Tyre failures

Achiles ATR Sports

Nang Kang RSII

Likely caused by a puncture but no sign of it to be found. 

Bicycle Lamp Project.

Doing a little DIY for a high power lamp system for night rides.
 10W LED ~ 600-800 lumens

  

The Lamp itself. Full water resistant aluminium housing and built in Heatsink

   

With harness and battery pack.

This needs improvement - likely need to re-do harness with water proof connectors and battery housing. Currently test prototype is powered by 10 AA alkalines. Power system will be upgraded to LiON and waterproof switch and connectors. The LiON packs are 1/3 the size and weight of the AA pack. Runtime is approximately 3 hours with cheap China AA Alkalines. Would expect better run time with better alkalines or NiMH batteries

 Testing Pictures shot at same settings and fixed location (except the last one, obviously) Pictures are darker than they are, as our eyes tend to compensate and adjust for low light.

 

Normal Sodium street lamp

Cheap china made100 lumen headlamp (helmet mounted)  

powered by single 5W (supposedly, but likely severely overrated LED) and 3 AAA batteries

   

 Single 10W LED Lamp 

   

   

 Single 10W LED Lamp

 Ultimate goal is to either run 2 of these 10W LED ( Total 1200-1600 lumens) or 1 single 3000 Lumens automotive HID. The HID lamp will be off road only as its close to impossible to find projector lamp housings/lens with proper beam cut off. It will blind people as it is just too bright.


As for a comparison,

- normal Flash light with a xenon bulb : 30-40 Lumens.
- high quality bicycle LED lamp : 70-200 Lumens ($150-300)

This is far more light output than anything you can buy for less than $500


As it is, I am not too happy with the beam pattern. Its too wide and does not have enough "throw". I will have to look for a a different housing or mount a custom made "extension tube" and re-focus the beam farther. Running a 2 lamp system will help considetably as you can have a wide beam lamp and a narrow beam lamp for good coverage.

Its not a problem for single HID as they emit so much more light...and as what they say in car terms, "if you have enough power, you don't need to handle"...

Michelin Pilot Sports 3 : Initial Review

14 months has passed and the Kumho has been on its wear bars for a good part of the last few weeks.

Decided to go back to Michelins since I was quite happy with the Pilot Preceda 2 which I got prior to the Kumhos.



Picked 2 of them for $228 each installed for 195/50/15 sizes. Despite a hike in tyre prices in the past year, the prices for these are still palatable if you go out of your way to Klang to get them.


Initial Impressions.


The first 150km or so was a wash. Very little grip and on centre feel was very vague.
After the 150km run in, the tyre finally begun to come to its own and decided to work as a proper tyre.


Grip :
Very good. As was the Pilot Preceda 2, don't let its thread design fool you. Looks like a standard touring tire, but this is a Sport tyre no less. It might still need another 100-200km to get itself properly run in.

Wet Grip :
Even better then the Pilot Precedas and the RE001 I had previously. Tracked straight and true, even under hard braking.

Handling :
Feels softer than it is. The tyre does a fairly good job of absorbing big bumps but holds its sidewall fairly well on harder cornering. I am personally not a very big fan of its rounded sidewalls, but they say this allows the tyre to roll more and increase cornering grip. Have not managed to pull this tyre past its limits yet (reason below).



Noise :
Fairly decent noise control for a tyre of this class. Certainly one of the quietest High performance tyre out there




Pros/Cons.


Pros:
Good grip, good wet performace, quiet and fairly comfortable. Fairly reasonably priced (for a Michelin!) compared to slightly more performance orientated Bridgestone RE001 and Toyo T1R

Cons :
Not many Cons but one which is not the fault of the Tyre itself. It has a fair bit more grip than the Kumhos and the rear somewhat worn out and 2 year old Pilot Precedas. I have not broken traction on cornering yes as the tail of my car would loose traction first. Another plus for Michelin, even old worn out ones, the slide is easily controllable with a quick opposite lock and powering out. Perhaps once I replace the rear Precedas in a few weeks, I will do a track run and see how these hold out.
These are asymmetric tyres, meaning you can't flip these left/right (only front back). I usually run some fairly aggressive camber and toe settings so durability would be quite short since these settings usually will wear the inner threads out quite a lot faster.
On centre feel is still a little vague. Might need some more run in.....

