Tokyo Cyclist

 Why do you make these videos? I started making videos for safety purposes.  Everyone uses the word "safety", but recording your ride doesn't actually make you any safer, in the same way that "Disaster prevention" goods don't actually stop natural disasters like earthquakes from happening.  They do, however, help you deal with natural disasters that are going to happen anyway.    Having a recording in case of an accident or near miss won't turn back time, but it could help catch the perpetrater or prove your innocence.   Drivers in Japan are generally respectful and safe, but it never hurts to be prepared.   Besides the one-off effect of having evidence for yourself in case of an incident, the more people taking video, the more others will think twice about their actions.   After a while, I had a lot of footage, which I generallly erased and overwrote each time.   At some point, I decided to play around with iMovie and mak...

 In my last post , I discussed why and how I wired up lights and a horn, and some of the issues I had.  Though my last post focused more on the why, here I will discuss a little more about the challenges involved.   The first thing to note is that wiring up some piece of electrical equipment to an eBike (or motorcycle) is a cosceptually simple thing to do.  There is already a battery - you just need to tap into the power for your own purposes. Gasoline powered motorcycles typically use a lead acid gel battery which has a nominal voltage of 12 volts and usually doesn't vary too far from that voltage since it is typically charged by an alternator.  An eBike has a much more powerful battery, which us usually rated for at least 24 volts, and often 36 or even 48 volts.  When the battery is fully charged, the voltage will be higher, and when it is drained, it will be quite a bit lower.   This means that either the things you attach need to be able ...

My Yamaha eMTB is awesome for mountain biking, but I also want to be able  to use it on the street conveniently, and for this, there are a few issues: 1. The tires are too wide to use parking spots where the tire slots into a holder.   2. There is no kick-stand to use open parking spots with no holder 3. There is no built-in horn 4. There are no built-in lights All of the same issues apply to my Panasonic XM-D2, except the last one. (My PoweredBike has none of these issues, since it had to pass the legal requirements for a moped due to the stronger motor and higher-than-allowed assist - so it's even got turn signals). Sol, let's go through these one by one: Tires too wide: It is a pain when I go to somewhere I haven't been before, and need to spend a lot of time trying to find a suitable parking spot.  Parking spots with racks that your wheel slides into (and locks) are popular in Japan, but will not properly fit 2.75 inch tires.  Even the XM-1 barely fits....

 This is a follow up from part 1 of the review .   So I have had a chance to put the Fly6 though its paces a bit more, and for the most part it works fine.  Honestly the stabilization works better than expected based on reviews - but maybe that's because I have a full suspension bike.   I did some tests with sidewalk riding as well, but since you are more likely to hit pedestrians in front of you (rather them hitting you from than behind), I suspect most people will be interested in the road footage.   In addition to the comparison video I made last time (which shows the same ride with the Sony ActionCam and the Fly6), I have made some Fly6 only videos, which are essentially unedited.   The actual quality of the camera video will be slightly higher than these videos, since Youtube cuts the quality a bit.  The only edits I performed were to cut out long sections, and sections where I am stopped at a traffic light, etc.  This is...

 I saw another article about "dangerous" eBikes today, and the supposed need for more regulation.  Often these articles originate from the United States, but this one was about a normal bike rider from Canada who was clipped and surprised by an eBike rider. Here's my issue, though, eBike is used by some as a catch-all for anything that has two wheels and is powered by electricity.   Looking at the Wikipedia, Canada allows throttle bikes with 500 watt motors that can go up to 32kph.  The US allows the same, but with up to 750 watt motors.  Apparently licence plates are not required (which presumably no license plate is required), and there is no age limit.  This is a bit crazy, because until eBikes came along, there would have been no way for most people to get to 32kph on a normal bike.  Yes, 32kph is certainly doable, but people who  can pedal to 32kph on their own steam ride their bike fairly often, and thus are probably a lot safer than s...

Background So I have many cycling videos on my channel by now, but the motivation for taking videos wasn't originally posting them on YouTube, but safety.  Granted, taking videos won't actually make you safer at an individual level, but it will mean you have evidence if anything happens.  It also can make you safer on a collective level, just like DashCams and Police BodyCams.   Bad Behavior Pedestrians and other bikes Drivers in Japan are actually pretty courteous in general.  I generally see more pedestrians and other bikes doing things I would consider dangerous.  I see a lot of bikes running traffic lights , even at four way intersections. I see bikes going the wrong way down a lane of a two way street at night, without lights, etc.  In most cases it's not a danger to me, but seems like they are trying to commit suicide by car.  I also see pedestrians who think crossing in the middle of the road is somehow a great idea, even in areas plastered...

 As you'll know from my previous entry , I use a Sony ActionCam ... action camera to record my rides.  I use the Sony because nothing has surpassed it yet in terms of video quality for my puposes, despite the fact that it was re4leased in 2016 and others like GoPro continue to release new cameras every year!  It would seem as if none of the current manufacturers are concerned in the least with low light performance or stabilization against vigration - two things that the X3000 excels at (at least in comparison with other action cameras).   I had hoped by now that something better would have come along, but it hasn't, so I am doubling down on the X3000.  It's not just me, though, the price of the X3000 has been rising recently - to the point that a used one now costs more than a new one did back when they were still in production!  The official accessories are have also gone up from their already expensive starting prices!  Clearly the demand is o...