C 400 GT: Foliage Ride in the Catskills Yesterday

[wspollack]

Just a little something for those who, like me, check for new posts on the forum.

I went for a ride yesterday, a 160-mile loop, on the C 400 GT, with my wife riding pillion:





I now have 3,700+ miles on the scoot, since taking delivery in June.

Here are a couple of highlight reels of the day's ride, six and 17 minutes, if anyone's not familiar with the fall color changes in this part of the world (and max YouTube resolution setting for these is 1080HD, which may not be set by default):

 

[Delray]

Nice vids, thanks for sharing. I like to watch things like this when I'm on my desktop computer on a phone call.

New York is such a pretty state. When I rode from Plattsburgh to Rochester on August 13th, through the High Peaks of the Adirondacks in the heart of summer, I marveled at how many shades of green Nature puts into those hills. Just gorgeous.

My favorite moment: After a few hours of riding, without a lot of sleep the night before, I stopped in Cranberry Lake for a break. It was a postcard-perfect day with blue skies, white clouds and enough breeze to entertain a big American flag in front of the Post Office overlooking the lake. With no one in sight, I stretched out on a long park bench and fell sound asleep. I was awakened by the tiniest, gentlest raindrops kissing my face. Before I even opened my eyes, I knew what it was and smiled. What a fantastic way to wake up!

 

[wspollack]

Nice vids, thanks for sharing. I like to watch things like this when I'm on my desktop computer on a phone call.

New York is such a pretty state. When I rode from Plattsburgh to Rochester on August 13th, through the High Peaks of the Adirondacks in the heart of summer, I marveled at how many shades of green Nature puts into those hills. Just gorgeous.

My favorite moment: After a few hours of riding, without a lot of sleep the night before, I stopped in Cranberry Lake for a break. It was a postcard-perfect day with blue skies, white clouds and enough breeze to entertain a big American flag in front of the Post Office overlooking the lake. With no one in sight, I stretched out on a long park bench and fell sound asleep. I was awakened by the tiniest, gentlest raindrops kissing my face. Before I even opened my eyes, I knew what it was and smiled. What a fantastic way to wake up!

And you never stopped in.

And I never made it to Asheville: it rained down there almost every day in August, and in the beginning of September that daughter got covid (she's almost back to normal now).

 

[Delray]

And you never stopped in.

Well, I rolled through Albany around 3:00 a.m., which didn't seem like a hospitable time to ring your doorbell ;o).

Hopefully we'll connect next year. Definitely doing annual summer migrations to Rochester. I had a blast. Son #1 is competing in his second Lake Placid Ironman on July 23rd so I'll be "in the neighborhood" then. Not sure if I'll "Fly and Ride" to New York or ship my bike. I would LOVE to enjoy the 650 GT in the High Peaks. Your bike sounds great in the video, btw, has that genuine BMW growl.

 

[motomanjim]

Thank you for sharing the videos as they confirm that New York has an abundance of beautiful scenery. I’m fascinated by your camera and the way it records speed and lean angle. I know you made full use of its recording capabilities on your recent Edelweiss tour. I toured southern Germany and the Austrian Alps on a rented R1200RT in 2008 and wish I could have recorded the beauty of my ride.

 

[byee]

Just a little something for those who, like me, check for new posts on the forum.

I went for a ride yesterday, a 160-mile loop, on the C 400 GT, with my wife riding pillion:

View attachment 3514

View attachment 3515

I now have 3,700+ miles on the scoot, since taking delivery in June.

Here are a couple of highlight reels of the day's ride, six and 17 minutes, if anyone's not familiar with the fall color changes in this part of the world (and max YouTube resolution setting for these is 1080HD, which may not be set by default):

Which camera are you using to make the videos?

 

[wspollack]

Thank you for sharing the videos as they confirm that New York has an abundance of beautiful scenery. I’m fascinated by your camera and the way it records speed and lean angle. I know you made full use of its recording capabilities on your recent Edelweiss tour. I toured southern Germany and the Austrian Alps on a rented R1200RT in 2008 and wish I could have recorded the beauty of my ride.

Which camera are you using to make the videos?

