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Aaron Cake
Administrator
Canada
6718 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 17 2012 : 11:31:51 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by wasssup1990
I used the Google Earth software.
http://www.google.com/earth/index.html
I wasn't carrying a GPS tracking device, I plotted the route manually from my memory when I got home. I thought you would be interested in this Aaron because I remember you talking about going on a bike ride with your trailer that you made.
Ah, I thought you had a smartphone app or something. I've been looking for such an app for my Blackberry but all of them tie into a website on which you must pay a subscription. I'd rather just pay once for the app and have it as a standalone thing than rely on a data connection or some website that wants to sell my information.
Ooohhh...a random search through AppWorld just found something that looks like what I want:
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/139?lang=en
For $10 it's worth it and I'll purchase it next spring (when the weather for biking is once again here).
39KM is a good ride. We did the London to Port Stanley ride again this year (with the bike cart, with new and improved tongue/hitch) in August. Sure it was 35C out, but it was fun and we made good time. 49KM from my front door to destination in about 6 hours, with lots of breaks and goofing off. Once again champaign was opened at the cliffs overlooking Lake Erie.
I wouldn't want to plot the trip on a publicly accessible map because the destination is a "secret" cabin in the woods owned by a friend of a friend.
quote:
Originally posted by wasssup1990
Eleven of the world's best drivers cars, dragging. Why? Because they can.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDP7Pty8Qnw
Meh, if you have to ask why, you'll never understand. What I love are the idiotic comments left by viewers. I bet 99.999% of them haven't driven a car faster than 16 seconds. 
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wasssup1990
Nobel Prize Winner
A Land Down Under
2261 Posts |
Posted - Jan 17 2012 : 9:39:41 PM
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Cool! I need to go bike riding more often.
My mother used to cover about 100km in 6 hours on dirt tracks. She'd go everywhere and not just in Melbourne, but all over the country and on islands around the country. Sometimes she'd have to carry her bike because the terrain was unrideable and even throw her bike over a fence to continue her journey.
My next goal is to ride all the may down to the beach. As you can see from the map I posted, I almost got there. I won't be taking the long way though.
No promises but I hope to post some pictures as well.
See ya. |
When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity.
When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion. |
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wasssup1990
Nobel Prize Winner
A Land Down Under
2261 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 01:50:24 AM
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LMFAO!
Some authoritively voiced door-knocker was trying to convince my dad to change his electricity company. While that was happening a telemarketer called to which I answered. They wanted to know if we had an internet connection and if we download stuff. I said "Of course!". The woman wanted to know what kind of stuff I downloaded, so I said "Videos" naturally. My father had just finished with the door-knocker and I gave him the "The facial expression" letting him know it's another telemarketer. I handed over the phone to him and he continued the conversation by saying that he likes to download pornography videos of the "fat woman" variety. The telemarketer wanted him to turn on his computer. She asked him what he saw on the screen to which he replied "a fat woman doing naughty things to herself". Keep in mind that he was doing this in a funny voice. The telemarketer asked him if the computer had finished starting to which he replied "it's a 1981 XT, it takes forever to start!". Long story short, "You you wanna sucka my dik?" and then he hangs up. The person on the other end of the line (India perhaps) was also laughing. 
I don't know what they were trying to sell me but it was clear from the get-go that I didn't need it.  They have no idea who they are talking to. All of the computer I have made and maintain, all work like clockwork.
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When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity.
When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion. |
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wasssup1990
Nobel Prize Winner
A Land Down Under
2261 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 10:33:23 AM
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Alrighty then, about my bike rides. I can't be bothered to post pictures so I made friggin video instead!
It's just a mish mash of footage which ends with a bang in a "WTF?" moment.
http://youtu.be/25ekJKAJkg0
Enjoy! |
When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity.
When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion. |
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Aaron Cake
Administrator
Canada
6718 Posts |
Posted - Jan 21 2012 : 10:28:33 AM
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Long bike rides are great, and it's really only recently that I've started heading out of the city on a regular basis. Before about a year ago I'd basically stick to the bike paths (London does have a lot of them, and they all sort of start 2 blocks from my house) and exploring around the city. 2 days before the Port Stanley ride I followed one of the paths to the end, continued outside the city, rode a bit loop via country roads, found an abandoned nursing home, and ended up covering, like you, 39KM.
