual way, so I have not had to bugger about and damage the inside of the camera.

So, phase one went well, (Only took me 3 days to think of  making dummy batteries) but phase two, connect up fatter longer lasting batteries has not gone well, in fact, it’s weird, very weird indeed!!

All 3 of my camera’s are the same, they take two 1.5v AA batteries, connected in Series making 3v in total. So, on the end of the lead running out of the camera I connect two 1.5v AA batteries in Series making 3v and……Nothing!!

All 3 cameras were the same, 3v no longer fires them up, how strange, but there is yet stranger to come…….It took four 1.5v AA batteries connected in series making 6v, parallel did nothing either, to fire any of the camera’s up.

IT WORKS!!!……made over 2 hours of video last night, way past the 4 minutes the batteries normally last. I modified the long battery weapon in to a smaller, more manageable configuration using wires.

Soooo……This morning, flush with success and considering myself a NASA scientist at the very least, I went out and bought the fat batteries while I waited for the phone call to join the Space programme.

Yeah…Fat batteries, I should be able to video all day now………NOTHING!!!

Connecting the 4 fat batteries in the same way as the small AA batteries produced nothing on any camera, but 3 fat batteries made the camera try, there must be some weird kind of Amp or Watty thing going on here.

Now the very, very strange part, 3 fat batteries plus one dead small AA battery had the camera up and videoing straight away, but the juice did not last as long as the 4 small AA batteries…….ıt’s just bizzare!!

The quest for longer videoing time continues……..

OOPS – ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

This morning started funnily, I was on my way to the nearby town of Ortaca, in a fruitless attempt to find a charger for my camera, when I passed Theo on the opposite side of the road. There was a steel rail separating the two sides of the road for about half a mile, I turned around at the first opportunity, and so did Theo.

We passed each other yet again……So we both turned around again!!

On the third passing, I stopped at the side of the road and waited for him, this is one reason we need bike to bike radios, you have to laugh.!! Theo was on his way to Fethiye to meet Boris in order to pick up his radio and headset, so I went along also for the ride.

We met up with Boris  just passed the Gocek tunnel, we did not use the tunnel, but instead  opted for the twisties over the mountain. After collecting the radio and headset we headed back over the twisties once again, I was at the back as usual, because I am always the slowest on bends in our riding group.

Accelerating around an up hill bend, I noticed on the road a shinny strip  about 40cm wide and 10 meters long, I just assumed it was melted tarmac as usual and avoided it, Theo Didn’t see it. His bike suddenly weaved violently, the wheels slid out from under him…..in a second the bike was on it’s side sliding along the road for about 15 meters (45 feet) before coming to a stop.

I pulled off the road and went over to help Theo, who was hobbling to the safety of the roadside, his bike was laying across the road near the white lines, engine running, petrol leaking,  and back wheel spinning,  still in gear. I hit the kill switch, paused for a second, no fire, so I righted his bike, but both the clutch and gear lever were broken off and it was hard dragging it to the side of the road still in gear, the oil all over the tyres did help though!

Theo took his shoe and sock off, an enormous swelling half the size of a tennis ball had appeared on his ankle, and his leg was bleeding heavily from  several puncture wounds, we both wondered if his ankle was broken. We both joked around for a few minutes about how brave he was to keep himself between the bike and the road, to protect the bike.

I told him that I had done first aid training 30 years ago and never had a chance to practice heart massage or mouth to mouth resuscitation, he said he was fine and didn’t need heart massage just yet.

I said, ”are you really sure because I want to try it”.

Theo said either,  ”Go away” or  ”Fuck Off”  I cant remember which!!

He phoned his brother Korhan to come and get his bike with the pick-up truck and take him to hospital, then he asked me if I had my camera with me, I said that I did. Theo then said I should take photos and write about it, because accidents are part of motorcycling.

So here are a few photos of the scene, don’t worry I avoided any close-ups of all the blood and wounds on the inside of his leg. Two men in a car stopped and came over to see if we were OK, Theo explained that his brother was coming, and thanked them for their offer of help.

It was actually thick black engine oil on the road, and not melted tar as I first thought, some old truck must have thrown a rod or something trying to get up the hills, I would say that there is easily a full sump of engine oil dumped along the road.

We joked around again for a while why we waited for Theo’s brother and cousin to arrive in the pick-up.

It was off the Fethiye hospital next, the x-rays showed no broken bones, which was the main worry. An hour later we were back in his office and his bike had been dropped off at the mechanics for repair.

