Clyde
Wizard
I replaced the aftermarket "round" mirrors that came on my 2009 with some that were closer to my old bike. The round mirrors are slightly convex and I found that I couldn't see very far behind me, which was annoying (to say the least) when I was leading a group.
Before:
After:
(I see I got photobombed by the dog!)
I had an extra set of stock bar ends that a friend and I machined down to fit inside the mirror-mounting brackets. The idea wasn't original. I had a similar set (that I bought from this forum!) on my 2008 before I crashed it. We had a scrap piece of aluminum that we kept turning down until the bracket fit, then got a measurement off that and did the bar ends. This made it a bit easier since we didn't want to remove the ends from the lathe until we were "sure" that they were the right diameter (inside of the mounting bracket isn't truly circular). The fit is very tight and I'm looking forward to seeing a little better when I take the bike out!
My first experience with a lathe was time-consuming, but educational! I always find it more rewarding to do the fabrication myself when I can, and picking up a new skill (or at least the basics) is a nice bonus. Turns out that my employer has a DIY shop that I never knew about! Now I just need to figure out how to get access without having to rely on a co-worker to sneak me in.
Before:
After:
(I see I got photobombed by the dog!)
I had an extra set of stock bar ends that a friend and I machined down to fit inside the mirror-mounting brackets. The idea wasn't original. I had a similar set (that I bought from this forum!) on my 2008 before I crashed it. We had a scrap piece of aluminum that we kept turning down until the bracket fit, then got a measurement off that and did the bar ends. This made it a bit easier since we didn't want to remove the ends from the lathe until we were "sure" that they were the right diameter (inside of the mounting bracket isn't truly circular). The fit is very tight and I'm looking forward to seeing a little better when I take the bike out!
My first experience with a lathe was time-consuming, but educational! I always find it more rewarding to do the fabrication myself when I can, and picking up a new skill (or at least the basics) is a nice bonus. Turns out that my employer has a DIY shop that I never knew about! Now I just need to figure out how to get access without having to rely on a co-worker to sneak me in.