I’ve been testing the GoPro HD Hero2 (3.5mm female) with the Drift helmet microphone (2.5mm male). It doesn’t work (as noted by Drift). After researching tons of converter wires and reading tons of product descriptions and reviews, I finally found one that I thought would work. Headset Buddy. Wrong. It only works on mono mics like a cellphone. Doesn’t not work on GoPro because it’s stereo. Finally found one that says it will work. Ordered it so now I play the waiting game. COME ON GOPRO! NO HELMET MIC?? Somebody let me know when I can just order a condenser mic for inside my helmet when GoPro finally catches up with Drift.
So you just switched brands and decided to go with a Yamaha R1. Great choice by the way. And you got it home for the first time and you’re in a rush to look under the seat and under the plastics. Not everyone immediately knows how to take off the seat so to save you the extra minutes of poking around, we went ahead and shot a quick video to show you how to take the seat off and put it back on the right way. For everyone else, we have other videos on our R1 Videos page you might like instead.
R1Videos.com How To Remove Seat and Install Seat on R1
What’s up world? Hope everyone is riding safe out there and enjoying this warmer weather!
I just wanted to let yall know that I am still testing the new GoPro HD Hero2 cameras. I missed a shipment after moving so I am still waiting on the external microphones to arrive in the mail. Once I get them and test them out, we will do a video and post on how to use a Drift (that’s the brand) condenser microphone with the GoPro camera’s external microphone port using the skeleton case. The thing is, the Drift says it’s ONLY compatible with Drift cameras. That’s not true. The problem is that the Drift uses a 2.5 male jack and the GoPro uses a 3.5 female port. So what you have to do is order a small converter wire.
However, not just any converter will do and they all look the same and are generally described the same when you shop for them online. You need one that will convert and transmit sound that is microphone compatible. Most are NOT mic compatible and only do audio sound say when you want to convert the ports for using a headset or earphones. I did find one that I believe will work, but I want to be sure and test it first. Once I do, I’ll do a video review to let everyone know how to get the best microphone (Drift) for using with your GoPro external mic port. I’ll show you the best setup for a mic in your helmet for vlogging and also how to get the best sound from your engine without the clicking and wind sounds. Trust me, I’m doing some extensive testing to show you exactly how to get out there and film and record audio straight out of the box so you don’t have to hunt all over the internet to learn how to set this all up.
More to come. Stay visible. And check back to “Get Your Fix!”
Wanted to let yall know that we have 2 new GoPro HD Hero2 cameras that we plan to shoot with for POV riding, vlogging, safety tips, back roads, track days, and hopefully random stuff we happen to catch on the cams unexpectedly. Don’t worry, we still do our normal production with our XL1s so the “How To” Videos will still remain of the same quality.
We are still getting the mounts in place on the helmet and R1, the mics set up the correct way, and the testing in so we can edit out the shakes and vibrations. We’ll also be showing you how to use the GoPro yourself along with tips and tricks we learn along the way. We will show you how to rig the mics, how to set the mounts, and tips on how to limit the vibrations. We already figured out a trick with electrical tape that secures the cam in the J-hook mount (since the GoPro “nose plug” does not work on the J-hook). Click to see our post below on How To Update the GoPro Firmware in your camera.
Being safe on your motorcycle is very important, whether you are heading down the road for five minutes or going for a longer ride. So here are some tips that every motorcyclist should follow, in order to ensure that they are as safe as possible at all times while on the road. First of all, wearing the right safety gear is essential and can reduce the risk of serious injury if you do have an accident. The first and most important thing to invest in is a good quality helmet. In order to make sure that you purchase a helmet that is as safe as possible, have a look at the SHARP (Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme) guidelines.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that you should always make sure that your motorcycle is insured. Sites such as RAC.co.uk offer motorcycle insurance that you can purchase, and then you can get on with the rest of your preparations. The clothing that you wear should be strong enough to resist a fall onto tarmac while moving, so jeans are not a good idea. Protective jackets, trousers and gloves that are made out of leather are ideal, although there are some other materials emerging that are just as good. You should be wearing sturdy boots that cover your ankles and all of your clothing and gear should be comfortable.