I asked Theo if we were still going on a ride to test the radios tomorrow morning, he said ”Maybe, if the mechanic has fixed my bike.”

Theo has asked the mechanic to make some modifications to his bike.

VIDEO ATTEMPT 2 – MAKING PROGRESS

New thinking last night… about 03.10 AM it was… has led me to scrap the first handlebar camera mount (too much vibration) and make another mount by using a miniature tripod.

This new one is so good, it’s the final camera mount, it is simply a miniature tripod costing 4 Pounds (6 USD) some hose pipe, double-sided sticky rubber, black electrical tape,  and cable ties.

The ”Dave Mount,” as I shall call it, I will patent the name incase RAM MOUNTS  try to copy my design lol…..My mount fits nice and securely on the brake fluid reservoir via good old cable ties.

I rode along this bumpy, pot hole strewn road at a little over a hundred, and the ”Dave Mount” never budged an inch. All that remains now is to figure a way to connect the camera to the bikes electrics.

FIRST VIDEO ATTEMPT

Be Warned, the sound and video quality are simply dire, but its a first attempt!!

I cobbled together a mount by using bits of hose pipe, tape, sticky rubber and a sponge stolen from Theo’s office.

Those of you who were brave enough to watch the whole video will see that vibration is a bit of an issue!!

A re-think on where to mount the camera tomorrow.

RIDE TO KUSADASI

The much-anticipated ride, to test out our bike to bike radios finally came today, the destination chosen was kusadasi, a sea-side town about 150 miles away. An early start, I was to meet up with Theo at Ortaca, we would then ride together to Mugla to meet up with Boris and Andac.

Notice the ends of the fingers have been cut off from Theo’s gloves, he borrowed the thick winter gloves from a friend, but the gloves were to small for his hands, and hence, the finger tips had to be cut off !!

It’s about an hours ride to Mugla, the town is over 1500 feet above sea level and it gets pretty cold up there in winter. We were pulled over by the police in Mugla for a document check, I have never had a document check take 20 minutes before, it must be Theo’s fault !

All papers in order, we head off to find Boris and Andac.

We had a quick play with the radios, but alas, Boris has not been able to find headsets with the correct ear piece jacks, despite cobbling together adapters etc. his radios will not work properly without the correct jack. The radios are made here in Turkey, so one would be forgiven for thinking that it would be easy to buy the correct jacks etc. here in Turkey….but no!!

With mine being the only functional set out of three, the test was obviously abandoned and a shopping trip now began between here and Kusadasi, to find an electronics shop.

First stop was around 10  AM for breakfast, Boris had made a flask of coffee and also brought along some doughnut type things to eat.

While we were parked I took a couple of photos of the PTT switch, which I mounted on the mirror stem and can reach easily with my thumb,  also photos of  the handlebar brace and new tank pad.

The new tank pad is much larger than the old one, so should help to prevent more scratches on the tank should I ever use a tank bag again.

Off we go again towards Kusadasi.

Andac on his BMW F650.

Theo on his Kanuni GT 250.

Boris on his Honda Africa Twin.

After another stop for ciggies and a look at the map, I thought it would be fun to play with the camera and try for those difficult mirror shots.

I didn’t notice at first, but Theo is stood up on the pegs trying to get in on the shot.

After another hour or so we stopped off at a country cafe for tea.

Riding through the countryside on the outskirts of Kusadasi, it was cotton harvest time.

On the outskirts of Kusadasi was the first of many shops that we called in on to find the correct headset jack, Theo and I were in some deep, deep conversation in the car park about either bikes or monkeys lol.

As you descend the hill into kusadasi, the 13th Century Byzantine castle comes in to view out in the bay.

We parked up on the pavement, Boris and Theo went off walking around kusadasi in search of electrical shops whist Andac and myself sat by the bay drinking tea.

After a fruitless search of Kusadasi plus a neighbouring town we headed back empty-handed.

All the good photos are courtesy of Boris, next trip together I shall have to steal that excellent camera of his !

BACK FROM UK….WITH BIKE TREASURE

Landed yesterday evening after yet another bloody awful ”cattle class” flight from UK to Turkey. I never want to fly ever again, the seats are designed to accomodate 3 foot tall pygmies only, those of us 6 foot and over need a liberal dose of axel grease smeared on our knees and asses before we can be wedged in our seats!!

I digress, although the trip to England was for a sad reason, after the funeral I spent my remaining days there catching up with old friends, and shopping. I bought the two way radios and headsets that I mentioned in a previous post, plus handlebar risers of 25mm and a handlebar brace, new tank pad, cable ties, and a mounting mechanism for either mp3 player or the two way radios.

