THE VERDICT

MY INITIAL OPINION, as I battled to set the Zona up, was that it just didn’t work. There’s a 28-day moneyback guarantee and if I wasn’t testing it, I’d have used it after day two. In fact, the problem was me: as I got used to setting it up, I was able to use it for increasingly long rides. Everything hinges on getting the eyepiece positioned before you pull away – you can’t adjust on the move.

While it presented an uninterrupted view of what was behind me, it didn’t really show more than the mirrors of the Kawasaki Z1000SX. I found it slower to glance in the screen than to look at the mirrors and, on this bike, they actually provided a larger and clearer view behind. I never had the confidence to pull out without the mirrors and a shoulder check.

The Zona costs £195; that’s a lot of money for a product that does the same job as mirrors and a shoulder check. However, if you have trouble doing checks or if your mirrors are rubbish, it may be what you need. It may not change the way you ride but it will show what’s behind you.