Can you see anything in your mirrors? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Can you see anything in your mirrors?

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Xitaxine

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I just bought a new (to me) 1986 FZ600, it came with these tiny little cat eye mirrors. I tried readjusting them but all i could ever see is my arms. So i put the stock mirrors back on it hoping this would help. Definately a bigger mirror but same issue, no matter how i adjust it most of what i see are my arms. i have to awkardly lean and move my arm to check my mirrors. Just wanted to know if this is a fairly common thing on sport bikes or if i'm simply just doing something wrong. I've tried different seating positions but nothing really helps.

Any suggestions / input would be greatly appreciated
 
Side mirrors on a bike or car are just to see in the blind spot. If you use them to see all the way behind your vehicle, you're using them wrong. In my case, if I'm going past 40km/h, the mirrors on my gsxr are vibrating too much to be of any use long distance. I have to turn my head anyway.

The blind spot mirrors from CT are AWSOME for parking because they reflect the yellow lines marking the spots. I have them on my car, and by the time my eyes focus on that tiny area, any benefit is lost. So again, they are useless in real traffic.

I'm sure there are people who will reply they can see for miles behind using their mirrors alone. Some bikes vibrate less than others, some mirrors stick out more than others. But in general nothing beats turning your head if you need to check a vehicle approaching you from far behind.
 
matthew said:
buy blind spot mirrors from canadian tire.
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+100000

The previous owner of my bike (Shout outs to the big homie Busabob) had the foresight to put these on. Let me tell you they are INVALUABLE. I always have to tuck my elbows in anytime I need to check my mirrors and the little blind spot mirrors have saved my arse a few times.
 
Always turn your head to check blind spots. When I move from furthest lane (on a 3 lane highway) to furthest lane I move 1 lane at a time and check mirror and turn my head to check the blind spot. Don't know whether this is redundant or not but I do it cause I feel it's safer and I know for sure that there's no car there or upcoming traffic.
 
croco said:
Side mirrors on a bike or car are just to see in the blind spot. If you use them to see all the way behind your vehicle, you're using them wrong. In my case, if I'm going past 40km/h, the mirrors on my gsxr are vibrating too much to be of any use long distance. I have to turn my head anyway.
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What were you taught in your driving course? Side mirrors do not check your blind spot. You need to look over your shoulders to check your blind spot.

And your mirrors may be loose to be vibrating so much that you can't see far with them. How far exactly do you want to see with your side mirrors?
 
Hmmm....Mirrors on all my VF's/VFR's show behind and a bit to my side pretty well. Shoulder checks are for Blind spots.

It also depends on how "big" you are.
 
Mirrors can't see into your blind spot, that's why it's called a blind spot.
But they should let you see what's behind you, and somewhat to the side.
Only a shoulder check will confirm it's safe to move over, but a proper mirror will save you from unecessarily taking your eyes off of what's in front of you.

Not sure what's normal for sports bikes, but any cruiser or standard style I've been on has had good range of vision in the mirrors; even if somewhat shaking at speed it should be enough to reveal an oncoming car.

You could consider getting bar end mirrors.
 
I can see my shoulders....does that count?

Sigh...VROD mirrors suck.
 
Bar end mirrors... solve the "I can see my elbows" problem 100%. That, and they don't vibrate and become useless at highway speeds like my OEM's did (since removed and have mirror block off plates installed).
 
Just drop your elbow. It's
Common practice
 
You can get mirror extenders too (Motrech...not sure of the spelling), I have them, they work very well.
 
Mine are perfect on my GSA, but when I did have my 919, I was looking into my shoulders unless I scrunched in. There are options for you, which have all been posted above. Bar end mirrors, extenders, etc. I never rely on mirrors for my blind spot, I do the shoulder check and constantly keep aware of whats going on around me.
 
I've always had to pull my elbow in to see much in my mirrors. Bar ends are good but you do have to look further out and down and they extend the width of your bike so you may wack them on stuff. I do like them though. Mirror extensions improve the situation but are not likely to solve it.

It seems to me that mirrors that work are at odds with mirrors that look good and what we get is a compromise. I live with pulling my elbow in to see behind me.
 
I appreciate all the responses. First i just want to say that i do shoulder checks, i just don't like not being able to see behind me. kept having to turn my head to check if there was a cop or something behind me. I'm going to pick up a pair of those blind spot mirrors today and see how it goes.
 
Mirror extenders work better than blind spot mirrors.

That is the first farkle that I put on all my bikes, where seeing in the mirrors is an issue.

Blind spot mirrors are a. tiny and b. distort the view. JZ67 posted a link.
 
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This thread is invaluable to me as I am a noob (1+week) and I was struggling to see properly (as expected) with my mirrors.
I'll be banging on them (provious owner (smartly) had them locked in pretty tight), trying to see past my shoulders/arms. Having very broard shoulders, while it attract the looks from the female drivers, it hasnt helped matters any.

Ironically, i have those crappy-tire bilndspot mirrors on my trucks, and never thought to but it on the bike.

I'll grab a pair today!

Thanks!

PS: I know we were taught shoulder-check in the safety course, and I do that religiously, but I dont know if I got a big head or what, but there is not much turning I can do with your head, without the helmet banging against my shoulders, plus the full faced helmet does block some peripherial view, so wider coverage from the mirror (or while looking ahead) helps.
 
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I put a convex blind spot mirror stick on thing on my last bike and didn't find it very helpful. Too small for me to see anything effectively.

Keep in mind you don't want anything to take your eyes off the road in front of you for any longer than is absolutely necessary. The fastest supercar climbing up your rear is still approaching you much slower than the bus coming at you head on. You don't want to be watching the Ferrari and getting taken out by the bus.
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