Hi mate. Ok it's like this: The camera footage is very good quality. The quality is reduced a lot when you use the overlays for some reason. Battery just about last long enough for ONE track session if you have bluetooth on (for remote on/off recording and photos). Battery lasts LESS than two sessions if the bluetooth is off. The overlays are pretty cool and completely customisable. The 10Hz GPS is not good enough if you want accurate speed vs position stuff - the speed will frequently lag behind the video, showing you apex speed when you're accelerating away from that apex for example. It is NOT broadly supported by third party apps like the GoPro is. There are many third party apps for GoPro that will allow overlays and multi-cam views all on the screen. It's a non-standard camera housing, so many third party accessories (cases etc) won't fit it. So... I'm gonna sell mine and do what I shoulda done to begin with - buy a GoPro. I bought the Virb XE for exactly the same reason as you stated, for the overlays (and to do some basic analysis of where to work on my riding etc) but it didn't really turn out as flexible as I'd hoped for all of the above reasons. Other than that it's a well engineered unit with a good lens and takes good quality photos and video. Hope that helps.
Guys, its been a while since this post was active and I am now back considering track timers again for my 959. So far reading above and what I know its as follows... 1) Ducati do a DDA for the 899, 1199 and 1299 BUT NOT 959 - can anyone confirm yay or nay? 2) Things like Harrys Lap Timer etc are really good but working at 10-20 Hz and this is not accurate? 3) Garmin Virb can video and time but again not that accurate due to similar refresh rates as above? 4) PZ Racing seem to have an excellent system that requires wires to be spliced but once in its great. However it leaves a visible GPS unit on display that most UK track companies wont allow as they know you are timing? In short I just want to time my laps so I can get an idea of improvement. Not bothered whether on dash or phone (although dash would be nice) however I am bothered about it being accurate and stress free, ie not having to press a button each lap etc Looking forward to your replies.... Asif
Never seen "Harry's Lap Timer". I use RaceChrono Pro which is a similar smartphone app. I use an old android phone. It links to gopro and does all the video sync stuff. Accuracy... its not going to be as accurate as a dedicated device but I've compared the gopro video with the laptimer on multiple laps back to back and I can't see any real gaps. I'm chasing seconds not 100ths so its good enough to me.
Shot from my iphone, mounted on the dash using a suction mount(also helped cover the speedo) and a 10hz external Bluetooth gps device. Quiet accurate, if you ask me. P.s. Yes, I'm aware that I'm probably one of the slowest track riders out there... or anywhere, for that matter...
I use one of these Aim Solo things. I've cross referenced the readings on trackdays while carrying an independent transponder and it's bang on. Dead easy to use and does what it says on the tin.... Does 0-60 too, this was after testing my car, he he he.... It just Velcro's straight onto the top yoke. Easy peasy...
I was gonna get one of those as they look pretty cool and have a lovely display but decided, after talking with a tech guy at AIM to go for the PZR as it's suits my purposes better. Just sayin...
Everything you need to know can be found on this page, including the accessories if you want to measure suspension dynamics, engine stats, etc http://www.pzracing.it/en/project/start/
Anyone used the PZ racing GPS receiver on a 899? How do they compare to say the AIM Solo? http://www.pzracing.it/en/project/p-tronic-pa500/ I’ve got a solo but quite fancy utilising the dash as a timer
I have one at home to go on my 959 for next year. Tidy little piece of kit. Basically plugs into the left hand control loom and is fixed to the top yoke. Very simple and uses the display.
I use a virdXE too. Really good bit of kit, but I find the GPS is a bit out and the speed lags behind somewhat. You get reasonably accurate lap time info, but it's not always exactly the same as the Mylaps/TSL data we use for racing, but close to within a few tenths of a second. I use a starlane dash on my number 2 bike, which is generally bang on to the TSL race timing, so I trust that data well. I find the battery on mine lasts a good 3-4 20min sessions, and I think I have the Bluetooth turned on ? You can compare the Virb data vs the starlane dash in my video here If you just want a lap timer, the Starlane Stealth (as posted previously) is a really good bit of kit if you don't want to go down the specific race dash route, and is pretty small, so can be mounted discreetly without shouting about the fact you're timing laps, as that's 'officially banned' on UK trackdays, although not always policed. Whereas the Aim lap timer is decent, it's pretty bulky and looks a bit obvious
Very useful mate and a great video - take no prisoners! Yeah for me the main issue is that I spend a lot of time trying to analyse/compare my speed at particular points into/through/out-of corners so the speed at a particular point is important to me. With the Virb GPS being that slow I simply couldn't do that as it would often be metres out.
Yeah, a virb is way too inaccurate for that With the Starlane kit, you can download the telemetry data to a laptop, so you can work out your exact speed at any given point, and with the right accessory sensors, you can overlay brake pressure or throttle opening That can then be over-layed into a video, so you can see your line etc for comparison lap to lap
Yes, thanks mate, that's pretty much what I do with my PZRacing kit. The reason I went with the PZRacing unit is that it was the only unit available at sensible-for-me money (sub 10 grand) that offered a 50Hz GPS poll frequency. FWIW I find the speed very accurately matches exactly what I'm doing on the bike, ie acceleration pauses whilst changing gear etc, etc. I'm not saying the PZR unit is superior to the Starlane as I haven't tried the latter, when I realised how ineffective the GMetrix were for my purposes I looked around for the fastest GPS unit I was willing to afford, the results with the PZR have been more than adequate for my needs so far hence I didn't look any further
I think this might depend on how much data you want to store/access. External units generally have a lot of memory so can store a lot of data, and whether you may subsequently want to measure other systems on the bike.
