Garmin Zumo R1 motorbike radar

[richtea]

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1227031

My 2 minute review:
- overpriced
- sweetly discreet. Oh - no it's not. They've stuck rear LEDs on it.
- did Yamaha approve the name?

[andym2]

£520 in UK currency, ready to ship in 5-8 weeks.

Innovv ThirdEye is £220, you could have one tomorrow and it looks a bit more discreet.

[Matt]

Yeah I spotted that Innov one whilst looking for their cameras. I look forward to some non-sponsored review actually trying to come up with a compelling reason for it.

[Phmode]

A discrete placement for my 12 bore would be more useful.

I mean, do some bikers have necks and eyeballs that don't swivel? Don't all bikes have rear view mirrors?

What's behind me? Well, that would be other stationary traffic in a stationary queue or the things I just overtook. The only time I get worried about what is going to be behind me is when I'm stopped at lights and by the time any radar thingummy was flashing at me it would be too late to do anything about it.

[richtea]

I mean, do some bikers have necks and eyeballs that don't swivel? Don't all bikes have rear view mirrors?

I have a neck that definitely doesn't swivel as well as it used it when doing lifesavers. Hence the blind spot mirrors on my K13.

I would quite like to fit a blind spot warning system. However, on modern bikes it only comes as an afterthought add-on with dynamic cruise control packages that (soon) all manufacturers sell.

[Matt]

Is the K16 a more upright posture than the K13? As I read your post I wondered how much lifesavers are easier on more upright postures for humans. Being a crustacean myself I can't come to a conclusion.

[richtea]

Is the K16 a more upright posture than the K13? As I read your post I wondered how much lifesavers are easier on more upright postures for humans. Being a crustacean myself I can't come to a conclusion.

It's near-bolt upright for me = easier to turn the body because there's very little weight on the arms. I can also change seat position for a better squint if I need to.

[black-k1]

I've got the blind spot detection on the H2 SX. It's very good but there is no way I'd trust it as a replacement for the life saver. There is a reason it's called a life saver!

[richtea]

Quite right, David. I'd still be doing the lifesaver - just nice to have belt and braces.

[Phmode]

I'm quite surprised (although I shouldn't be) at how many car drivers don't seem to look in their 'wing' mirrors if they have the blind spot light flashing in the mirror. On the bike, their system attracts my attention and I glance at their mirror but they just drive on oblivious. I guess like every driver attention getter they just get inured to it.

[Matt]

I imagine it goes off so often they either start ignoring it, or it just sits in their profiterole vision 

[Phmode]

Of course, one option we are ignoring is that they didn't read the manual and simply don't know why it is flashing at them. A reflection of my indicator perhaps?

[richtea]

A reflection of my indicator perhaps?

A reflection of their stupidity perhaps. 

Of course, one option we are ignoring is that they didn't read the manual and simply don't know why it is flashing at them.

[Going off-piste somewhat...]

Having just got a new-to-me car I can see why people don't bother reading the manual:

- 269 pages - that's a fifth of War and Peace. Some people don't read anything outside of social media, let alone RTFM.
- tricky to work out the actual term the manufacturer uses for the widget below the console
- covers multiple variants of the car but in the same chapters. Figuring out which paragraph/sub-section is yours means reading all of them, and then going back to the closest match.
- the sheer volume of features makes your eyes glaze over. I'm sure air-con used to be on/off. 10 minutes of reading the different types and then a second re-reading to work out how to de-frost/de-condense a cold car.

But the good news:
- no lane-change warning sh*t. The part-ex car that had it was definitely trolling me.

[End of off-piste ramble. I feel better now.]

[Belco100]

Innovv ThirdEye is £220, you could have one tomorrow and it looks a bit more discreet.

That's quite neat - and I have seen somewhere that you can now buy it with the latest BMW mirrors (no good on Ks  ) with the blind spot indicators built in. And some of the Chigee and Carpuride systems are getting quite flash with car play, front and rear cameras, blind spot detectors, TPM systems etc. Might try one of these on my old Triumph Tiger Steamer.