Motorcycle Riding Techniques
© 2002 - 2008, Raymond Wood

Shoulder Check

It is easy to get into the habit of relying soley on your forward vision and mirrors to give you feeback about your surroundings. Most bikes, however, have a blind spot when using the rear view mirrors which, one day, can turn into a deathtrap.

As a general rule, you should do a shoulder check (Life Saver) whenever you plan to change your position on the road (changing lanes, overtaking, turning).

Notice that it is a slight turn of the head in order to see into the blind spot. There is no need to turn the head right round to see the rear as this is already displayed in the rear view mirrors.