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GoZa Mite

Tag: WInter motorcycling

  • Riding on the frozen lake (or sea)

    gozamite

    Winter 2025-26 has been very cold! And suddenly it is possible even here in the southern parts of the country to take your bike and go riding on the frozen lake or sea. This has been quite rare lately… This winter the longest official ice road of Europe was opened few days ago (Koli Ice Road) and surprisingly in Estonia they opened the official Ice Road between Hiiumaa and Saarenmaa.

    The law about riding (or driving) on the ice is interesting! You can actually do it even you don’t have the driver’s licence!! You just have to be 15 years of age or older. Elsewhere, you can only drive without a driver’s license in a closed area (e.g. racetracks) or on private property. And if you go riding (driving) to these official Ice Roads then you need to have the driver’s licence!

    Official Text:
    Driving a car or snowmobile on ice is regulated by the Water Act and the Off-Road Traffic Act, as well as by the Road Traffic Act with regard to official state ice roads. Everyone has the right to travel on waterways or ice without causing unnecessary damage, harm, or disturbance.
    Motor vehicles such as snowmobiles, motorcycles, cars, and ATVs may be driven on ice by persons aged 15 and over. The age restriction does not apply to driving in closed areas. The maximum speed limit on ice is 80 km/h.
    When driving a motor vehicle on ice, care and caution must be exercised. No harm should be caused to nature, the environment, residential areas, fishing, or general recreational use. It is advisable to keep a good distance from coastal settlements and cottages, as the greatest harm caused by motor vehicles is noise and traffic safety hazards. The police enforce the Road Traffic Act, the Off-Road Traffic Act, and the Water Traffic Act. On state-maintained ice roads, the Road Traffic Act must be observed on ice roads maintained by the state, i.e., only persons with a driver’s license may drive on ice roads.

    Lake Lohja
    Lake Lohja

    I will add two videos to this post. They’re not mine but both are great riding on the ice!

  • Insta360 Ace Pro with a bluetooth microphone

    gozamite

    This is mind blowing! It’s revolutionary.
    Until now everyone who wanted to talk to the video while riding a motorcycle had to install either a mic with the wire (so called Lavalier microphone) or somekind of wireless microphone inside their helmets.
    I was using one of the best ones (RØDE wireless Go II) and I did find a place for the microphone inside my helmet but then there was the problem of the reciever and the adapter on the side of the camera.

    The sound quality from this RØDE microphone was very good! But because of the rain I did brake 1 mic adapter last summer.
    Then on december 2023 they released this new Insta360 Ace Pro camera and it has bluetooth connectivity!! I didn’t even realize this when I bought it. But about in the same time when I got this new camera the DJI Osmo Action 4 shared new firmware update that allowed it to be connected to DJI Mic 2. That was the first time when I knew something quite important was about to happen! In DJI’s version you still need to install this microphone inside the helmet. Only few weeks later Insta360 released new firmware that had already more than 5 different helmetphone Brands and models that was supported by Insta360 Ace Pro camera!! I had Sena 30K and it was not on the list…. So I sold my helmetphone and bought the new one! It was Sena Spider ST1 and to pair it with Insta360 Ace Pro you do like this:

    I knew that when you are using helmetphone microphone they have this “Advanced Noise Control™” that will block all ambient sounds (sounds from the outside of your helmet). So I started testing how can I easily disconnect the helmetphone from the camera so that camera’s own microphone will record all sounds when I’m not talking to the microphone. It can be done but it’s not very easy.

    Finally today (3rd of february) it was so warm weather so I decided I will install the battery to my bike. And because my bike’s engine started like it was not winter at all… I decided to go for a ride!
    And ofcourse test how this Sena Spider ST1 will work as a microphone in insta360 Ace Pro camera.
    Here is the video:

    As a result I can say that yes, you can hear the engine sound on the video. But it’s not too loud. Actually if I will use music on the video it will cover pretty much all engine sound… So I will try to remember to disconnect the helmetphone (microphone) when I don’t want to talk to the video.
    And when I want to talk again I need to stop recording and connect the helmetphone to the camera again. And start recording again (Sounds little bit complicated here! But it isn’t.)