When riding your motorcycle in traffic, be aware of what is going on around you at all times. Make yourself as visible as possible and pay attention to where car drivers are looking. Others may not be as careful as you, so keep that in mind when out on the road and you should be able to avoid having an accident. If necessary, take a course to help you brush up on your motorcycle skills and enjoy being out there on the road.
So you have a GoPro HD Hero2 and need to update your firmware. If you go by what the GoPro site says to do (which I tried and their site failed on me), then you might not be able to. You also have to download and install their “CinePro” software. I haven’t heard anything about it, but I’m not a fan of mandatory software installation on my computer just to update some firmware on the GoPro. So here are my quick and dirty notes on how to do it:
Here is the direct link to the GoPro HD Hero2 firmware update (without having to download and install the GoPro software “CinePro”) – just click (or copy and paste) this link, and the download will start. By the way, I did a scan with Avast and it checked out fine.
1. Go to link, download firmware update to your desktop
2. Insert blank SD card in your computer and Copy file over the file from your desktop
3. Eject SD card from computer and put SD card into the GoPro while it (GoPro) is off
4. Hold “S” button (top shutter button) down while pressing “P” power button once
5. Let go of both buttons
6. Press “P” 3 times (you will see your press count on the screen)
7. Once you get to 3 presses, it will automatically update itself and then shutdown
That’s it! Repeat for 2nd GoPro if you have another one.
**Post update: You can delete the file from the SD card after you do the update (I saved it to my computer for safe keeping should I ever need to reinstall the update) Thanks to Frank for the question!
Finally, after a month or so of trying to get this How To Video production out, we finally got it done to help you change your brake pads on your R1 or similar motorcycle with similar brake system. Sorry for the lighting issues. We didn’t have enough light and no time to re-shoot. If you just got your R1 or if you’ve had it for years, we strongly recommend switching out your brake pads. It’s simple to do it yourself and takes less than ten minutes per side. In this video we show you how to change out your brake pads on one side, so just repeat the exact same procedure on the other side. Tools needed: needle nose pliers (curved work better) and possibly a flat head screw driver. You will need to buy 2 sets of break pads (that’s 4 pads total – 2 for each side). We chose DP brand “Sport HH+” pads (green package) this time around because Todd has run them on his 2004 R1 and they kick ass! I’ve been on them now for about 500+ miles and combined with steel braided brake lines (the next video we’re working on) I couldn’t be happier with them. They have awesome initial bite and stop way better and smoother than OEM brake pads. Now here’s the video so you can “Get Your Fix!”
Why? Because lock nuts that are too tight are just as bad as those that are too loose. Loose lock nuts vibrate off and over tightening them can stretch the bolt. When you mod your Yamaha R1 or perform routine maintenance, there are many times when you will need to torque down to a very specific value. See for yourself in the R1 Manuals section. Once you pick one up, come back to this post for these 5 tips for using a torque wrench:
Always keep your torque wrench in a protective case (it’s actually somewhat of a fragile tool)
Get a click type torque wrench and don’t trust torque sticks
A center foot pound range closest to the torque value you need is most accurate – if you need 50 foot pounds then use a torque wrench with a 20 to 80 foot pound range (instead of a 5 to 150 foot pound range for instance)
STOP when it clicks
When you are finished, always put the setting back to the lowest value (leaving it at a high value will make it less accurate over time)
We added a new dedicated page to the site to keep all the 2012 race calendars in one easy to find place so you have no excuse to miss out on the action this year. All of this year’s racing schedules for MotoGP, AMA Pro Road Racing, SBK Superbike FIM World Championships, and Isle of Man TT (and links to their sources) can be found here at R1Videos on our Race Calendars page.
Planning out a Saturday afternoon or Sunday Morning Ride, but don’t know exactly what route you want to put together for the trip? Get one at SundayMorningRides.com
1776 motorcycle riding maps in 26 countries and counting (at time of this post) – visit them here: SundayMorningRides
Here are a few motorcycle riding tips for those of you in Texas (or similar weather areas) that just got your sportbike and plan on riding out in the hot sun coming in the summer months ahead:
Gold Bond.
