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Main Area => General GS500 Discussion => Topic started by: Frodo on October 14, 2007, 05:24:13 AM

Title: Need replacement mirror, can't see whats behind me?
Post by: Frodo on October 14, 2007, 05:24:13 AM
Hey,

This is my first post here, great site and lots of info.  I just recently purchased my first bike, its a '96 GS500.  I am enjoying it a lot and its a great bike.  The problem I am having is I am over 6ft tall and have broad shoulders.  No matter how much adjusting I do, all I can see in the mirrors is to the sides.  My arms and elbows block about 1/2 of the mirror and prevents me from seeing behind the bike.  I have searched and searched the posts to find a good solution to this problem.

I suspect I will need mirrors with taller stems? or mirrors that extend further past the bars than stock? or bar end mirrors?  I have checked my bars and they have weights on them and the bars have the threaded insert to hold them on (so bars are not hollow).  I have seen many posts about mirrors from the SV650, but no one mentions if they help them see better.  Also have seen many posts about Napoleon bar end mirrors, but do they make any that will fit bars that are not hollow?

So if anyone can share how they fixed this problem I would appreciate it very much.

Thanks
Randy
Title: Re: Need replacement mirror, can't see whats behind me?
Post by: GSRider on October 14, 2007, 02:35:09 PM
Howdy.

Check the wiki.

I have different bars, and have installed bar end mirrors with great success.
The REAL nice thing about bar end mirrors, is that they aren't in your direct field of view when you're getting a little aggressive.
Title: Re: Need replacement mirror, can't see whats behind me?
Post by: beRto on October 14, 2007, 05:49:20 PM
I used a set of mirror extenders from CJ Engineering:  http://www.cjen.com/pages/kaw/zrx/mirext/mirext.html (http://www.cjen.com/pages/kaw/zrx/mirext/mirext.html).  They make a big difference in terms of getting your shoulders out of the way.  Unfortunately, now I can see beside me but I still have trouble getting an angle directly behind.  I think that a combination of the mirror extenders are larger mirrors should do the trick!
Title: Re: Need replacement mirror, can't see whats behind me?
Post by: desilva on October 15, 2007, 05:44:00 AM
Quote from: Frodo on October 14, 2007, 05:24:13 AMI have seen many posts about mirrors from the SV650, but no one mentions if they help them see better.

I fitted a pair of SV650-style mirrors and they were a big improvement over the stock ones. Being rectangular they give you a much better field of view and because they are longer you can twist them in and get a better view directly behind. I kept them turned out to enjoy a wider view out into my blind spot, with my elbow/shoulder just visible. A downside is that they stuck out a bit further, slightly past the bar ends on my '07, which made filtering through traffic a bit tighter.

That's all written in the past tense because I got mine cheap on Ebay and mirror glass and rubber seal all parted company overtaking a truck at 70mph  :o  so I'm back on the stock mirrors for now...

Hope that helps!