Bro...

 

Apparently, I am a curmudgeon... for sure, I am not... "Bro."

I got out for a while on the CTX today.  The bike was needing gas before I went too far.  I stopped at a Circle K, the only gas station along my route to the fun riding.  Circle Ks in general seem to factor in for robberies and assaults in some parts of the Phoenix area... I like to refer to them as: Stab & Go.

There were two other motorcycles getting gas when I pulled in.  While tapping my credit card and getting the pump ready to go, one of the other motorcyclists came up to me and said, "You wanna race, bro?"

"Why would I want to do that?"

"You have a bike, bro - it's what we do!"

I said, "No, it's not what I do, but thanks for asking."  Damn whippersnappers.  I am not a "bro" nor a "dude."  He skulked back to his bike.

At this point, the other guy on a motorcycle came over to me and said, "That was weird.  Nice bike you have there - what is it?"  We talked bikes a bit; he is on a Triumph (Tiger Sport 660)sd, one of the sport bike models, not a classic like a Bonneville.

I told him about the CTX.  Briefly.  Then complimented his bike and told him, "I had a Triumph back when I was 17; a 650 Bonneville."

He said to me, "Yeah, I was 17 when I got this."  The bike couldn't have been more than a year old.  My modular helmet covers all but my eyes and nose, so he probably couldn't easily see that I was old enough to be his grandfather.  About that time, the pump clicked off, and I wished him "Safe riding."  I think he could tell that I was ready to ride; he said the same back to me and headed back towards his bike.

Right before going out to the garage, I decided to grab a camera, the new Insta360 Go 3s.  It is a pretty simple action-type camera, but doesn't have the capability of connecting to an external mic... so, the wind and engine sounds are the only audio you can get with this while on a bike.  The camera works OK for picking up your voice when in low noise situations.  I knew it wouldn't be as good as the DJI Action 4, the Pocket 3, or the Insta360 X4 (360º camera)... but, I wanted to see if it would have a place in ride videos.

My conclusion: yeah, it works fine on the bike; it would be best as a "second camera," while dedicating voice to one of the other cameras.  So, as a different view looking forward, or a looking back at the rider camera, this will work.  I have no shortage of cameras... just a matter of picking the right "tool" for the job.  This camera will also be good as a POV camera when out walking or bicycling around.

Video will be coming.

Here are a couple stills:

Looking into a rear-view mirror to see the small camera on a chin mount on my helmet...

 The view from that helmet mount...

 That's the camera's "action pod" in the photo - it can be used as a remote and a monitor (seeing what the camera sees).  Or put the camera in the action pod and it is pretty much another action camera.

With the camera in the action pod mounted towards the center of the windshield...

 This is also the best position to reduce wind noise, but still get some sound from the engine.  And, with the camera reversed, looking back at the rider...

 It is fast and easy to move that camera to all these different positions.  Yeah, it will have a place in my camera options.

Video will be coming.  Probably.