EPIC!



Place : Pikes Peak 1990
Driver : Ari Vartanen
Car : Peugeot 405 T16

Care for some Corny?

Can't they really come out with a better name?

Panorama shot at Bharat Plantation, Cameron Highlands

Toyota Vios (Yaris) crash vs. Camry

This is mildly disturbing, especially for a Vios owner.




Don't hit anything big, much so a Camry...


The Honda Fit surprisingly does better being rammed into a Honda Accord.



And bear in mind, these units are actually better equipped safety wise than our local consumption units. Drive at your own risk.

Hoover Dam Bridge

Picture of the Hoover Dam bridge.
officially opened 29 October.
Shot this on Opening day. Boy was it crowded there.

Picture doesn't do it justice.
mightly impressive span

Shot from the Hoover Dam


2000ft long, 900ft above the Colorado River

Las Vegas Palazzo Suite

1 Word. Nice

I thought Ceasar's Palace's new Agustus Suites are nice.... but this was on a whole different level.

720 sft. But somehow feels larger.
1 x 42" LCD + 1 32" LCD + 1 x 19"(??) LCD in the washroom.....

The room can actually sleep 6. With 2 Queen and a double sofa bed. (I asked for a King but they ran out......oh well..all the same). Got a high floor...which incidentally is even higher than the sister Venetian's roof and just as well, better appointed and outfitted than Venetian's Suites (at least the basic suites).

Route 66

You hear about it in Song and Show.

Route 66
Main Street of America


Williams, Az
"Gateway to The Grand Canyon"

Yosemite National Park

One of the planet's most beautiful place.

Please click on below for the Panoramic shot of Tenaya Lake.

Possible the best shot of the entire trip.
I would spend a week just camping there if I could.
The surface elevation of the lake is 8000ft above sea level.

Yes it was chilly. 4 degrees C

The lone Sierra Juniper tree.

Closeup of the Lone Sierra Juniper Tree.
Possible one of the most photographed tree other than the Giant Sequoias

El Capitan and Half Dome and rest of the granite marvels in the park.
View from Tunnel View Vista point.

Young Grey Wolf out on the hunt.

Half Dome
View from Olmsted Point

The Merced River.

Brideveil Falls

Yosemite's granite marvels. Snowcaped and surrounded by Pine forests. Tenaya lake also seen.
View from Olmsted Point

Tenaya Lake again from a different angle.

One of the Giant Sequoia Trees at Yosemite.

One of the perks of a driving trip there is the drive itself. The place has one of the most amazing and often precarious mountain roads you could find. From our Lodging which at 4000ft above sea level (about the height of Cameron's Gunung Brinchang Peak) to well over 8000ft. What an amazing change in elevation.

This is the way up. Little did we know how much better the drive would end up.

Missing the word "Slow"

Driving this. A brand new 2011 Toyota Sienna minivan...
Not bad a "Van". 3.5L V6.. 6 speed auto with manual overide.
Drove pretty well given the mountain roads.

but.....

I would have really liked to drive this....

Oh well. Next time........

If you are ever in that knack of woods...
Do yourself a hugh favour and make some time to go spend a week there.

Raynox DCR 250

Shot at rather low magnification. Subject is about 2 cm across


7D + 55-250 with Raynox DCR 250 Macro conversion lens.

Lights of Vegas

Tokina 116 ATX

Review coming....

Boh Plantations

Testing out my new Tokina 116ATX F2.8 Ultra Wide angle.

Click for larger picture.