  • Adventure below zero & Crash

    gozamite

    The winter motorcycling is quite challenging! First you’re collecting the best and warmest clothes to put on you. You get dressed up for 1 hour (or something) and then you go out without even knowing if the bike will start?

    I was really waiting this kind of weather! The frozen ground makes the gravel roads little bit slippery (Or too slippery like you will see later in this post!) and the riding is more challenging! I took this kind of route yesterday:

    I wanted to ride the forest roads near that Iso-Kisko lake and I wanted to see the swimming place and fire place of that lake. I only saw that place once and that was in the middle of the winter -at least now it would be little bit earlier!

    Here was the first crossroads where I found the road that I didn’t ride before.

    That road had some beautiful views right under the powerline that has no electric current! The line comes from Inkoo Powerplant that was demolished few years ago.

    Then I was in another city (Salo) and district (Varsinais-Suomi). That road was just maintained and plowed so there was loose gravel and stones on the surface and right under this loose surface there was frozen layer… It was very slippery! And even I said to myself many times “Be careful, It’s very slippery!” This happened:

    For a second I was little bit frightened that I was hurt! I was winded and it felt like there’s something wrong. But it lasted only few seconds and then I pulled myself up and started to my move my hands and shoulders. It felt like everything was ok! I had to ride to the gas station because I needed to fix the foot peg that was stuck on the “Up position”.

    This picture I took little bit later when I was already riding back home.
    The whole adventure video you can see here:

  • Samsung Act Tab 2 & Osmand App Vs Garmin Montana 700

    gozamite

    Every now and then there is a question which navigation system is the best for Adventure riding?
    I don’t have the correct answer but here are some features to check. Especially if you want to ride TransEuroTrail (Finland).
    I’ve been using Garmin GPSmap 62, Garmin Montana 600, Last summer Samsung Active Tab 2 & Osmand App and now I have Garmin Montana 700.
    I did a testride with both of these navigation systems attached to my motorcycle.
    I also had my camera (DJI Osmo Action) attached to my helmet -this I didn’t have in a very long time.
    And Rode Wireless Go II microphone was connected to my camera and the microphone itself was inside my helmet.
    Here is the video:

    I’m not saying which one is better. They both have some cons and pros.
    Samsung Tab can be a little bit tricky to keep the batter fully loaded. It is very delicate part of the tablet this USB gate where you should connect the charging wire. I was using the magnetic type of wire where there is an extra connection just after the plug that you should push to the USB gate. The power that comes from my motorcycles alternator is not quite enough to keep the battery 100% loaded all day. But in novemeber when we were riding 9 hours it took only about 30% of battery power… So I could easily ride 2-3 days without recharging the tablet.
    It has also a small problem about the maps. You can get along with them but they are not as accurate than the maps in Garmin Montana. Every now and then I was little bit confused with Osmand maps. Why this track or that road is not on the map?
    Garmin Montana 700 biggest drawback (so far) is that you can’t change the thickness of the saved track’s line on the map! This makes it little bit tricky to see the line on the map that you should try to follow. The strangest thing is that it was possible in Garmin Montana 600!! (And also in Osmand App!)
    There are a lot of other devices and other apps to use. Especially this whole Apple -thing! I know nothing about them.
    But for android this Osmand is very good choice because it’s free or it’s not expensive to buy (full licence) where you can have unlimited amount of downloads (maps).
    I hope this helps you to choose a good system that serves you the best!

  • Last ride of 2022

    gozamite

    Week after our very nice November ride we got the first snow! And soon there was more and more coming all the time… At the best there was more than half of meter of snow on the ground. And it was also very cold all the time.
    -Until Christmas!
    In Christmas week it was over zero temperatures and even little bit of rain every now and then so almost all snow melted.
    And then again the last 2 days of the year it was very warm. On NewYears Eve we had +5° So I decided to go riding!

    And while I was riding little bit of TET route I was hoping I could find a spot where there was no ICE. And I found…

    I don’t have spikes in my tires so I can only ride on tarmac or in soft snow. I’m not that big fan of winter riding… But ofcourse if the weather is ok I can go.
    Next ride in 2023!