2nd/3rd Gen Mirror Spacers & LED Light Brackets

[Mudslide Miller]

Sorry about the cluster F post. Once again my pic posting skills are not there.

 

[ionbeam]

Holy HTML hell!

[Mudslide Miller assist]

[/Mudslide Miller assist]

sans HTML

 

[Mudslide Miller]

Thank you for that! I just tried to paste 2 IMG codes & that is the mess that posted.

 

[ionbeam]

Thank you for that! I just tried to paste 2 IMG codes & that is the mess that posted.

The following is true for Windoze and Firefox. Other platforms may look and work different.

In the upper right corner of the photo page, click once in the Direct Copy box, it will change color indicating the contents were copied.
Go to the Forum and click on the green picture box in the tool bar

and paste the copied URL in the pop-up box, click OK, done.

 

[Fred W]

Fred,I installed a pair of Krista's (which are 4 1/2" in diameter, including the U-bracket & 2 side mount bolts) with a pair of the SW Motech mirror extenders that you show above on a pair of Gerald aircraft aluminum brackets.

Unfortunately because of the heavy weight of the Kristas, these lights were bouncing up & down like the wings on a 747. The brackets that Gerald has will not support the weight of these lights with any sturdiness. I took the mirror extenders back off & just tried the brackets by themselves but I had to rebend them to get them to form to the fairing. I put the thin padding underneath them that Gerald had provided hoping that the brackets resting on the fairing would give them extra stability. It improved the shaking lights but did not eliminate it by any means.

So I would be interested to see when you get your finished product done if you have a good solid mount for both light & mirror. I would not recommend the mirror extenders from Motech for the reason you mentioned in your 1st post (that they provide little extra clearance from stock) but more so that they will make your mirrors vibrate & blur quite a bit at speed & on bumpy roads. There is some play in just the stock mounting of their mirrors to begin with. Finding a way to extend them without making the stability worse is certainly a challenge.<

My other question would be whether or not the Krista's would be too wide to mount on your brackets w/o hitting the fairing.

I'll look forward to your finished product but obviously they may not work for the wider lights I have.

I fixed up your post above, the best I could, because you raise some valid points worthy of discussion.

Yes, I agree that there is some risk of the mirror (and any light mounted) vibrating. I never had issue with the longer FZ1 mirrors, but they are relatively light compared to the larger mirror heads of the later gen bikes. Extending the mirrors by any means will move increase the moment arm, and put more stress on the two bolt mounting point of the mirrors. My cellulose based ghetto version of these spacers will be a good test (whenever I actually get out to try them) only if the results are negative (ie if they do not vibrate more). If that is the case, then I think we are good to go. Otherwise we will have to re-test that aspect on the beta version of the brackets, after Dave gets a chance to turn out some machined aluminum ones.

We will not be able to test the weight of the Kristas on these brackets, as neither Dave nor I have any of those. All I have are the small LR4 lights shown in pictures earlier in this thread, and I believe that Dave is running the ADVmonster version of the same lights. On those, as you can see there is plenty of room. But, with the larger Kristas and the larger spacing of their bracket, these mirror spacing brackets may not provide enough room away from the faring to mount them. I can do some measurements if you will provide the exact dimensions of the light heads and brackets. Also if you weigh one I could try and simulate that with add weight to see how the brackets perform.

There is one more concern that I have about these mirrors and brackets and that is related to the stock pivoting mechanism. The pivot occurs completely parallel to the ground. So, as has been proven recently, if (or when) you have a tip over the mirror does not pivot up the way that the stock 1st gen mirrors and FZ1 mirrors do, and this can result in a broken sub-frame from just a zero mph drop. Extending the mirrors can only make this more likely. I have not thought about how we might alleviate this concern much (yet) but that may be a reason to go with FZ1 mirrors (with appropriate thin spacers underneath) and use the WynPro FZ1 Anti-Vibe Light Mounts instead of attempting to retain the stock ones.

This is why we do prototyping.

 

[Warpdrv]

Subscribed - nice start here Fred......