The keen observers amongst you (Ian) will have spotted the tins of shoe polish in the photo above, according to much internet research, black shoe polish will bring faded black plastic back to life, have not tried it yet!!

The brace and risers were fitted today, the brace has removed almost all traces of vibration from the handlebars, the risers mean I can keep my back straight now, much more comfortable for long trips.

PAINTING – DAY 2

The side frame and swing arm are to be painted today, the colour of these items is a shade or two different from the body colour so I asked him how we would find out the paint number for these parts.

”No problem, I paint the Kawasaki’s and Honda’s for this area, I know all their colours.”

I persuaded him that by using copious quantities of masking tape and newspaper, he would be able to spray the parts in situ and I would not have to have the bike in pieces for days. So, after rubbing down with wet and dry, the fiddly and time consuming process of masking up, began.

You cant tell from the photo, but the swinging arm, plus all hoses etc. are masked up all the way to the pivot point in the bikes bowels.

Many layers later, and after a couple of hours drying time , the masking is all removed to reveal luscious new paintwork.

You cant tell Linda and her, chainsaw like boots, have ever been on my bike lol. Polishing will wait untill I return from UK in a couple of weeks or so.

PAINTING – DAY 1

Finally, our one and only local spray painter has managed to fit me in to touch up the bodywork on the Transalp, I’ve seen his work on a couple of bikes and he’s worth waiting for. Mostly there are dozens of stone chips here and there from the appalling roads here, plus many scratches from the tank bag and Linda’s boots. Also some wanker scraped the side of my fairing in a car park last month, leaving an almost 6 inch long gouge.

On further examination some of the stone chips on the front mud guard had left minuet indentations, so my painter decided they needed filler as with the fairing.

While he was busy sanding and filling, I got some of his special grit laden polish and started removing some of the tank scratches and Linda’s boot marks on the side panels, 85% of all the scuffs and scratches are now gone!

After sanding and filling a few times over, it was then primer and sanding after masking up.

5 or 6 layers of primer were applied, and rubbed down with wet and dry paper in between.

Several layers of metallic silver, followed by three layers of clear lacquer.

The paint blends in perfectly already, a first class job, but tomorrow when the paint has hardened properly he will then polish the fairing and mud guard. He will them spray parts of the frame and swing arm, again, bloody stone chips, if only they would build roads properly here!!

BIKE 2 BIKE COMMUNICATIONS

After one week of intensive research by four members of our bike group, Theo, Boris, Korhan, and myself, none of us gifted with the technology gene bye the way. We have, after trawling the internet and even phoning the factory where the radios are made, twice, we have a cheap solution to bike to bike comms, plus rider to pillion and anyone to anyone in the group!!

Two way radios, or Walkie Talkies as they are sometimes known. Two way radios operating on the PMR446 frequency are licence free throughout the greater European region, they transmit at only 0.5 watts and do not interfere with the Police or Military radio frequencies of most countries.

There are many radios to choose from in the UK, from as little as 10 Pounds (16 USD) each for a 3KM range, or much higher prices for fully waterproof (IPX7 standard = under 1m of water for 30 minutes remaining operational)

We chose the radios pictured above:- Cobra MT 975, they have a 12KM range, are water proof to IPX4 (IPX4 = light rain) and are cheap at 22 Pounds each radio (35 USD) they also have an earphone jack where you can plug in your headset.

There are a few choices of in-helmet headsets with super slim speakers, the one pictured above is the MHS500 for open face helmets with the microphone on a boom that I have ordered for myself at 21 Pounds (33 USD) full faced helmets have a flat mic attached to the inside of the helmet near your mouth. There are both cheaper, and slightly more expensive headsets than my one, but they operate the same way.

VOX = Voice on Command, in other words, when you speak the radio transmits automatically, but from people who have tried VOX operation on motorbikes its fine up to 50KPH (30 MPH) after that the wind roar and engine noise will keep setting the VOX off.

PTT = Press To Talk, is the solution for motorbikes, you have a waterproof button and cable connected to the radio on your handlebar, you simply press to talk.

Via an adapter, two headsets can be connected to one radio for the rider and pillion, allowing the rider and pillion to talk to one another and anyone else in the group, I read an additional PTT switch is required for the pillion but at present this is not completely understood untill we get the radios and start to play.

In conclusion, we have bike to bike communication for one bike and rider for 43 Pounds (68 USD) much cheaper than Bluetooth offerings at hundreds of Dollars.