Textile or perforated style riding jacket and don’t buy black (I rock a white and grey Alpinestars textile jacket – it get dirty but so what?)
Sunglasses under your clear helmet visor (so you can pop up your visor as you slow down to stops)
Possibly sunglasses under a tinted visor (clear visors can cause sunburns if you don’t wear sunscreen on your face)
Gloves should be breathable – less protection than the bulky GP style gloves (I save those for the track)
Get a $1 empty spray bottle, fill it with half water half vinegar, spray that onto a cloth and wipe down the inside of your lid. This will clean out the funk, sweat, and smell – no worries, it will NOT leave your lid smelling like vinegar once it dries out.
Wear sunscreen on the back of your neck (I’ve even been sunburned through the small open part where your gloves latch!)
Drink water all day long – you will sweat profusely and more than you realize will evaporate off you as you ride through the heat
Don’t ride too far. I commute 60 miles round trip. 30 mins in 105 degrees is brutal. Stop and drink fluids and cool off in the A/C at the gas station often if you are headed further than that.
What are some of your tips for extremely hot weather riding? Leave them in the comments….
Riding in the hot Texas sun in the heat of Summer is doable for short distances. However it feels like you are riding straight into the Devil‘s hot breath so use these riding tips to help you beat the heat.
As an R1 Insider, you can send in your questions and we will do our best to get you the answers. Sign up to be an R1 Insider and then you can send us your pics, a description of your problem, and your video (if you post it to YouTube and send us a link). We get tons of emails so two things you should know: 1. We can’t always get back to you within the same day (one day, this might change) 2. We can’t answer every question 100%, but we can give you tips, advice, and a general idea of what the fix might be.
No reason I can think of at all not to be an R1 Insider. We won’t blow up your inbox and we will never share your info. Ever. Also, as we grow the R1 Insider club out, we will make it more and more valuable to everyone that signs up. We just need to figure out ways to make it kick ass. One way is your ability to have Q and A with us (R1 Insiders’ questions get bumped up to the top of the list). Here is an actual example.
Question:
Hey what’s up Robert. I don’t know if you have this on your list of videos, but is there any way you can do a video on setting suspension? I don’t know if there is a predetermined setting on the front or back or both for different weight categories, but if there is and you know them, that would be super helpful. Shiny side up! – Brandon (R1 Insider)
Answer:
There is no generic set up for everyone. I would recommend a book, “Sportbike Suspension Tuning” by Andrew Trevitt. Or take it to a suspension guy and have it set up for your riding style. However, every track will have different settings and different road riding will require changes as well. – Todd (R1 Videos)
While there are many aspects to the “Rider Code” – which I have to admit, may not be official per se, but more of my own personal interpretation of what I think such a thing should or would be – I wanted to stop for a second to tell this short story from yesterday to illustrate just one of them.
I saw a rider broke down on the highway yesterday – pulled over and tried to help him figure out what was wrong. When we tried a few things that didn’t seem to work, we just put his bike in the back of my truck, and hauled his bike to his workplace across town. I was on my own way to work, so this made me late also – I am not fishing for kudos or compliments here, I’m just living by the code.
Motorcyclists always stop for other riders – by the way, this is the code for all bikes (not just bikers, or just sportbikes). We may not all ride together all the time (if ever), but we all look after each other. Every single time I’ve been broken down on the side of the road, not one but several riders stopped to ask if I was alright. That’s the way it should be. Regardless of what you ride be it a Yamaha R1 or a Harley-Davidson, a GSXR or a Cafe Racer. What the heck, I guess I’d even stop for a moped…but don’t tell anybody!
So far, my money is being spent at Motorcycle Superstore almost exclusively. We put their links here on the site because we use them and so far, we’ve never been anything but 100% satisfied! What does that mean for you? Well, here is another 1 time use promo / coupon code that I have laying around that needs to be put to good use. First to use this code, last to use it so you better hurry and buy NOW!
