DIY: Mirror extenders made easy

[Live2ride]

Ok, some of you may have noticed I mentioned I was going to make my own mirror extenders out of spare parts in my garage because I refuse to dish out $65 for 2 small pieces of metal and some bolts/nuts elsewhere. I eventually thought of a very simple, easy and effective method that cost me no money and not much time (because I already had the parts/tools I needed).

1.) I used a small stainless steel piece about 1/16 inch thick by 3 1/2 inch long and 3/4 inch wide. You will need 4 of these and you must offset 2 of them to fit around the mirror attachments. To offset the 2, I clamped them down individually and used a rubber hammer to bend them into the shape in the first picture. Make sure that there is enough room to fit a bolt/washer in the holes without the washers touching the offset bend.





2.) As you see in the picture, I had to use a grinder to cut it shorter, then I used a table grinder to round out the edges (red dotted line in 2nd pic). You will need all 4 brackets to be ground down / rounded off for this project but make sure that the length of the offset brackets are the same as the straight ones. So don't mark the offset ones until after you offset them. This is important because after you offset the 2 brackets it can cause a slight change in overall length.



3.) After you have 2 offset and 2 straight brackets cut to the correct length you can add two or three 5/16 washers and one 5/16 lock washer in between the two brackets, one offset one (extending outward) and one straight one. You will see what I'm talking about in the final product.

4.) Test the fit of the 2 pieces with washers inside the mirror bracket on the front fairing (remove the stock mirrors before doing this of course ). Sorry, I didn't take pics of this but it's pretty straight forward and you can use the final product pics to assist you. You may have to add or remove a washer for it to fit, it should be snug if you use a lock washer.

5.) Paint the bolts / brackets / washers / nuts to your liking and attach the mirror to the end of the bracket using a similar thickness bolt as the stock mirror bolt(see final pics, sorry for no pic again ). Be sure not to loose the washers that are in the mirror; I added one washer to the rear side of the bracket before adding the nut so it wouldn't scratch my (flat black) paint.

6.) Attach the mirror extenders and enjoy your new increase in field of vision







To give you an idea of how the new mirror extenders are better than stock (about 1 1/2 inch increase in length), These are pictures of them from my point of view riding the bike, you can see the white truck / light green tree in both mirrors so it covers everything behind me; I didn't move my bike and my hands were on the handlebars in both pics:



This is my first DIY and I didn't actually think of making this a DIY until after I did it, hence the lack of pics. If anyone needs clarification on any parts please let me know, I'd be more than happy to help you out.

[bob706]

Nicely done How much vibration do you get at speed?

[Alex]

/linked to main DIY thread

[caps]

im all for saving a penny or two, but i wouldnt put that on my bike....

[Live2ride]

Originally Posted by bob706

Nicely done How much vibration do you get at speed?

There is more vibration than stock but I can still read license plates behind me at 55mph if they are close enough to read that is. I was considering using plastic washers to help reduce the vibration but haven't tried it yet.

Originally Posted by caps

im all for saving a penny or two, but i wouldnt put that on my bike....

It's all a matter of personal preference, I enjoy hands on work / mods. Just so you know you can probably use spacers instead of washers but unfortunately I didn't have the correct sized spacers. I may try to find some to dress up the look a little, I'll update with pics if I do. I'm sure it would look much cleaner.

[UltrA_09]

That looks great! I would definitely put that on my bike! maybe I'll try making something like that during the weekend... It sure beats paying $65!

[setasai]

Sweet! To reduce vibrations, I bet you could get some rubber and cut it to the exact shape of those metal pieces. Maybe rubber from tires or a floor mat?