Mirror improvements?

[Guest IanJ]

So, I put bar-end mirrors on my Le Mans this weekend, and on the way into work today saw that they vibrated quite badly, fuzzing the image anywhere above about 2.5k RPM. The stock mirrors (which I have left on until I can find nice-looking bolts to fill the holes) were fairly clear, but very helpfully showed my elbow for half their length, and the next lane over in the other half.

 

Has anyone had any success with putting better and/or more useful mirrors on the Le Mans? I'm not particularly married to the idea of bar-end mirrors, but I really want to be able to see what's behind me, since I spend a lot of time riding downtown streets where I'm justifiably worried about being rear-ended. My best defense against that, so far, has been to regularly check the bar-end mirrors on my R100.

 

Is it possible to fit longer mirror stalks onto the stock mirrors? That would be an excellent solution, but I don't know anything about these mirrors, and whether it's possible to lengthen them. I also don't know if that would produce too much stress on the mounting points, or if vibration might get significantly worse, etc.

 

Anyone have any thoughts?

[Guest Guest_Janusz]

What brand bar-end mirrors did you instal, IanJ ?

 

Because if they are not Napoleon I cannot comment, but if they are they cancel vibrations almost 80% and provide good view, although a little vibey.

[Guest IanJ]

Indeed, Napoleon bar-ends. I've loved them on my R65 and R100, but the Le Mans apparently shakes them a bit more than I'm used to. I suspect that I could get used to the fuzzy view, it's just disconcerting after the crystal clear view on the BMW R100.

[joe camarda]

Ian, try constructorsrg.com. I have a set of their mirrors on my V11 Sport and am quite satisfied with them. They are a little smaller than the Napoleons I had on another bike (SV650). The CRG's produce MUCH LESS VIBRATION, especially if machined onto your factory bar end weights. Joe in Modesto CA

[Guest bent]

Take the factory mirrors off. They are what is causing all the vibration in the first place. Then take the mounting bracket assemly's for the factory mirrors off and flip them over. The mounting holes do not go all the way through so the underside is capped.

[Guest John S.]

On my V11S, I mounted Napoleans onto the through-holes in the hinge-points of the brake and clutch lever assemblies, so that the arms of the mirrors point forward and slightly outward, which puts the mirrors not quite at bar end, but low and out far enough so that you get a good, wide view behind and beside you. At worst, I only see the tips of my elbows. They look good, and they're solid in that position, and I just get a little image jitter in the right-hand mirror. Moto International turned me on to this, and it's worked great for me!

 

John S.

[Guest IanJ]

Interesting, I'll have to try that out, and see how it would be set up. Did you have to use a different bolt to get that to work?

[Guest jimjib]

How about some pics.

[Guest John Sears]

Ianj and Jimjib - sorry for not getting back to you until now. I mounted the Napoleans using a sockethead screw (6mm head), about 2.75" long (including head), and a nut and washer. Place the flat part of the Napolean mounting area on top of the lever over the thru-hole, run the screw through the mirror and hole and secure with the nut and washer below.

 

Having said that... I have been happily using CRG mirrors on another bike, and decided to give them a try on my V11S, so I've taken the Napoleans off for now. ( )

 

So far, I really like the CRGs, and think they look a little better on the bike. Against all common sense and the good advice of just about everyone on every Guzzi list, I removed my extra-long, heavy bar-end weights, and mounted the CRGs directly on the ends of the stock clip-ons with stock grips, and I'm going to try that out. So far, the vibration is not that bad - certainly much less than I had expected, given all the attention it receives. And I was surprised to find that the vibes are worse on the LEFT side. The mirror is solid on the right, just a little fuzzy on the left, and my hands are okay, too. I haven't done more than 20 miles at a time with this new setup, though, so we'll see. But it sure looks good, and the mirrors themselves are great.

 

I'll let you know which way I end up going (if I'm still able to type!)

 

John S.

'01 V11S

(Mistrals, stock crossover, K&Ns, PC III)

[Guest jimjib]

how about some pics

[Guest tmartin]

I have used CRG mirrors and the stock bar-end weights together. You can accomplish this by moving the controls in about 3/8" leaving a space for the CRG mirror mounting bracket. Removing the stock mirrors AND using the stock bar-end weights really got rid of the 90% of the vibration in the bars. The mirrors are clear at any speed below 100 mph.

[Guest Guest_dlaing]

I have been using the Napoleons mounted in the bars. They took much of the vibration away from my hands and tranfered it to the image in the mirror. I think it is getting better, either because my bike has broken in, or because the rubber mounting becomes harder, or because I have broken in

Two Questions:

Has anyone tried the CRG Hindsight LS (lane splitters)?

Has anyone tried the CRG Hindsight internal bar adapter?

The Lane Splitters sound like a slick idea!

I suspect the internal adapters may result in a fuzzy image.

If I tuck my Napoleons in, I have to pull over to reallign them

[Guest John Sears]

I'm still trying out the CRGs mounted directly into the ends of the stock clip-ons, using the CRG adapters and no bar-end weights on my V11S. The vibes really aren't that bad on my hands, and the mirror images are just a little fuzzy, but not too bad. I did, however, have to bond the glass into the mirror's frame with adhesive, because the vibes rattled the glass loose!

 

I'm working on some pictures of this setup, and also the Napolean mounting scheme described earlier, and will post them soon, in case anyone wants to see what they're like. So far, I dig it!

 

John S.

[Guest John Sears]

Umm, okay - I'm trying to post some pictures, but don't quite see how to do it. I tried dropping into the post field, tried pasting, etc. So how do you do it?

 

Thanks,

 

Still a newbie,

John

[Guest Jaap]

Hello John,

 

There are two ways to post a picture:

 

1st: use the grey IMG-button where you van type in the URL of the pic, like http://www.yoursite.com/image.jpg

Be sure that your pictures are on a accessable server.

 

2nd: Use the file attachment feature (below the post field) Click on browse to find the image on your hard drive. You can only show one picture per post this way, so if you have more pics you have to add a reply for every picture you want to show.

Be sure that the pictures are not to big max 512 kB and 500 pixels width!!!

 

Good luck