Owls - those of you who look behind with ease...

[sugilite:Me]

I'm tall and ride a sports bike, but I look under my right arm...

[klingon]

I'm tall and ride a sports bike, but I look under my right arm...

Yeah I've seen tall sports bike riders do that.

mmm.... tall sports bike riders... oops! Off topic!

[gatch]

im not little but i ride a little bike, with jacket and sometimes even wearing a helmet its easy to turn my head, safe as fuck

[fatzx10r]

try doing a handstand, that way you wont have to turn your head

[Winston001]

If I want to look over my right shoulder I straighten my right arm to look - My grip on the throttle is firm but relaxed and I find it easy enough however I never have a shoulder bag on.... I have my mirrors set up so they look directly behind me and I use the over the shoulder glance to just check the blind spots. On the weekend ride I relied on the mirrors to count the headlights and ensure we were all still together for example.

What brought this on?

No other reason than I find it difficult to turn my head sufficently while holding the throttle. It only pertains on multi-laned roads, mirrors are fine otherwise.

Take your arm off the throttle....

Yep that's my conclusion. Tried it, drop my arm, easy to glance, all good. :

[The Stranger:Me]

It only pertains on multi-laned roads, mirrors are fine otherwise.

Well, define multi-laned roads.

I always head check as I go past a motorway on ramp, change lanes, over taking or at an exit only lane off a motorway - How many times do you see a dick in an exit only lane suddenly realise they need to actually stay on the motorway and just swerve back on?

[pritch]

The British Police manual refers to a "lifesaver", a quick look over the shoulder. I find though that with the gear I'm wearing the bit of road that I'd really like to see isn't visible other than in the mirror...

[Crisis management]

It only pertains on multi-laned roads.......:

Shouldn't be a problem in the south island then, are you thinking of traveling north?

[90s]

Most experienced riders probably don't realise how much they move their entire body to do blind-sport checks.

For example, I am conscious of dropping my throttle arm a little and bringing the shoulder forward, pushing my left hip forward and then as my torso is already partially swivelled glancing around. The amount I am moving my head is minimal - trying simply to keep the body rigid and turn the neck is a huge turn that is uncomfortable and difficult without a helment - and as you say you are fighting your leathers etc. Let your body mechanics do the work and within a few times your forget your are even doing it, and looking behind you will be simple.

[PrincessBandit]

Once you've passed your Ordinary Wizarding Levels it's just a flick of your wand and you grow snail stalk eyes so one can look behind you/over the shoulder while the other one keeps looking ahead where you're going.

Seriously though:

Depends on your riding position, too. Obviously sports-bike style you're going to be leaning further forward so you might need to tuck your chin in to glance over your shoulder. On my sit-up-straight bike it's an easy sideways turn. If you're leaning back on a cruiser it might be easier to flip your head backwards.

Klingon is right, it does very much depend on your position and what you ride. When I'm on the Burgman or the ginny turning to look back over my right shoulder is easy; when on the bandit I have much less head movement due to (as others have said) the helmet chin guard bumping into shoulder armour in my jacket. Tend to use both mirrors A LOT so that I'm theoretically always aware of where things are behind me and what they're doing.....

[vifferman]

I have no problem - the VFR offers a good view to the rear via the mirrors (shock! Horror!), the Shoei has the best visibility of any fullface helmet I've worn, and my jacket doesn't hinder my movement should I wish to turn my head.

[Winston001]

Shouldn't be a problem in the south island then, are you thinking of traveling north?

LOL

I suspect that because I wear glasses, turning to look is more of a problem that with the eagles among you. The glasses get moved a bit when the helmet hits my right shoulder and seeing anything at all becomes problematic.

Might be time for a new helmet too, the current FFM flip-up is a bit loose. Going for a wander along to the bike shop now.

[Mikkel]

Not a problem to check my blind spots - not on the zxr250, not on the Husky motard and not on the zx7...

They are quite different machines - but it's never a problem. Using the mirrors can require me to move my elbows out of the way though.

If we always were focused on our riding and remained observant it would not be necessary to check the blindspots though.

[skidMark]

I backflip lowside to 360 barrel roll tank slapper. during the 360 i get a look behind.

[xwhatsit]

didn't even have mirrors...they were not a legal requirement.

For all intents and purposes I don't have a rear-view mirror -- just got a bar-end mirror on the RHS (all that's required legally). I keep it folded down these days. If I fold it up 180 degrees I can see behind me but I keep it folded down so all I'd see is tarmac.

So I don't have any option but to do complete head checks. I feel safer doing this for some reason. The only issue is running up the arse end of the car in front if you spend too long staring backwards. Funny that I never seem to get heated up about tailgaters these days -- I don't know if I have any

I wear a heavy leather jacket with armour but don't find it particularly difficult. Might be the geometry of the bar setup and body angle. I drop my shoulders as I do it. For multi-lane roads where the concern is pulling out in front of a faster vehicle, I find I bend my neck so it's laying sideways and backwards, if that makes sense. Like looking under your arm.

Visibility is great on bikes, even with full-face helmets. You don't need mirrors.