I noticed you don't have a light, nor any kind of speedometer/odometer? I can get not having a bicycle computer, but NO LIGHT?! It's actually illegal here to ride at night without front illumination, rear and side reflectors. Well, also without a helmet to but that's not enforced. You may or may not be able to see it in the pictures but there are two 75W fog lights mounted to my handle bars, with a battery pack made of 2 x 12V 7AH batteries in a box at the back. They light up the trails quite well.
We get those telemarketing calls as well, though sadly never when I'm home. I'd really like to fire up a Windows 98 virtual machine and then just play absolutely dumb as they ask me to do stuff. There are YouTube videos of people keeping these douchebags on the line for 2 - 3 hours! |
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wasssup1990
Nobel Prize Winner
A Land Down Under
2261 Posts |
Posted - Jan 22 2012 : 03:09:45 AM
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Prior to December, I hadn't even touched a bike for about a year. There were so many times I wanted to ride but I just couldn't find the time. Besides, the best times to bike ride are when it's not cold and raining so now is the best time anyway.
I think I would really have to plan ahead if I were to ride out of Melbourne. The city covers a wide area and I'm not sure if I have built up enough stamina to ride for that long.
Yeah I only have reflectors on my bike. I'm not familiar with the bike laws around here but I think riding without a helmet is illegal but not enforced, just like in London. I always wear a helmet regardless of the laws. I have ridden past cops on that bike and they didn't pull me up about anything. The cops here are more concerned with things that have an engine in them. When it's dark is when I'm on my way back home and when I take the shortest paths (roads). There is plenty of illumination so I don't have much of a need for a light - just adds more weight. Do you see that coiled up lock that I have on my bike? Well, SOMEONE lost the key and I can't get it off without breaking it. Damn. |
When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity.
When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion. |
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eze
Apprentice
Canada
66 Posts |
Posted - Jan 22 2012 : 09:44:36 AM
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Good morning gents, it never ceases to amaze me how Mr. Cake is always talking about something that inevitably catches my attention.
What kind of 75W fog light did ya jimmy on your bike sir? I was looking at some LED style lights for my motorcycle when found some decent low draw spot and flood lights at ADVMONSER.COM and I got an idea to try and jimmy a pair out of an old housing fitted with some LEDs from SUPERBRIGHTLED.COM for my bicycle. So after months of watching your videos and years of reading your posts on rx7club.com I thought I would peruse your forum and I am glad I did. |
Life is like a box of farkles |
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Aaron Cake
Administrator
Canada
6718 Posts |
Posted - Jan 22 2012 : 10:49:26 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by wasssup1990
Prior to December, I hadn't even touched a bike for about a year. There were so many times I wanted to ride but I just couldn't find the time. Besides, the best times to bike ride are when it's not cold and raining so now is the best time anyway.
Same with me. From about 2001 until 2007 or so I might have ridden once, then I finally decided to purchase a new bike. My previous bike, which I had since I was about 10, ended up outside when I needed the garage for Phase 1 of Project Tina and sadly, deteriorated. Then in 2007 Canadian Tire had a big bike sale so I thought it was time again. I had forgotten how awesome bike riding is.
quote:
I think I would really have to plan ahead if I were to ride out of Melbourne. The city covers a wide area and I'm not sure if I have built up enough stamina to ride for that long.
Yeah, probably a bit different than London. London doesn't really sprawl out, the city just basically ends where it ends on all sides so basically 8KM - 12KM in any direction gets you out of the city.
quote:
Yeah I only have reflectors on my bike. I'm not familiar with the bike laws around here but I think riding without a helmet is illeg abbut not enforced, just like in London. I always wear a helmet regardless of the laws. I have ridden past cops on that bike and they didn't pull me up about anything. The cops here are more concerned with things that have an engine in them. When it's dark is when I'm on my way back home and when I take the shortest paths (roads). There is plenty of illumination so I don't have much of a need for a light - just adds more weight. Do you see that coiled up lock that I have on my bike? Well, SOMEONE lost the key and I can't get it off without breaking it. Damn.
I wish police here would enforce laws against cyclists, because I am so bloody sick of seeing cyclists act like the laws don't apply to them. They are constantly running stop signs/lights, not signalling, pulling into traffic, and just causing a massive traffic disruption. Hell, this past summer I very nearly hit another cyclist while I was on my bike as he pulled off a sidewalk onto the road without looking, as I was booking it at about 50 KM/H. If I didn't see what he was about to do with a seconds notice, I would have hit him hard as he pulled in front of me.
