What the heck am I supposed to see?

Ok, here's a real newbie question for you:

How do you arrange your mirrors to provide the best field of view?

Do you fan them way out, so you can't see yourself at all? Do you have the edges of your shoulders in view so you have a point of reference? Not being able to see directly behind me is kind of freaking me out.

State your preference so I can learn something. Thanks!

 

Personally, I set the right one up to look down/out more than the left. The right is more or less for lane changes, whereas the left one gives me a field of vision going further back as well. I can see the edge of my shoulder in the left one, not the right.

I should also mention that installing lower bars on my Seca 550s required me to fit longer mirrors to get a good safe rear view. The factory mirrors on the lower bars can't see past my shoulders very well.

 

On the written part of the endorsement test, Ohio reccomeds that you be able to see partially behind and partially next to yourself while looking in your mirrors. I find that to my best bet. I can see part of my shoulders while looking into my mirrors and if I need to see more next to me, I lean slightly forward. I don't, however, use my mirrors while making lane changes. I always turn my head to check traffic when switching lanes.

 

Oh I agree that I should turn my head prior to lane changes. Thanks for the advice.

 

I run mine with the top corner of my shoulders just visible in the lower inside quadrant of my mirrors. You may not be able to see as far to the side but you should be doing a head check as a matter of habit anyway.

 

I agree it drives me crazy not to see behind me I was thinking of changing to seca or more sport,euro style bars with bar end mirrors does anyone have any first hand experiance with this and what i can expect my veiw to look like if i do make the change?
Shaun

 

Depending on the bars and mirrors you may get a really good view of your forearm or it could work even better than conventionally-placed mirrors.

I should clarify my initial answer: I am not advocating using ONLY a mirror for lane-changes, I do a quick head-swivel too. I guess the best way to put it would be that I don't have them both set up the same, the right is more short-range the left a longer view.

 

3rd eye mirror
Mr fitz is right depends on your bars, i've got flat MX bars ans if i lean my head to the left or right i can almost see the tail light
sit in your bike, if your grips were 3 inches longer could you see the ends?

 

Anyone ever use bar end mirrors on stock 650 bars? I can't see anything but my big fat carcass in the puny mirrors I have now. I had bar end mirrors on a Virago and loved them.

 

I use to use the edge of my shoulders as a point to start my mirrors...the thing is, you don't move. Get the mirrors where you can see the tip of your shoulder then move them just pass. I have a bar end mirror on clubman handlebars and I basically only use it to check traffic directly behind me. Then again, I only have one mirror.

 

I have a set of bar end mirrors and I love them. I see every thing behind me not my shoulders. The only downfall is that I catch them when I walk by them in the garage. I highly recommend them.

 

I fitted bar end mirrors to the 900 about a year ago and the difference is AMAZING!! The only problem is that I can no longer see whether the elbows of my jacket are fraying.
Just be a bit careful going through narrow gates! (You can get the mirrors very cheaply on Fleabay. They're not fabulous quality, but they look fine and won't break your heart if you do get careless going through the gate.)