Saeng TA blind spot eliminator mirrors - review

I've had a set of Saeng TA Quick-Scan shield mount mirrors on a for a few months now (SAENG/TA Quick-Scans The perfect solution to hold your Palm PC, GPS, radar detector, or garage door). I was trying to eliminate the blind spot. These are small convex mirrors that can be attached in various places to the bike. The setup I ended up with was sort of a custom-job that Saeng set up for me, even though they were initially intended to clip onto the shield. As you can see from the picture, they are mounted with some sort of highly adhesive tape (not removable) to the inside of the dashboard. These give you a good view of what is going on beside and slightly behind you, in the two lanes next to you.

These mirrors definitely eliminate the blind spot. They are so convex that you can almost see in front of you looking at the edges. It's more convex than I would prefer - you can see two lanes over (not that useful) but things diminish to tiny dots not very far behind. You can see maybe 20 feet behind you, but further than that, things are so tiny that it takes active studying of the image in the mirror to figure out what is going on. They are very securely mounted, and they don't vibrate at all.

If I was doing it again, I'd consider two things:
* I might try to mount a less convex mirror (that's not an option from Saeng). Even a flat mirror, if angled properly, could eliminate the blind spot without making things relatively nearby too tiny to easily make out.
* I've positioned these a little too low. They are located in a convenient little spot (it seems the like fairing design was just crying out for something like this to be put there), but they are outside of my normal field of vision. I have to look down a bit to see them. It would be more useful I could see them while looking straight ahead. Saeng also makes a similar type of mirror that clips directly to the stock mirror stem. This might look a bit ugly, but it would be in the field of view and probably more useful.

They are easy to install. You just peel off the backing of double-sided tape and put it in place. Because they aren't removeable, you only get one shot at attaching it, so you need to get it put in the right spot the first time.

All in all, it's sort of handy to have them. It doesn't eliminate the necessity of a head check, but you can pretty easily determine if there is a vehicle next to you without doing a head check. Even after having them on a few months, I've not really really gotten into the habit of using them, which is probably some indication of their overall utility. Anyway, for the $100 the setup costs, I'm happy to have them on my bike.

My father always said there was no such thing as a blind spot - Only places you didn't look. Althought now that I think about it there is a blind spot on motorcycles - right behind the bike. (unless I really move around to get a different angle from the existing mirrors)

interactive3 said:

My father always said there was no such thing as a blind spot - Only places you didn't look. Althought now that I think about it there is a blind spot on motorcycles - right behind the bike. (unless I really move around to get a different angle from the existing mirrors)

Click to expand...

I remember when all the low riders had multiple sets of mirrors

I grabbed a couple of those convex spot mirrors from the auto parts store, 2" I applied to the inside edge of the mirror( they have self adhesive). That part of the mirror only showed my shoulder anyway. Now when i have that feeling there is someone there I can check. Nothing replaces head check of course. Total cost $5.00

I know what you mean about the convex-ness.
The best IMO mirrors like this are the rectangular ones that angle to the sides. They dont distort at all and give a perfect image of whats next to you, the reflection isnt convex, just small enough to see the whole car.

With them, If there is a car in the mirror then it is NOT safe to lane change, if there are no headlights it IS safe (assuming the cars in the actual rearview isnt speeding up on you)

beyond helpful, and they way they aim they are easily mounted with adhesive on different spots on the bike.

They are always my first mod on any car.
Cliff notes: Rectangle convex work better than circular convex

I'm thinking of getting one of this convex mirror for my bike... I've had this mirrors in my truck from day one. Never had to do shoulder check but I don't trust them when it's raining at night though...