My quick & cheap fix for the "blind" mirror problem.

[CaveDog]

Not really sure what's the best forum for this. Not sure if this problem is specific to rubber mounts or some years and I don't think it really qualifies as an "accessory" so I decided to post it in general problems and let the mods move it if they feel there's a better spot.

Anyway, I finally got fed up with not being able to see much aside from my arms in my rear view mirrors but havn't really settled on a permanant solution. Rather than spending 30 bucks on an extension kit that seems to get mixed reviews depending on the rider, or worse, start doing more expensive mods I'm not sure I'll be happy with without thinking it through I came up with a cheap and fairly quick way to temporarily mount convex mirrors beyond the stock ones until I decide on a more permanant solution.



Of course, they're still subject to vibration but at least I can see what's behind me and in the blind spot where I can't turn my head far enough. For around 14 bucks and an hour of my time invested I feel a lot better on the road now.

Since I don't have an image host I can link to and do a writeup post here and didn't want to waste gallery space on a bunch of small closeups I did a writeup on my personal web site in case anyone wanted to see how I mounted them as food for thought.

My writeup with photos is here.

[mdaycb]

Real good idea, thanks for taking the time to document what you did. Looks good.

[ray1970]

Seems like quite a bit of work... why not just stick the spot mirrors to the factory mirrors to increase your field of view?

[FoxsterUK]

Neat solution but some time ago I came to the conclusion that the only answer was bar-end mirrors. Anything fitted into the normal holes are either too short or, if longer, vibrate too much.

Fox

[snowman]

Originally Posted by ray1970

Seems like quite a bit of work... why not just stick the spot mirrors to the factory mirrors to increase your field of view?

That's what I did on the glide (outside edge) and it helped out a lot!!! Funniest part is the mirror will vibrate but the spot mirrors won't...

[DoctorQ]

I bought a set of extenders-worked like a cham for me.

[ray1970]

Originally Posted by snowman

That's what I did on the glide (outside edge) and it helped out a lot!!! Funniest part is the mirror will vibrate but the spot mirrors won't...

That's wierd... maybe they are cushioned by the sticky foam tape on them or something?

[powellsanmiguel]

Beautiful idea, great write-up. The mirror extenders I have cost more and rust as soon as installed. I will be doing your mod. Thanks.

[prettyponyofdoom]

functional and looks pretty good too... great post!

[CaveDog]

Originally Posted by ray1970

Seems like quite a bit of work... why not just stick the spot mirrors to the factory mirrors to increase your field of view?

It's an option but I wanted a full view behind as well as the sides and just sticking on the convex mirrors wouldn't have done that in my case. I like having 360 degree awareness of my surroundings.

The only downside is that you have to remember that objects appear farther away in spot mirrors and assume things are closer than they look.

The only problem I've had is when I had the cover on my bike during a windy day at work the cover flapping around pulled the mirrors down. I just pushed them back up though and they stayed fine.