Hope there won't be too many vibes in the Mirra' extenda's..... Keep up the good work sir...

 

[ULEWZ]

There is one more concern that I have about these mirrors and brackets and that is related to the stock pivoting mechanism. The pivot occurs completely parallel to the ground. So, as has been proven recently, if (or when) you have a tip over the mirror does not pivot up the way that the stock 1st gen mirrors and FZ1 mirrors do, and this can result in a broken sub-frame from just a zero mph drop.

Would a material such as phenolic serve the purpose of being stiff enough to hold the mirrors and such, but still snap off in the event of a tipover? Or maybe some grooves machined into the aluminum spacers to allow a clean break in the event of a tipover?

 

[GA FJR Rider]

Would definately be interested in a finished product... Standing by....

 

[Fred W]

Small amount of progress to report. Last weekend I was too damn busy to even ride my brand new bike!

But yesterday I managed to take a short "test ride" with the wooden pilot brackets.

I would say that the mirror spacing with those dimensions is adequate to give you a much improved view of what is going on behind you. As anticipated, it is not quite as good as what you get with the FZ1 antenna mirrors, but good enough so you can easily monitor the cars coming up on your 6 at a stop light.

Another positive return from the test ride was that the mirrors did not vibrate any more than they normally do, both on rough roadways (that's all we seem to have around here) and on the highway at nominal FJR speeds, even with these spacers just being wooden. I expect that the finished product will definitely be more solid than these oak chunks. I did not add the lights to the brackets yet, but the LR4 lights and their ilk are very lightweight. The LR4's are only 10.5 ounces each. I do not see them causing much additional vibration in the mirrors.

I've removed the test woodies until some beta units can be fabbed up, as I just can't stand the idea of being seen out in public with anything quite so "rustic" on my brand new bike.

There is one more concern that I have about these mirrors and brackets and that is related to the stock pivoting mechanism. The pivot occurs completely parallel to the ground. So, as has been proven recently, if (or when) you have a tip over the mirror does not pivot up the way that the stock 1st gen mirrors and FZ1 mirrors do, and this can result in a broken sub-frame from just a zero mph drop.

Would a material such as phenolic serve the purpose of being stiff enough to hold the mirrors and such, but still snap off in the event of a tipover? Or maybe some grooves machined into the aluminum spacers to allow a clean break in the event of a tipover?

I suspect that thinning the bracket to the point that it will break away may also allow it to flex, regardless of the material because the direction we would want it to break in is also the direction it has to support everything.

Maybe a breakaway bolt of some type could be used on the inboard pivot?

 

[bigjohnsd]

That sounds like a feasible alternative to me. A bolt with a section thinned or grooved about 50% might work just fine but I'm not going to volunteer the Grey Ghost for testing

 

[gregory]

Interseted indeed.

I have FZ1 mirrors and Clearwater brackets with a set of Kristas that are mounted up (they do not hang off the bracket.) I am not super happy with this setup as there is just enough thread on the FZ1's to get flush with the top of the nut (nylock) and that is it. I was unable to put the protective rubber piece on because I was no longer able to start threading the nut when I tried to use it. For the most part, this is a stable set up, with minor "bouncing" of the Krista's on the rougher roads. So far, no ill effects on the plastics, but it is a concern. After the first big trip with this set up, I had to get back into the dash for an unrelated reason and checked the nuts to make sure they were still tight, and I found that even with nylocks, they had backed out a little.

I love the FZ1's, just wish there was a way to lenghten the threads another 1/4" or so.

 

[art miller]

Interesting reading!! I have FZ1 mirrors on the 14 and had them on the 07. Not only was I unhappy seeing my elbows, I never felt safe as the blind side could not be covered. The FZ1's provide multiple advantages. I can adjust them outward to cover the left and right side while clearly seeing what is directly behind me. The added width is in my opinion a positive as I know if the mirrors will clear I have no worries about the bags. I lane split here in CA when traffic comes to a near standstill and the FZ1S are not a problem. As for the spacer issue, I used 1/8" rubber belt material and it puts the mirror base flush with the fairing. The mirrors are totally firm. No vibration at any speed. If I add any aux lights they will be mounted on the lower forks. I do not ride at night so my only concern is being seen, not how far I can see at night.