10% Discount Code only at Motorcycle-SuperStore.com: AYB9N7RJNM
(if it doesn’t work, you are waaaay too slow!)
So you think your music rocks or would sound good in one of our videos? Prove it! Send us a song or two and an email stating you own your own music and have the right to license it to us for use and we’ll post it in a video, podcast, and more. It doesn’t matter if you are a DJ, metal, instrumental, or punk – we jam it all! Hey, we need cool music and you need all the eardrums you can get, right? We are in front of 1,000′s of riders and motorsport enthusiasts a month. If that sounds cool to you, contact me ASAP at Robert at R1Videos.com.
No worries, if you suck, we just won’t use your stuff until you practice up a bit more. And in the words of Ezel from Friday, “I ain’t gonna tellll nobody else!”
Just bought a couple caps from MotorcycleSuperStore and got a one time use coupon so I thought I’d share it. Sorry, this will go fast so first to use it will get 10% off. If it doesn’t work, you’re too slow!
Promo code: AE77N6H67H (expires 3/31/12 – but it won’t make it that long)
Actually, I buy so much from them, I just found 2 more so 3 of you are in luck! You better buy now before these coupons get used up!
Promo code #2: ST901RV1R3
Promo code #3: SIWA94PYQP
If you used any of these and they worked (because you got to them first), please post a comment so others know not to waste their time trying to use them. Let everyone know if you used #1,2, or 3. Just thought I’d share the love and as always, Motorcycle Super Store is a great place to get your parts, gear, and apparel.
It’s not “IF” you are going to go down, it’s “WHEN.” Orbie sent these over so thank God he made it out of this mess in one piece. To our beginners and pros, always wear your safety gear no matter what. That one time you need it will make all the hot and sweaty rides worth it. We here at R1Videos are commuters through rain, cold, and Texas heat and always stay protected. Anyways, sorry for your loss Orbie, maybe your next bike will be a Yamaha R1!
A new friend and fellow R1 Insider Brandon picked up his first R1 a couple days ago so we wanted to officially welcome him into the worldwide club of sportbike riding! He has already started the mods on his 2005 YZF-R1 with a killer reservoir sock and he tells us that several other changes will be underway soon. Check out his new bike and leave a comment if you have any advice for him. Congrats Brandon! Now get some protective gear and start learning how to hang on to her.
Riders, let me say this: I never thought a driver of another vehicle other than a motorcycle would ever consider killing a motorcyclist. I will say, I don’t think drivers consider it, I think they just get road rage bad enough where they make stupid moves like the guy in this video. While we normally try not to post videos that we didn’t make ourselves, for your riding safety, you MUST see this video. I have experienced a few jerk drivers in my many years riding out on the open roads, but never like this. The scary thing is, when I have encountered other drivers that were pissed off that I passed them or got in front of them, I would mistakenly always say to myself when I saw them riding my tail, “What is he gonna do? It’s not like he’s gonna try to kill me!” And now I can safely say, I was wrong all these years. You NEVER know what idiot people will do when they get mad. So from now on, YES, there is a chance that the guy you just passed that got pissed off about it MIGHT try to kill you. I just want you to know that you should never cross this out as an option for those with road rage so keep an eye on them, burn out on them, move over, use the shoulder, whatever you have to do. If you notice a driver making threats to you with his vehicle, GET AWAY FAST and do so safely. Don’t give him more time to act and run you down, because you never know!! If you have a camera rolling, you could also report the driver to the Police. However, you do so at your own risk. As you can see, the driver of this vehicle got out with a crow bar, so your best bet might be to just get away.
This video is proof that something as simple as a passing the wrong driver could be fatal if you come across an idiot like this guy! This makes my blood boil. Keep those GoPro’s rollin!
Howdy supporters and fans of R1Videos.com! We just wanted to remind you to add our email address to your safe senders and/or contacts list in your emails so our replies don’t go into your junk or spam folders.
To contact R1 Videos, drop us an email any time at: Robert at R1Videos.com
Then open up your email provider and add us to your contacts. If you email us and don’t see a reply, check your junk and spam folders. We reply to all emails, questions, and contact forms that you send in.
