Dear Motorcycle Builders,

Auto makers have been putting back up cameras on cars for some years now.  Its proven to be solid tech.
Every bike I’ve ever owned, the mirrors show me what my elbows look like.  And I don’t have a neck like an owl.
Put rear view cameras on the bike and a small display where the mirrors are, so we can know what’s behind us and if we can change lanes safely.  A head check might not catch that guy coming up on you at high speed.
This shouldn’t add more than 500 bucks to a brand new bike.

20 thoughts on “Dear Motorcycle Builders,”

  1. When I buy a bike I go looking for new longer mirror stems, they look goofy but I consider safety more important than looks. I also have learned to turn my body with out turning the bike to see behind me. I do like the idea, but it is a relatively small screen vibrating so I wonder how well it would work. I think a better idea might be to send the camera feed to a small tablet in a tank bag map pocket. This would be relatively easy/cheap to do. As a side not mirrors on the Goldwings are the best that I have ever used.

  2. The screen would be tough to see, and difficult to look at while maintaining focus on the road. Better would be a simple peripheral indicator light if something (a car) is within a certain distance of the bike. A small red light meaning don’t merge (in addition to the camera if needed).

      1. Yeah, they do. But they have big icons, simple displays, and bright colors. The low contrast and fine detail of a camera feed is going to be much, much more difficult to see. It’s one of those things you won’t realize until you waste $500 on one.

  3. VUZIX and Google Glasses aren’t here yet but there are already apps that are revelant to road navigation. The vuzix M-100 is intended to take feed from android smart phones. So a feed from a video camera facing aft wouldn’t be that big a deal. I expect that before too long you will be able to buy a helmet with a viewer and a camera for both fore and aft viewing and recording.
    Right now I see people buying the extended stalk and bar end mirrors to get a rear view. Shame you have to go after market to get safe.

    1. Bikes already are. And a built in system like this would be more difficult to swipe than the whole bike. And Bikes are insured.

  4. You would need to change the laws first. Most, if not all states make mirrors mandatory. Replacing mirrors with video screens would be a violation of the law.

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