FREE Bargain bad boy - Cycle Torque

GoPro hD hero
PICKETT was blown away.
It’s not often Cycle Torque’s
luddite editor is impressed
by technology, but when he
saw the footage from the
GoPro HD Hero wearable
camera I’d bought, he was
gobsmacked.
He mumbled, “I can see
us owning a few of these…”
I’m more than impressed
with the little HD Hero, too.
Starting at round $400, it
shoots really good quality
footage, especially if you’ve
got good light.
So far there’s two Cycle
E-torquE E-torquE www.cycletorque.com.au
SEPTEMBER 2010 - 55
Torque videos up which use
Hero footage, and both give
a great impression of what
it’s like on the bike – the
first one we did was the
Kawasaki KLX250SF, which
just happened to be in the
Cycle Torque garage when
the camera arrived. Ad man
Dennis Penzo was throwing
a leg over to go to the local
shops, so I used the suction
cup attachment and sent
him off with the GoPro on
the side of the bike. What
came back was great footage
of him hooking through
suburbia on the Kawasaki’s
neat Supermoto.
The next thing was to
attach the GoPro to my car
and have Dennis hook in,
getting some shots of the
bike on the move. Add in a
soundtrack and some still
images and it was one of the
quickest videos we’ve ever
made.
Next up was the Kawasaki
KX250F launch. The
onboard shots are from
rider Todd Reed’s helmet
and again, they look great.
We also captured the
slow-motion jump with the
camera panning the bike,
which I think is the best
scene in the whole show.
The GoPro also shoots
5mp still photos, but I
haven’t really tried that out
yet.
The specs show it can
shoot 1080p at 30fps (frames
per second), but we find
the wider-angle view
(170-degrees versus 127)
and 60fps (which is better
for slow motion) suits onboard
bike action better.
The extra wide angle field
of view means the focussing is fixed and
depth of field is huge.
There are many ways to mount the Hero,
including adhesive mounts, straps, suction
caps and tripod adaptors.
Here at Cycle Torque we’re very happy
with the videos, podcasts and eMags we’ve
been producing, but we are pretty new
to the electronic media lark. If you’ve got
any comments, suggestions, brickbats or
bouquets, don’t be afraid to let us know -
publisher@cycletorque.com.au.
To see the videos mentioned in the story,
go to http://www.cycletorque.com.au/
vodcastList.php (if you’re reading the
eMag version, just click on the link).
special time.
For more information about the GoPro
camera, check out www.gopro.com - for
the details of how to get one, call Lusty
Industries on 02 4953 7667.
– Nigel Paterson
The view at the top of the Trans Fagarasului Highway. The Merry Cemetery.
a laugh out of his antics. Maybe I shouldn’t have Turda for a farewell dinner supplied by the local
sledged his riding so much.
town council which is promoting tourism.
We check out the ‘Merry Cemetery’ which is It was sad to say goodbye to the Transylvania
very colourful and each gravestone tells the story Live crew. We were treated with great respect and
in rst person of the deceased person’s life story.
It is all about celebrating the person’s life, but one
they went out of their way to ensure we had a
little girl who died after being hit by a car had me The trip was exotic, humorous, sobering, wild,
in a sombre mood for a while.
breathtaking, and visually spectacular. To say
It’s not hard to notice the change in people’s this is one of the greatest things I’ve done on a
looks in this area. You see many with blond hair motorcycle is a major understatement. It’s hard
and blue eyes, almost Nordic in looks. This town to describe the region’s beauty but there’s many
is much like the others but Bogdan says we need areas in Australia just as beautiful. I found the
to make up time so a slightly frantic ride through culture and the way of life of the Romanian
the heart of Sighetu Marmatiei leaves us laughing. people the special part of the trip. It might be a
Even Glen is coping, bipping his horn so drivers cliché but it’s truly a country of contrasts. Every
know there’s a madman on the loose.
country in the world is to a degree but I found
We take a detour due to the ooding, nding the differences between old and new, and the
a bumpy but almost deserted road, and enjoy a communist architecture an intoxicating mix.
‘spirited’ strop. Bogdan tells us it’s a poor area Our friends Glen and Sue had a blast as well,
and people either stop and stare or wave to us. and considered it money well spent. Each day
We nally arrive at Cluj Napoca to drop our was around 200 kilometres or so and with the
kit off, and continue back to our starting point in walking tours, and the generally slow pace of
The latest on
www.cycletorque.com.au
(live links if you’re reading the emag)
• Kawasaki Kx250f video
and special edition emag
• motocross interviews on video
marmont, Boyd, simmonds
Romanian traf c it will take you most of the day
to get to your destination. The 650 Glen and Sue
• harley-Davidson were on was ne two-up, Sue even fell asleep fat on Boy as part of lo a longer video
trip.
the back a few times during the trip.
Prices and other stuff
Transylvania • Kawasaki Live don’t just do Klx250sf motorcycle video
tours, also on the menu are cultural tours,
historic tours, vampire tours, pretty much
whatever you’d like to check out in Transylvania
the team at TL can organise it.
On the bike side of things the eet is mostly
BMW F650 GS single cylinder go anywhere
machines, with a couple of 1200 GS adventure
tourers as well. These types of bikes are perfect
for negotiating the mainly poorly maintained
roads, and TL is looking to continually update
its eet.
You can do the full tour like we did, or you
can hire a bike off TL with a written guide and
tips of where to go for the best Transylvanian
experience. You can also bring your own bike if
you like, so getting it shipped over to Europe by
Get Routed is an option, especially if you do this
You can also opt for an enduro tour which is
mostly off road. If it’s by bike, by horse or even
by helicopter it can be done by TL.
The guided tour we did costs around AUD
$1400, pillion an extra $550, and bike hire for
seven days $700. This is subject to exchange
rates. This also covers all accommodation and
some meals. Food and alcohol is pretty cheap.
You can’t y direct to Cluj Napoca. We decided
to spend a night in Munich, and then the ight
into Romania was a short hour and a half from
there.
Check out Transylvania Live – Adventure
Motorcycle Tours, www.motorcycle-tours.travel,
(02) 8005 7337.
Do yourself a favour, a riding tour of Vlad’s
old stomping ground is something you’ll
thoroughly enjoy and cherish forever.
– Chris Pickett