 

[Fred W]

Thanks, Art.

Yes the FZ1 mirrors' rear view is the "Gold Standard" that I would wish to achieve. But I may be willing to give up a little of that to get a better looking (aesthetically) solution, and also at a reduced investment. Also, having the Aux lights up high have some tangible advantages at night, so that is a concurrent goal.

Like I said earlier, this particular mod will not appeal to everyone. But I think it may appeal to many.

 

[Twigg]

Yes, for sure the mirrors with these spacers will be wider than the bags. I pointed that out in the first post.

It's smart to make the mirrors the widest point of the bike, for all the reasons you said. Plus, hitting a mirror is way cheaper than smearing the sidecase off against the side of an 18-Wheeler.

There are other instances where we might need to judge a narrow gap, not just lane-splitting and it's always comforting to know that if the mirrors go through, so does the rest of the bike.

Plus, you get a better rear view as a bonus.

 

[Mudslide Miller]

I swapped out my Gerauld brackets for a set of Clearwater brackets & they practically eliminated all the bounce I had. Very good quality brackets but the angle of them was a little disappointing. The bottom is nicely perpendicular to the ground but they angle forward about 110 degrees instead of 90 degrees to the bike. Gerauld has dimensions down pat & they are perfectly sculped to the contour of the nose panel & finish mounting at a 90 degree angle; they just need to be thicker stock to handle the weight of the Kristas. So I have my solid mount for the lights, just need to deal with my elbows in the mirrors. I haven't weighed & measured the Kristas yet, Fred, but I'll try to soon & let you know.

 

[Bogus]

Nice work, Fred!
I understand the desire to have a place to mount lights up by the mirrors, but I guess I'm in the minority with seeing my elbows in the stock mirrors. I don't have this issue...instead, I see only a little of arm in the inside corner of the mirrors but a good 85% of the glass is showing me what is behind. Why do some seem to have this issue more than others?

Many of us have fat elbows!

 

[Old Guy]

Very "rustic" Fred

Hey, if it works for Morgans ......

 

[Fred W]

Maybe instead of painting them black I should have sanded the Oak smooth and put a nice honey colored stain and varnish. Accentuate the luxurious wood trim...

 

[MDFJRRider]

Interesting reading!! I have FZ1 mirrors on the 14 and had them on the 07. Not only was I unhappy seeing my elbows, I never felt safe as the blind side could not be covered. The FZ1's provide multiple advantages. I can adjust them outward to cover the left and right side while clearly seeing what is directly behind me. The added width is in my opinion a positive as I know if the mirrors will clear I have no worries about the bags. I lane split here in CA when traffic comes to a near standstill and the FZ1S are not a problem. As for the spacer issue, I used 1/8" rubber belt material and it puts the mirror base flush with the fairing. The mirrors are totally firm. No vibration at any speed. If I add any aux lights they will be mounted on the lower forks. I do not ride at night so my only concern is being seen, not how far I can see at night.

So your 2014ES has the FZ1 mirrors and they fit (with the rubber spacer you described)? That's good news, as I had them on my 2003 and loved the additional visibility. I too am tired of looking at my elbows and worrying about what's directly behind me. I'm 6'4" and 250 lbs, and so take up a lot of space

 

[SkooterG]

I swapped out my Gerauld brackets for a set of Clearwater brackets & they practically eliminated all the bounce I had. Very good quality brackets but the angle of them was a little disappointing. The bottom is nicely perpendicular to the ground but they angle forward about 110 degrees instead of 90 degrees to the bike. Gerauld has dimensions down pat & they are perfectly sculped to the contour of the nose panel & finish mounting at a 90 degree angle; they just need to be thicker stock to handle the weight of the Kristas. So I have my solid mount for the lights, just need to deal with my elbows in the mirrors. I haven't weighed & measured the Kristas yet, Fred, but I'll try to soon & let you know.

Photos?