I'm using a GoPro Hero9 Black -- nothing unusual there. Did the same thing with my prior Hero7.

- I power on the camera c. five minutes before I head out. This is to give it time to lock onto satellites. (If you don't do that, it really has a hard time locking on while moving. I know, it's weird, because it doesn't have any problem using satellites after it's locked on.)

- I start recording, and leave for the day. I leave the camera on all day (well, except for lunch stops - then, same as starting out), powered from the bike, and usually with a 256 GB memory card in it (which covers c. 10.5 hours at my recording settings, although I may look into upping the resolution one of these years).

- I get home, and download all the day's files (GoPro makes 4GB files). (I generally save all of the files. I have three WD 5 TB USB drives -- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X41PWTY -- and I use a service called CrashPlan for cloud backups.)

- I feed the entire day's collection to Telemetry Extractor Premium for GoPro (https://goprotelemetryextractor.com/gopro-gps-telemetry-extract), and then to Google Maps, to generate a map of the route (out of curiosity to see where I actually rode, in case I want to duplicate parts of a ride later, etc.).

- I look at some videos, and decide which ones merit highlight reels. This is typically two or three consecutive files of those 4 GB chunks, which I then feed to Telemetry Overlay (https://goprotelemetryextractor.com/telemetry-overlay-gps-video-sensors). This gets the gauges added, per a simple template I designed, which I use for almost all of the videos. (I used Track Addict (https://www.hptuners.com/product/trackaddict-app/) for a few years, and some software that GoPro licensed for its use, but Telemetry Overlay is the cat's meow, much better.)

- I generally run that generated highlight reel through Movavi Video Editor Plus, to do some fade-ins and -outs, and maybe some page-turns or other transitions, if I want to chop a chunk out of the middle of a video (might be waiting at a traffic light, that sort of thing).

With the Hero5, GoPro introduced telemetry, i.e., a GPS chip (which is why I upgraded from a Hero4 to a Hero7). With the Hero9, that lean-angle sensor was added (which I think is technically called a Gravity Vector sensor), and Telemetry Overlay (TO) coded for that sensor, shortly afterward. Prior to that, TO had a calculated lean angle, based on speed, lat and long, and maybe some other stuff; I used that for a while on Hero7 and 9 videos, but the new, actual, sensor is much more accurate, much smoother, etc., than a calculated approximation of that.

If you think this is a long answer, I have a much longer write-up of this sort of thing on my web site. I've been meaning to add yet some more text to that, regarding moving from a two-suction-cup mount back to a single one, with the change from my former Burgman to the C 400 GT.

 

[wspollack]

...I toured southern Germany and the Austrian Alps on a rented R1200RT in 2008 and wish I could have recorded the beauty of my ride.

Yeah, 2008 was pretty early in the action-camera days. The trip will just have to live on in your mind's eye.

My wife and I did our first Edelweiss tour in 1998, and this was before I ever had a digital photo camera. Years later, I wound up scanning most of those paper photo prints, and then putting those scans up (https://www.billanddot.com/1998-07-Best-of-Europe/).

Sounds like you're due for another trip.

 

[motomanjim]

Yeah, 2008 was pretty early in the action-camera days. The trip will just have to live on in your mind's eye.

My wife and I did our first Edelweiss tour in 1998, and this was before I ever had a digital photo camera. Years later, I wound up scanning most of those paper photo prints, and then putting those scans up (https://www.billanddot.com/1998-07-Best-of-Europe/).

Sounds like you're due for another trip.

Oh WOW! I’m in trouble now for I’m thinking I need a GoPro camera and a trip to Germany. But alas!, if I could roll back the years a bit (well, more like a whole lot,) I would ship one of my bikes to Heidelberg and store it at Stefan Knopf’s headquarters. I rented my R1200RT from him in 2008 and rode solo. Prior to that, my first trip was an Edelweiss tour in the Alps in 2005. The pictures of your1998 trip are of places that I visited such as Rothenburg. My main purpose in going was to attend the BMW Biker Meeting held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. I really appreciate your detailed explanation of the GoPro9. I know a response like that takes a great deal of time and effort. How does the GoPro mount to your C400?