Cut the lock off? The only thing that annoys me about my bike is the shape of the frame precludes convenient lock storage. So when I need one, it has to hang off the handle bars or in another annoying spot. Maybe I should make a bracket.
quote:
Originally posted by eze
Good morning gents, it never ceases to amaze me how Mr. Cake is always talking about something that inevitably catches my attention.
What kind of 75W fog light did ya jimmy on your bike sir? I was looking at some LED style lights for my motorcycle when found some decent low draw spot and flood lights at ADVMONSER.COM and I got an idea to try and jimmy a pair out of an old housing fitted with some LEDs from SUPERBRIGHTLED.COM for my bicycle. So after months of watching your videos and years of reading your posts on rx7club.com I thought I would peruse your forum and I am glad I did.
The foglights I used were just a regular old fog light that you would mount on a car. $5 on sale at the local Princess Auto. Please excuse the poor quality picture below, but my good camera is at my shop and the nearest camera was my Playbook. Good camera, but like most phone/tablet cameras, not good at all in low light.
I made a simple bracket with some 3/4" steel tubing. You can't see the switches but each light has it's own switch, mounted off a tab I welded onto the tubing, behind the handle bars. At the the time I didn't have a TIG so I couldn't have made it in aluminum.
LED foglights would probably be better for weight and power consumption. You can get them at most off road stores. These lights only came with 25W bulbs but I swapped in some brighter bulbs from the electronics store. Notice one is pointed down, one is level. That way I can run one on the road and not blind drivers, and another on the trail to provide long distance illumination. They work quite well.
The batteries are mounted behind the seat in a steel box. Adds a bit of weight but has been inconsequential. One day I'll make a new box out of aluminum.
They are two 12V 7Ah batteries in parallel. I've never drained them so far and have run the lights for 5 hours straight, so you could likely get away with one battery when using more efficient LED lighting. |
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eze
Apprentice
Canada
66 Posts |
Posted - Jan 22 2012 : 11:01:11 AM
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| please don't ever ask me to excuse you or otherwise apologize to me in any way! Back in the old days men would climb mountains to hear from a guru like yourself and the fact that you hook a brother up with such goddamn great info so quick......ok well I am done gratuitously kissing your ass but dude, you rock. That setup looks hardcore and there ain't nothing wrong with the pics, although I can see how a perfectionist like yourself might think there was. I wonder if the LEDs could produce the same strength beam as the conventional bulbs. I am going to order a bunch of replacement bulbs for my KLR650 so maybe we can coordinate and I can order a test bulb for your setup and we can test them side by side. If of course that sort of thing interests you. |
Life is like a box of farkles |
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Aaron Cake
Administrator
Canada
6718 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 10:00:58 AM
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I appreciate the kind words. 
There are some very strong LEDs out there these days, strong enough to be used as headlights by Audi and other OEMs. In most cases the colour spectrum is closer to daylight so they are more efficient for our eyes. The only problem seems to be price. Some Googling has not shown any decent LED fog light for under $150, when you can often get the incandescent version for $5-$10 on sale. I don't think a single LED bulb will do the job in a housing designed for incandescent since there is limited space. Normally the LED "bulbs" are a group of LEDs. Quite a lot of them in most of the off road fog lights I've seen.
FWIW, I briefly had a Schwinn LED bicycle light, which sucked. All it was good for was projecting a weak dot a few feet from the bike. That's what prompted me to make this system. |
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wasssup1990
Nobel Prize Winner
A Land Down Under
2261 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 11:10:41 AM
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Since we're on the topic of LEDs...
Last month my dad wanted me to convert his pillar mounted (sphere style) Verandah light to use LEDs. He wanted the light to harvest solar energy during the day and store the energy in batteries mounted in the light's base. He also wanted the light to turn off and turn on automatically in day-light and night-light respectively. It looks really nice.
During the design stage of the project I was comparing many different types of LEDs. Having done this research I estimate I could design, build and install a high-power/high-brightness LED on my bike along with its supporting circuitry for around $50 to $70. The LED input power is appropriately approximated to be around 10 Watts. Equivalent luminous intensity (not flux) can be compared to a 75 Watt incandescent light bulb.
