I bought a cheapo (very) pair of bar end mirrors to try out and see if I favoured them over the OE bar mirrors.
A member of another forum kindly put me right as to what I might expect when I unscrewed the end cap, you are presented with a permanent M5 or 6 threaded hole which is 17mm deep the bar end cap is just that, a shroud to cover the fitting in the end of the bar which protrudes from the bar proper by about 10mm or so.
The mirrors I bought have the usual rawlplug type expanding fitting to grip the inside of a hollow bar. The screw supplied was the right thread but way too long so a quick delve into that box of useful bits ‘n bobs we all have to source a shorter one.
So this is what it looked like on first fit. You can see that the mirror is small compared to the OE ones, it’s also smoked and looks as though it magnifies the image. Either that or the OE ones shrink the image to increase the field of view.
Not very tidy. The black bit between the end of the twistgrip and the mirror mount is OE plastic but not continuous, rather like a split sleeve but immovable. The bit on the outside of the mirror mount is part of the mirror kit which should sit against the end of the bar and have the mirror mounted on it.
So tidy up the bar end arrangement and what could done with those mirrors which are smoked and were going to limit rear view.
The mirror mount just fitted this OE plastic sleeve, allowing the mirror mount to fit close to the end of the grips. The mirror kit bar end fitting was discarded and the OE bar end cap used. I didn’t have any countersunk screws to hand so ordinary cap head ones are in temporary use.
And then to those mirrors. It turns out that the OE mirrors and my cheapo ones have the same thread. So I just swopped them. Both sets of mirrors were well threadlocked and undone with great trepidation. Likewise the OE mirror fixing to the bars were well tight, a T40 is what you need but I found it a bit on the loose side. Until I source a proper plug for these I screwed the OE screws back in together with the four washers you will find on each fixing. They don’t quite screw all the way in so I put an O ring under the head. The clutch side screw stands more proud than the throttle side.
Having tidied the fitting up this is what they look like.
And now we come to the bottom line
. Since I bought them they have increased in price by 30% I only paid £10.09 including delivery.
Ironically the plugs to fit in the OE mirror fixing holes are going to cost me nearly as much as the mirror kit did. 