It is also a good idea to like us on Facebook so you can contact us there at anytime as well. www.Facebook.com/R1Videos
Hey everyone, hope all is well. Here is a promo coupon from Motorcycle Super Store that should save you some serious cash for this upcoming riding season. Might as well get a jump on that Spring weather and take advantage of the savings during the off season while prices are low.
Click on the coupon below to get the deals and use the code at checkout:
We have our first listing from a fellow R1 rider way down undaaaaa in Australia. This listing is from MetlHead37 and we are just posting his link to help him connect with potential buyers.
(We do not have anything to do with this sale so please direct all transactions and questions to him at his listing)
To see his Galfer Custom Wave Rotors Chromed listing, click HERE and HERE.
He also says, mention you saw it on R1Videos.com and he’ll give you a discount on the price! Good luck to buyer and seller.
(Want us to list or link to your parts, accessories, or sportbike that you are trying to sell? See this post and then let us know!)
What up everyone? I just got to thinking we have this little R1Videos.com project going nicely and already get about 1,000 page views a month and climbing from all over the world. So why not share a little bit of the love back with our fans and readers?
That said, here’s the deal. If for some terrible reason you find yourself having to sell your motorcycle (or any parts), we will gladly help. Just shoot us your links, pics, location, mileage, contact info, and asking price and we will post your info right here in the blog to help you sell it! Can’t hurt to get as many eyeballs on your listing as possible, right? And if we post it here, you can even link back to your post here on R1Videos.
Speaking of which, if you already have it posted, say on Craig’s List, then just send us the link and we will post that for you.
Please note: If you see a listing for a bike (of any kind) or R1 or any parts here on the site, just know that we are not endorsing the seller or the items. Buy at your own risk. – - Sorry, we have to say that. Also, we won’t be answering any questions for any of the sportbikes you see for sale here so you will have to contact the seller directly.
To get your listing up on the site, please send all info in an email to: Robert@R1Videos.com
See, it’s not if you’re gonna crash, it’s when! Good thing (or not) it was only the R1Videos.com site that crashed and burned this time! Sorry for the inconvenience as the site updates did not care much for the system updates and the whole thing went kaput. Even worse, I have to admit we didn’t even catch it for the past 2 days. Speakin of crashing, we have some pics coming soon of a new friend and fan’s crash so check back for that.
Since we’re on the subject of crashing – here is a safety/riding tip for you before I go:
You should always have on your person (your pocket, backpack, etc) a card or folded piece of paper with the following in case of emergencies:
Put it in your wallet where it can be seen immediately upon opening your wallet – I wrote in big red letters “EMERGENCY”
Also add your Blood Type as this is probably the most important thing if you really bust your ass
That card/paper should include: Your name (so it matches your driver license), Emergency contact name and number
You might also add other emergency contacts – I added my mom, and my girlfriend because my parents are out of town and if it’s serious enough (sorry to be so morbid) then I at least want someone to come to the hospital as soon as possible!
Be sure to include a line that says what meds you take and what allergies to meds (if any) you have
I included my driver license number in case I loose my ID – at least I still have it on this card/paper
I highly recommend you also jot down your License Plate # and your VIN # – just so you will have it in case your bike gets jacked while you are in a store or watchin’ the GP races at Bikini’s or something. It’s good to have handy when you call the cops as fast as you can so they can look out for it.
DISCLAIMER: We are in no way affiliated with, partners of, doing business for or with, or associated in any manner at all with Yamaha. This website is to be used for educational purposes only. We do not recommend that you work on your own motorcycle as failing to conduct the work properly could be harmful or fatal. By using this website and our videos, you agree that you are doing so at your own risk and by your own choice and that you will not hold R1Videos.com liable or responsible for any mistakes you make while working on your own motorcycle and any resulting injuries or deaths. You should never attempt to perform your own work on your motorcycle without the guidance and supervision of a trained and licensed professional motorcycle mechanic. Your safety is in your own hands so please heed this warning.
