Bilt Evaporative Cooling Vest

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Tim

Bilt Evaporative Cooling Vest

Growing up in Greenville, Texas, just a hundred miles or so west of the Louisiana swamplands, my first 14 years or so were spent in a house that had box fans and a lone refrigerator sized “swamp cooler” for summer climate control.

The “swamp cooler” is a poor man’s version of the air conditioner. It lowers the air temperature by blowing air through a mesh that is constantly being soaked by water. The evaporation causes the air to cool and if you sit right in front of the thing you’ll eventually be soaking wet, but you’ll be a little cooler. Just don’t try to keep an open bag of chips or soda crackers crispy for more than thirty minutes in the house while the swamp cooler is running. And plan on the salt becoming one big rock inside the shaker.

The evaporative cooling vest from Bilt works on the same principle. Soak it in water for a couple of minutes, blot it dry, put it on under your mesh jacket and ride. As long as you’re moving and air is hitting the vest it will feel like your torso is being exposed to an air conditioner.

When you stop for a couple of minutes it loses a lot of it’s cooling effect, and despite it’s claim that it’s protective inside layer will keep your shirt dry you will find that some dampness finds it’s way to your shirt and skin. But it’s just water, and for thirty bucks (on sale now at Cycle Gear) it can’t be expected to be perfect.

I found it slightly disconcerting to have the contrast between hot arms, neck, and head while my ribs were chilling, but it was much better than being hot all over.

The Bilt cooling vest works very well, and I feel it was worth more than the thirty bucks I paid for it.

Tip: If you buy one, be sure and get a size that fits snug. It needs to be in contact with your body to work, and will have little effect if there’s a pocket of air insulating it from you.

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Contour Releases New Action Cam

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Tim

The platform looks very similar, but Contour has packed a lot of new features into their newest offering, the Contour +.

Not only have they combined the features found in the Contour HD and Contour GPS into this model (GPS, Android and iPhone live display monitoring), they’ve also upgraded the maximum memory card size compatibility from 16 gig to 32 and added an external microphone option.

Contour has effectively satisfied the masses and addressed the only cons we’ve ever seen listed about the Contour HD and Contour GPS.

The sticker is only slightly shocking at $499, but when you compare the features and simplicity of use with the complexity and add-ons you’ll deal with if you go with their competitors Contour wins hands down (or should we say hands free).

The next time we have an extra 500 clams we’ll be investing in a Contour + for our forward facing motorcycle video captures. Our current Contour HD will move to the rear view position.

Posted in Android Gadgets, Motorcycle Accessories, Motorcycle Solutions | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Go Cruise Motorcycle Throttle Control

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Tim

UPDATE!
Today, July 21, 2011, I attempted to remove my Go Cruise in preparation for new grip installation. The little gadget shattered at the primary stress point like glass. Evidently it becomes very brittle over time, despite being in a garage or under covered parking most of it’s life.

It only lasted two and a half months. I won’t be ordering another one and can’t recommend it now.

Every once in awhile you run across a product that is so simple and works so well that you wonder, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

The Go Cruise is just such a device. The simplest machine on the planet: A lever that uses your throttle grip as a fulcrum.

This little hunk of plastic or nylon or carbon fiber…or whatever it’s made of, is perfectly designed with a squarish hole to fit snugly over the throttle grip with just enough friction to remain in place when it is twisted against your front brake lever. It will hold the throttle open at whatever point you set it at until you hit a solid bump or force it to close by twisting the throttle close with a minimal effort.

This is the only throttle “locking” device we’ve ever seen that can be installed in less than three seconds and works perfectly every time, all the time.

Our big Triumph Rocket III Classic now sports one of these clever little devices, and the Cramp-buster, which previously held the trophy for simplest, most economical, and most effective throttle assist device now sits useless on our office desk.

At just under 20 bucks with free shipping, we invested almost double the money we’d spent for the Cramp-Buster, but the GoCruise from the guys at http://www.2wheelride.com/throttle_pro.html is well worth it.

One cannot envision the simplicity and pure functionality of this device via words alone, so here’s a video of the device in action on our morning commute:

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Contour 1080p HD Video Camera

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Tim

We promised you a review and now you got it.

After extensive research of the Hero GoPro HD, the VIO POV, and Drift action video cameras we finally settled on the Contour (formerly VHoldR) 1080p HD. We have been very pleased so far.

First, the good stuff:

  • Easy on-off sliding record/stop switch that is flawless even when wearing gloves
  • Excellent wide angle (135 degree)
  • Great quality in low quality HD mode, we haven’t even bothered trying it in high quality HD yet
  • Great sensitivity on the internal mic (although it’s not much use since all you’ll hear from us is the wind whistling by)
  • Mounting options are endless, especially when paired with a few options from www.ram-mount.com
  • Supporting web community at http://www.contour.com is a great alternative to youtube and doesn’t crunch the quality out of your video

    •  

    We shot numerous clips and created the little 4 minute compilation below after the trip using KDENlive along with a few snapshots from the Droid, DSLR, and a Nikon Coolpix point and shooter:

    We made no edits to the video other than transitions to the snapshots and the audio track overlay (from one of the greatest rock artists of all time).