 

[wspollack]

Oh WOW! I’m in trouble now for I’m thinking I need a GoPro camera and a trip to Germany. But alas!, if I could roll back the years a bit (well, more like a whole lot,) I would ship one of my bikes to Heidelberg and store it at Stefan Knopf’s headquarters. I rented my R1200RT from him in 2008 and rode solo. Prior to that, my first trip was an Edelweiss tour in the Alps in 2005. The pictures of your1998 trip are of places that I visited such as Rothenburg. My main purpose in going was to attend the BMW Biker Meeting held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. I really appreciate your detailed explanation of the GoPro9. I know a response like that takes a great deal of time and effort. How does the GoPro mount to your C400?

Edelweiss trips:

1998 - That Best of Europe tour, two-up (on a '98 R 850 R, not to be confused with the '97 R 850 R that I owned at the time), with my wife (well, she wasn't my wife yet, but I digress)
...
(Big gap: cruises mostly, for trips)
...
2019 - Alps Touring Center, one-up (on a Niken), with my local riding buddy (on a GS). Gallery -- videos and stills -- at https://www.billanddot.com/Edelweiss-Touring-Center-Alps/

2022 - Tuscany By Scooter, two-up (on a C 400 X), with my wife. Videos and stills at https://www.billanddot.com/2022-05-Tuscany/

2022 - Vienna By Scooter, two-up (on another C 400 X), with my wife. Videos and stills at https://www.billanddot.com/2022-05-Vienna/

? 2023 - Ultimate Alps Tour, solo. I'm currently in discussion with the powers-that-be at Edelweiss, and last week got special dispensation to do this tour on a C 400 X (as that scoot is not among the 30 motorcycles listed for the tour), so it's looking likely, assuming I stay healthy, etc.

Regarding the mount, it's a PanaVise 13101 Shorty Suction Cup Camera Mount; see https://www.panavise.com/index.html?pageID=1&page=full&--eqskudatarq=250 and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N9PPOAY/

I've had this mount for, oh, maybe half a dozen years, and it works wonderfully. The keys to using these mounts are:

- Clean the windscreen and the rubber with alcohol.
- Tighten them up every few weeks, because air gets in anyway (by osmosis, or magic, or something).
- Use a tether, anyway.

And the key to tightening them -- the PanaVise and other good suction mounts -- is to:

- Flip the locking lever down, i.e., off.
- Forcefully press down on the button (no need to lift the suction cup's tab).
- While still holding the button down, flip the locking lever up.

I took out the 1/4" screw included in that mount, and then put it back in place, right were it was, but with red, i.e., "permanent," threadlocker.

And attached to the mount I have an Ulanzi Quick Release Set: https://www.ulanzi.com/products/claw-quick-release . This facilitates easy camera removal for lunch stops, downloading when I get home, etc.

And I have an Ulanzi GoPro-compatible ball-head mount, which they no longer make (but there are a few similar mounts out there).

And of course I have a 3BR Powersports Panel TAPP rainproof USB setup that I added.

Here's what all of this looks like:





This is the exact same setup (well, without the 3BR port installed -- I had different USB-port adapters) I used this year for the scooter tours (except for the first day on the first tour, when I tried a rubberized clip-on mount ... but that didn't work out well, wasn't rock-solid, etc.).

And it is also the same setup that I put on the windscreen of the Niken, three years ago, in the Alps. Not to put too fine a point on this, but here's an example -- one of two(!) -- where you can, say, drop a bike, and the mount stays in place just fine: vimeo.com/355951636 (just paste that into a brower's URL field -- I would've left the HTTP in there, like a real link, except that the video has language that is NSFW).

You can see pics of the USB port mod, the pics above, etc., in my 400 gallery: https://www.billanddot.com/C400GT/

And I have a long write-up on the mounts I've used, some decent GoPro software, etc., but I'm in the middle of getting that back up to date. I was working on it just this morning.

 

[motomanjim]

Bill, thank you for posting the videos and pictures of your Edelweiss trips. Although I have only scratched the surface in viewing the videos, they have brought back memories and I am reminded of the riding skills that are necessary to handle the switchbacks and terrain. I admire your courage and determination and wish that I had the skills to do likewise. For me, I learned that while riding the passes is challenging and exhilarating, I preferred the opportunity to see the sights in a more leisurely manner, and thus, the reason for my solo trip in 2008. It’s interesting that we both did the Alps Touring Center tour. On my tour in 2005, I rode at times out of my comfort zone and when I started the tour, I got an education real fast. Thankfully, the tour leader was patient and helped me in that process. I am not familiar with the Yamaha Niken. Did you have experience riding it prior to your trip or was it totally new?

 

[wspollack]

Bill, thank you for posting the videos and pictures of your Edelweiss trips. Although I have only scratched the surface in viewing the videos, they have brought back memories and I am reminded of the riding skills that are necessary to handle the switchbacks and terrain. I admire your courage and determination and wish that I had the skills to do likewise. For me, I learned that while riding the passes is challenging and exhilarating, I preferred the opportunity to see the sights in a more leisurely manner, and thus, the reason for my solo trip in 2008. It’s interesting that we both did the Alps Touring Center tour. On my tour in 2005, I rode at times out of my comfort zone and when I started the tour, I got an education real fast. Thankfully, the tour leader was patient and helped me in that process. I am not familiar with the Yamaha Niken. Did you have experience riding it prior to your trip or was it totally new?

First of all, thank you for the kind words.

Regarding the Niken, nope, I had never ridden one, but I'm generally open to and curious about something new, and also who could say no to an additional contact patch.

(Aside: for instance, in 2008, I rented a Piaggio MP3 -- they had recently been released -- for a day, for my wife and me, while on vacation in Wildwood, NJ, despite the Harley dealer's -- the rental place -- telling me that I could have one of their baggers for the same price. It was a fun day, and the upright locking of forks was enjoyble at stoplights.)

(Aside to the aside: we also rented a Road King in Maui one day, and that was a very nice way to putt around the island, but I'd never want to own one.)

I had read a lot of reviews about the Niken beforehand. My favorite was this one by John Burns (probably my favorite moto writer, this side of Peter Egan); easily worth a read:

2019 Yamaha Niken First Ride Review

After one tentative pass by the cameras, it was actually a breeze to get the 2019 Yamaha Niken heeled over to peg-scraping 45-degree lean angles.

www.motorcycle.com

In any case, I enjoyed the Niken a lot ... while on the move. It has an 847cc triple, and I think has the best power-to-weight ratio of any bike I've ridden longer than, say, a demo ride at Americade. Gobs of power. And the double contact patches up front helped a couple of times, when I could feel the back end step out, when accelerating out of turns -- made those occurrences a non-event.

Stopped, it was another story. It was definitely too high for me: a straight-down tip-toe affair. And it's very top-heavy. And I wasn't used to the high revs necessary for taking off; I stalled it a bunch of those times, which resulted in two drops (and, no, unlike the MP3, there is no fork-leaning locking at stops, it is quite capable of falling over just like a normal motorcycle, etc.). If it weren't for the seat height, and maybe soft-only saddlebags, it would've been a pretty special bike. (I noticed that, after listing that among the bike choices for that tour, at that time, I haven't seen the Niken among Edelweiss' choices again. Maybe my dropping it a few times -- I had the no-deductible insurance -- resulted in their dropping the bike, too.)

Here's a video from the first day, when I was behind the fast guy in the group (who was behind the faster guide), and the Niken and I were moving out, doing some nice twisties. When we got going again after a construction-site regroup, I stalled the bike; I didn't tip it over, but I ceded my place in the group, as we moved off again. Anyway, for the first ten minutes or so of this video, I was moving out, and you can see how nicely it handled:

And here's a video from the fourth day, when I was behind the guide for awhile, doing some fast sweepers (you have to remember that videos make roads look less tight than in-person eyeballs):

But for most of the week, I was like you, i.e., more out for an interesting ride, one with ample sight-seeing opportunities. Here's what's probably my favorite check-out-those-views video (well, the first half of it or so) of the week: