How to design a poor and costly mirror

[faffi]

The mirrors fitted to the V9s is a really lousy design IMNSHO. Not only is it poor, it is costly. The reason I consider it poor, is because it consists of too many pieces. You have two nuts on the stem, the stem, another nut on the other end to hold the mirror and its housing to the stem, and finally you have the mirror itself. That means you have three nuts where only one is needed.

Not only does it make it costlier, it also make it ugly, heavy and impractical. The latter because the mirror itself has a rather limited range om motion, meaning you must first fiddle with all three nuts to get the mirror close to where you want it. In addition, neither nut gives a really firm hold. The end result is that any attempt to adjust either mirror on the fly risk working lose one or more of the nuts/fittings.

I got so tired of this, I decided to fit two universal but conventional mirrors. They do not give as much view from behind because they show a bit more arms and shoulders, but on the plus side they are easier to fit through the door in my shed. And they stay put. And cost less than 15% of the OEMs.



OEM

[guzziart]

Yeah, value engineering at MG obviously never got the memo to look at these,  I think they've been running these things since the late '90's I think.   

[mechanicsavant]

Perishable items like mirrors & brake /clutch levers are a source of profit for the Mfg. They are easily broken , and if you’re trying to keep your bike stock they can offer the dealer a few more $ Guzzi is not alone in this endeavor . Kinda like the menu for maintainance requiring frequent spark plug & air filter changes . Hence the popularity of websites such as this one ! A tip of the helmet to all concerned 

[Alfetta]

I have OEM's on my V7, and i agree that they are not the most attractive design out there, but I can't knock the overall quality. they are 7 years old now and the chrome is still good and the mirror is not de-laminating, unlike other mirrors i have had in the past.

Perhaps MG doesn't put much effort here is that most people tend to replace mirrors based on personal style.  IDK.

I'm keeping mine stock until they fail or I knock one off !

[wirespokes]

Never thought of them as a money maker item, but makes sense.

I want mirrors with embedded turn signal LEDs in the mirror side and on the front side to eliminate extra turn signals entirely. And I want mirrors with replaceable individual pieces, like the outer shell if it gets scraped or damaged. Or if the mirror gets broken, replace it alone. I'll bet if I came up with a modular mirror like that, I could get rich. LOL

[Vagrant]

Replace them with v85 units.

[Dirk_S]

In  addition, neither nut gives a really firm hold. The end result is that any attempt to adjust either mirror on the fly risk working lose one or more of the nuts/fittings.

Every bike I’ve had that has this style of mirrors has constantly given me grief. I hate when the mirror loosens on me mid-ride. A few years back I searched for my personal solution. Considering I do some off-pavement here and there, I leaned toward foldable mirrors in the event of a drop. DoubleTake are the popular ones for the ADV crowd, because apparently incorporating RAM mounts and RotoPax make you a true off-roadie (guilty of that hype), but dang are they ugly AND expensive. Keeping it Guzzi-themed, I instead went much cheaper and bought some Ken Sean foldable mirrors off Amazon:





Once you get the nuts tightened properly at the base, freeway air resistance won’t move them, and they’re adjustable enough up top with just your hand, that I find them quite convenient. Plus, that foldaway feature indeed has helped when I’ve dropped the bike and when throwing on a rain cover.

$40 USD for the pair and 4 years later, I’m still a fan.

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

The stock mirrors on my V7 850 kept coming loose and flopping around and as you mention were difficult to adjust. One thing I think they got right at least was the shape of the mirror surface with the teardrop shape being narrow at the inside and wide at the outside... some manufacturers have their mirror shapes the opposite of that which is less useful to me.

I ended up replacing the mirrors with FAR ones, they're known for their fold away mirrors that have been factory equipment on KTMs. The round shape doesn't look too out of place. The "knuckles" might be a bit unsightly to some, but they make for easy adjustability and in a spill the idea is they might fold easier than they would break.

https://www.far-ecommerce.com/en/universal-handlebar/396-foldable-mirrors-5587-sxdx.html

[faffi]

While I have heard of, and seen, foldable mirrors, both of these were new to me. Thanks for sharing!

[Alfetta]

The stock mirrors on my V7 850 kept coming loose and flopping around and as you mention were difficult to adjust. One thing I think they got right at least was the shape of the mirror surface with the teardrop shape being narrow at the inside and wide at the outside... some manufacturers have their mirror shapes the opposite of that which is less useful to me.

I ended up replacing the mirrors with FAR ones, they're known for their fold away mirrors that have been factory equipment on KTMs. The round shape doesn't look too out of place. The "knuckles" might be a bit unsightly to some, but they make for easy adjustability and in a spill the idea is they might fold easier than they would break.

https://www.far-ecommerce.com/en/universal-handlebar/396-foldable-mirrors-5587-sxdx.html

i like these, but where is the chrome ?

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

i like these, but where is the chrome ?

I haven't seen any chrome KTMs or adventure bikes, so that may be a tough market for folding mirrors. I am of the opinion that they're universally good mirrors though, as I've installed them on three bikes so far.