    And now for the few bad things:

  • No external microphone capability, you’re stuck with that little pinhole mic on the camera body
  • The $39.95 water proof case we bought for our canoe trip on the Rio Grande has a defective switch (we think maybe reversed polarity on the magnet) that thwarted our hopes of getting some exciting river footage
  • The included 2 gig memory card is a waste. We immediately upgraded to a 16 gig and wish the camera supported a 32 gig.

    • Over all, we are very satisfied with what we got for $250.00. We may add a Contour GPS in the near future and run fore and aft cameras on the next trip.

    Contour 1080p HD

    Contour 1080p HD

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    Google Motion Eliminates Your Mouse and Keyboard

    Posted on April 1, 2011 by Tim

    Google Motion

    Google Motion

    Here at Better Toys Than Batman, we always stay on the cutting edge of technology and new trends.

    Today we’ve installed Google Motion. As a matter of fact, we’ve written a special plugin that integrates Google Motion with WordPress, and you are now reading the first WordPress post ever written with Google Motion.

    We’d like to thank Google for providing us with a development beta release of GMotion over a month ago which enabled the development of our unique WordPress API.

    The stack of non-disclosure agreements and trips back and forth to our lawyer’s office was well worth it.

    Here’s a video from Google explaining exactly how this exciting new technology works. Please let your friends and family know they can keep checking back here for further developments.


    By the way, happy April 1, everyone.

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    Triumph Thunderbird from EuroSport Cycle of Fort Worth

    Posted on March 31, 2011 by Tim

    2011 Triumph Thunderbird

    2011 Triumph Thunderbird

    Disclosure:
    This review was based on experience with a Thunderbird provided by EuroSport Cycle of Fort Worth, Texas. The author does business with EuroSport Cycle both as a customer and a consultant.

    We’ve been itching to get our grubby little paws on the handlebar of a Triumph Thunderbird ever since it’s revival in late 2009 as part of the venerable British marque’s 2010 lineup. It’s taken a long time because we were always too late to sign up at the demo rides and this baby is POPULAR with the cruiser fans.

    Opportunity finally knocked when we dropped off the Rocket III for a rear tire change and the kind folks at EuroSport Cycle loaned us a 1600cc stock Thunderbird for the afternoon.

    For someone accustomed to the misleading gentle purr and timing chain whirr of a Rocket III Classic with stock silencers the throaty rumble of the Thunderbird was a new and exhilerating experience. Aside from the wonderful auditory sensation, the bass thump felt from the exhaust was enough to get us into a classic biker mood. We managed to restrain ourselves from blipping the throttle as we rolled out of the parking lot and set our sights on the entrance ramp to highway 121.

    Thunderbird Pipes and Power Plant

    Just look at those pipes and massive cylinders and try to imagine the sound they produce

    The largest parallel twin in production launched us up that ramp and onto the main highway in a manner that a stock Fat Boy could never match. We cut a hole in the wind and reveled in the growl of that motor as we hit cruising altitude.

    The Thunderbird was stellar riding in a straight line, but then most modern bikes are. The mythic flying beast really showed it’s strengths when we hit the curves on Dove Loop Road in Grapevine. It readily leaned and responded effortlessly when we switched out of a left-hand curve into a tight right-hander.

    We’ve ridden Harleys, Victorys, and the Yamaha Road Star. The revived Triumph Thunderbird outshines them all in handling and performance. Sound is an individual preference, but we love the sound of this brilliantly engineered parallel twin. We just want it to be a little bit louder.

    If you’re in the market for a modern dependable fuel injected cruiser head over to EuroSport Cycle in Fort Worth, Texas. Tell Tony or Martha you read about it at Better Toys Than Batman.

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    Kimber Eclipse Ultra II Failure to Extract Fixed

    Posted on March 27, 2011 by Tim

    We completed our Texas CHL renewal class today with flying colors… missed a perfect score on the range certification by one point and had a perfect score on the written exam.

    But it wasn’t all roses. Our little 1911 carry weapon was ailing.

    At the range, our Kimber Eclipse Ultra II continued to create grief with frequent extraction failures, despite a brand spankin’ new nickle plate extractor being recently installed. After a bit of research we determined that just maybe a bit of DIY gun-smithing might fix this annoying and potentially life risking problem (she must go bang when the trigger is pulled, or the bad guy gets a free shot, right?)

