Bar End Mirrors
Bar End Mirrors
EVALUATION
Low and narrow handlebars are one of the more popular modifications, especially in these days of buckhorn bars coming standard on most road bikes. Low bars make sense, in that they let you lean into the wind, speed up the steering and generally add to the sporting level of sporting motorcycles.
Low bars also make stock mirrors nearly useless. Tucking the mirrors closer to the center means you can no longer see over your shoulder. You get a view of your sleeves, with an outside chance you’ll see traffic just as you pass it or it passes you. Neither is enough.
A cure for the problem comes in the form of bar end mirrors. Not really a new idea, and not unknown, in fact the Suzuki GS450S has low bars and bar end mirrors stock.
The mirrors shown come from Germany, where they have unlimited highways and fast riding. Brand name is Albert and the mirrors, in two styles, are : imported by Bavarian Cycle Works.
There are two styles, sports and touring. The sports bars are truly bar end, as they mount outboard of the grips. The touring mirrors are above and extend beyond the grips. The narrower the bars, the more outboard the mirrors.
The Albert mirrors are nice work, with a crinkle black finish and semi-permanent r adjustment; you loosen the joints for in and out, up and down, set the mirrors so they’re just where you want them, and tighten, after which they don’t move. There’s a slight magnification, as is usually done with motorcycle mirrors. (Flat, optically true lenses are available as an option.)
Installation is easy. The mirrors fasten with an expanding collar. You trim out a plug from the end of the rubber grip, slide the collar inside and wrench until the collar is firmly against the inside of the bar. BCW has tested the mirrors and worked with the manufacturer, so the ends will fit most bars with an inside diameter of at least 17.5 mm or 0.690 in.
They fit snugly, provided the collar is tight enough. When we first put the mirrors on, they rotated under wind pressure so we kept turning the bolt until they were By Torque tight. And they stayed in place thereafter while also being willing to loosen, be fitted to another pair of bars and winched into place again. And the bolt head has its own black plastic cover, so it won’t rust. Style.
First off, they work. Used on a set of clubman bars, they gave a better view of the road behind than we could possibly have gotten with the stock mirrors. No sleeve, no blind spots. The touring mirrors extend about four inches beyond the bar ends, which isn’t bad if the bars are the 26 or 28-in. width normal for road-race equipment.
But the extensions become a drawback on wider-than-clubman bars. Most stock bars are 32 in. wide, at least, so what you get with the bar-end mirrors is a 40-in. motorcycle, not good for slipping through the rush hour or getting the bike into the garage between the car and the truck.
A less obvious benefit to the contemporary road bike is that the factories now tune out vibrations. Honda uses weights, Suzukis come with rubber dampers, etc. They work. But with different bars and universal mirrors, there is no tuning and on the Honda 750, at least, the mirrors did buzz more than stock.
The Albert mirrors are good equipment. They work and they solve the problem when the stock mirrors are too high and narrow, or if the stock jobs interfere with a fairing. But they don’t work any better, sometimes not as well, as the production mirrors on production bars. They’re a stylish solution to a common problem, and we’re glad to have them on the market although they won’t do everything for everybody.
Sport model, $17.95 each, touring model $18.95 each, from BCW, 385 8th Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94103. E9