Many of the powerful LEDs I have seen have a "viewing angle" of 120deg but 80% and above of their luminous flux intensity is beamed within an angle of 80deg according to the graphs given in their datasheets. |
When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity.
When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion. |
Edited by - wasssup1990 on Jan 24 2012 11:20:00 AM |
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eze
Apprentice
Canada
66 Posts |
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eze
Apprentice
Canada
66 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 2:03:30 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by wasssup1990
Since we're on the topic of LEDs...
Last month my dad wanted me to convert his pillar mounted (sphere style) Verandah light to use LEDs. He wanted the light to harvest solar energy during the day and store the energy in batteries mounted in the light's base. He also wanted the light to turn off and turn on automatically in day-light and night-light respectively. It looks really nice.
During the design stage of the project I was comparing many different types of LEDs. Having done this research I estimate I could design, build and install a high-power/high-brightness LED on my bike along with its supporting circuitry for around $50 to $70. The LED input power is appropriately approximated to be around 10 Watts. Equivalent luminous intensity (not flux) can be compared to a 75 Watt incandescent light bulb.
Many of the powerful LEDs I have seen have a "viewing angle" of 120deg but 80% and above of their luminous flux intensity is beamed within an angle of 80deg according to the graphs given in their datasheets.
Hey bud, I am sure they don't have Canadian Tire stores in Australia but this local hardware store (sometimes referred lovingly as crappy tire) has these:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/3/HouseHome/Lighting/OutdoorSecurityLighting/PRD~0524887P/HeathZenith+Motion+Sensor+Solar+Powered+LED+Security+Light.jsp?locale=en
I was thinking that you could mod it so that the solar panel is located out of sight and in the path of south facing sunlight and I know on these units you can disable the sensor so that it just operates automagically with the light sensor only essentially turning it on or off based on the availability of sunlight. You might have to fashion some kind of light diffuser so it shines evenly in a round glass bulb but I could see how something like this would easily work for the application you are describing. |
Life is like a box of farkles |
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wasssup1990
Nobel Prize Winner
A Land Down Under
2261 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 4:38:35 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by eze
quote:
Originally posted by wasssup1990
Since we're on the topic of LEDs...
Last month my dad wanted me to convert his pillar mounted (sphere style) Verandah light to use LEDs. He wanted the light to harvest solar energy during the day and store the energy in batteries mounted in the light's base. He also wanted the light to turn off and turn on automatically in day-light and night-light respectively. It looks really nice.
During the design stage of the project I was comparing many different types of LEDs. Having done this research I estimate I could design, build and install a high-power/high-brightness LED on my bike along with its supporting circuitry for around $50 to $70. The LED input power is appropriately approximated to be around 10 Watts. Equivalent luminous intensity (not flux) can be compared to a 75 Watt incandescent light bulb.
Many of the powerful LEDs I have seen have a "viewing angle" of 120deg but 80% and above of their luminous flux intensity is beamed within an angle of 80deg according to the graphs given in their datasheets.
Hey bud, I am sure they don't have Canadian Tire stores in Australia but this local hardware store (sometimes referred lovingly as crappy tire) has these:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/3/HouseHome/Lighting/OutdoorSecurityLighting/PRD~0524887P/HeathZenith+Motion+Sensor+Solar+Powered+LED+Security+Light.jsp?locale=en
I was thinking that you could mod it so that the solar panel is located out of sight and in the path of south facing sunlight and I know on these units you can disable the sensor so that it just operates automagically with the light sensor only essentially turning it on or off based on the availability of sunlight. You might have to fashion some kind of light diffuser so it shines evenly in a round glass bulb but I could see how something like this would easily work for the application you are describing.
I've actually got two similar devices. They stopped working since the hail storm we got on the 25th on December. I think their solar panels are smashed but I haven't checked yet.
I suppose you could mod one them to do what I did with my solar verandah light but you'd have to figure out how to bypass the Passive Infra-red Sensor so that it is constantly in the "motion detected" state. It's too clumsy for my standards and at $62.99 (not including mods), a total rip-off.
I'll post some pictures of the final product and maybe even my schematic later. |
When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity.
When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion. |
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wasssup1990
Nobel Prize Winner
A Land Down Under
2261 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 4:51:41 PM
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These pictures were taken on the 25th of December, 2011. The solar panel has since been rotate 90deg and placed on the side of the pillar to maximize sunlight exposure.
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When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity.
When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion. |
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Sittin On Tha Toilet