    It turns out those new extractors aren’t always produced with the precise arc that they need for your paerticular gun. Naturally, since they don’t have your gun at the factory when they make the spares.

    After a bit of checking we discovered that an empty casing would not stay in position when the rim was tucked under the extractor hook on the slide off the frame. That indicated a serious need to adjust the tension on the extractor.

    It turned out to be a really easy thing to do.

    We’ll be stopping off at the range tomorrow to see if it did the trick.

    Below is the video we located at Gunbot which did an excellent job of showing us what needed to be done and how to do it.



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    Contour HD 1080p Helmet Camcorder

    Posted on March 25, 2011 by Tim

    We’ve decided to go one more notch above bumbling amateur with our in motion biker video productions. A key part of that will hopefully be this brand new Contour HD helment cam, soon to be mounted on the Triumph were the Droid used to reside.

    Stay tuned, we’ll be posting a complete review in the next day or two.

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    Triumph Rocket III Fast Idle Problem Solved

    Posted on March 18, 2011 by Tim

    It started a week ago. Our big three cylinder motor would fast idle, around 2,000 RPM, sometimes up to 3,000 RPMs. Normal idle on our particular machine has always registered around or slightly under 1,000 on the tach.

    We feared a trip to the shop was going to be in order to have a remap or maybe have some electronic gizmo replaced.

    Thanks to a thread over at the R3 Owners discussion board we discovered that our crank angle sensor magnet had become fouled. Simply using an 8mm socket on a quarter inch drive weremoved it, wiped it down with a lint free cloth, and reinserted it. If you do this, you should crank the engine before you start and let it run for a minute so it pumps the oil into the upper tank. Otherwise you’re going to get a large amount of oil spilling out the sensor port when you take it out instead of just a tablespoon.

    Viola! Problem solved.

    Our beastly beauty is back to a gentle roar at idle thanks to the folks at the R3 Owners Discussion Board.. If you own a Triumph Rocket III and aren’t a member there you should sign up and check it out. The forums are a gold mine of information, tips, and tricks. Here are the photos from the thread that I cited.




    Posted in Motorcycle Solutions | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

    Best IR Remote Control Repeater for the Money

    Posted on March 17, 2011 by Tim

    Disclosure: I have not been paid to write this review, however, I do receive monetary compensation from Amazon for every item ordered via clicking the Amazon advertisement included in this article for the product being reviewed. I purchased the repeater for retail price and use it in my personal system at home daily.

    Ever since we remodelled the living room and put the audio video components behind a stone and oak cabinet we’ve struggled to find the right set of IR repeaters or IR to RF remote extenders for controlling our entertainment system. The quest has been to eliminate having to leave the cabinet door open or contort ourselves like epileptic yoga students to change the channel or adjust the volume.

    Our investments toward this problem have included a set of X1 Powermid IR to RF pyramid converters that worked sporadically and only if you got out of your chair and stood in one particular spot in the room before pointing the remote directly at one face of the little pyramid receiver.

    Adding receivers, repositioning the transmitter, and adding an extended ir emitter didn’t improve anything.

    Then we tried another sixty dollar solution. The Phillips IR to RF converter/extender. Only slightly better results, even with the included IR emitter cables that allowed you to fasten an emitter directly over each of the IR reception windows on the front of each system component.

    On the verge of purchasing a $500+ harmony RF remote system, we decided to give the IR repeater solution one more try. We purchased the Cables To Go Impact Acoustics 40430 Infra-red Repeater via Amazon for $34.99 and crossed our fingers.

    The little kit arrived in three days and was installed in fifteen minutes.

    An elegant solution that allows you to place a small two inch by one-half by one-half inch receiver in a spot with direct line of site to your remote control, with a small wire running back from it to an out of sight location inside your component cabinet. Then there are four included IR emitters that connect via two wires (two into one) to ports on the amplifier box. The emitters have a peel and stick backing and you just stick them over the IR receiver windows on your components (stereo receiver, DVR, set-top box, DVD/Blu-Ray player, etc).

    Then you plug in the power adapter and viola!. Our Logitech Harmony 700 remotes both work with it flawlessly and we control all our components from anywhere in the room with a clear line of site to the little receiver. It even has a blue LED indicator light on it that tells us it’s receiving the command every time we press a button on the remote.

    This 35 dollar kit has just saved us several hundred in a new high end remote control system. We now keep the gadgets out-of-sight behind the closed component cabinet (photo will be posted here tonight) and our living room looks neat and tidy with no exposed stereos, Blu-Ray players, or cables, even when we’re in the midst of using all these wonderful gadgets. It’s a shame Fry’s, Best Buy, and the other big tech retailers don’t stock this little kit on their shelves and instead try to sell us those un dependable converter set from X10, Phillips, Tork, and others. Apparently profit margin is more important to them than quality.

    Posted in Home Entertainment | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment