Tourist solo run - San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge

Lonely Rider, a photo by Speedy Chung on Flickr.

It's fun to visit some of my favorite tourist spots in San Francisco with my motorcycle and DSLR. Today I picked the Golden Gate Bridge, and the blessing of nice weather, the images turned out nicely. It was a short photo shooting ride; but it was fun =)

Sunday Ducati Group Ride

Sunday Ducati Group Ride , a photo by Speedy Chung on Flickr.

We had a great turn out! It was a birthday ride for one of the local owner club member, and we all had a blast at our 'usual route' Sky was a bit over-cast but it has no fog, plus the road was dry and no wind - can't ask for more. Check out the vedio!

Contour ROMA first road test

Contour ROMA first road test, a photo by Speedy Chung on Flickr.

I am glad to report that everything works really well. Check out the video of my short local easy ride and judge it yourself!

New guy in town - Contour ROMA Comcorder

Contour ROMA, a photo by Speedy Chung on Flickr.

After some back and forth finally I made a decision to get Contour ROMA. People may ask why not GoPro Hero HD? I own a older Hero, and the image quality and sound quality were both very good. But both the mounting and operation were really painful - half of the time I can't even tell the unit is on! The worst part is the mount - you HAVE TO keep the unit up-right, and deal with all the little mounting pieces on the go just simply too much to deal with. So I decided to give Contour a shot. I was thinking about getting the nicer unit - Contour GPS. It has full HD recording; plus GPS tracking to tell exactly your path and location. But after going through some user reviews I realize I rather trade the GPS function for a longer battery life and simpler operation. Just one slid on the top of the unit, it's on and start recording! SImple and easy. It offers Full HD recording at 30 fps and 170 degree wide angle (unlike the Contour GPS, it offers Full HD at 60fps but at 125 degree only). It has laser guild to make sure the lens stay horizontal and it's water proof too (up to 1m depth). The best part is, it's about $70 cheaper then Contour GPS!

I got myself a nice mounting to go along with my new toy - RAM Mounting System. It's made by marine grade aluminum with 1" rubber balls for vibration isolation. Everything so far comes together well - can't way for field this Sunday! Stay tune!

Mt. Hamilton weekend solo run

Mt. Hamilton, a photo by Speedy Chung on Flickr.

So that was my first time to ride up to Mt. Hamilton - It's one of the 'most ride' for all the local riders. Fun road - a bit technical; but not too bad compare to some of the goat trials in Santa Cruz Mountain. Recently the city repave few sections of the roads - it's like adding big bandages in sections - meaning loss gravel everywhere. Riding a road have a lot of turns and next to a cliff most of the time... it's actually fun! The view up there was super - all the hard work is well worth =)

CRG - Arrow Mirror

CRG - Arrow Mirror, a photo by Speedy Chung on Flickr.

Today was the first ride after the installation - I am glad to report it works really well. Just like LS, the image was clear regardless what speed I was at. The main thing I like the Arrow more than the LS is the objects in the mirror - it is closer to a 'normal' size. The LS sees more things; but everything get smaller... It is harder for me to tell the objects distance. In term of flipping action, LS is way easier and quicker. I need to push the Arrow pretty hard before I can flip it.

All in all it's a keeper... check out the next post for some nice picts from today ride!