Headlight mirrors

Darryl.Richman · Post by **Darryl.Richman** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 8:46 am

It's no secret that the headlight mirrors look cool and don't give a great view to the rear. Because the mirrors are small and so far away from the rider's eyes, they don't give much of a field of view. I personally have to move my head and even my torso a great deal to get a view to the rear on my bike.

They should be mounted so that the stems angle down. Normally this will give a view that goes under the bars -- allowing you to see a lot of your knees and hips, not much directly behind you, and with careful fiddling, what's going on in the lanes on either side. If you have saddle bags or strap a duffle on the parcel rack, this will remove even more of the rear view.

I have the US bars on my R60/2 and of course my hands are no where near the view these give to the rear. Here's a view that shows the relationship of the US bars and the mirror on my bike:

jeff dean · Post by **jeff dean** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:20 pm

Be sure to get the Albert mirrors, available from Vech, not the Bumm mirrors. The Alberts are much better because they have a slightly convex mirror surface and show more area than the flat mirrors on the Bumm.

Personally, I like to use a left mirror that screws into the clutch perch (photo above right), which gives a better rear view, and the right mirror on the headlight (photo above left) to watch traffic behind me to the right. Yes, they are asymmetrical, but so what? So are BMW's cylinders!

Slash-2 BMWs

bombard4101 · Post by **bombard4101** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:15 pm

Thanks, Darryl, Jeff, I knew I could count on you for answers.
Mine are mounted like yours in the photos Darryl, but like I stated, I have Euro bars and not willing to go back to the USA bars.
Sure, Jeff, now you say get the Alberts, not the Bumms, just kidding. Even with the convex mirror, that would not help. I'd need to mount one of those giant convex mirrors used to look around corners like at a store to make this work.
The reason I went with the Bumms over the "stainless" Alberts was I noticed the Alberts are advertised as Stainless, but ony the mirror part was SST and the stems with nuts were chrome. (the part that's hardest to keep from rusting).
Anyway, I'll be happy with these, just need to pay even more attention to what is around me. I don't ride this machine nearly enough anyway, but when I do, man, I'll be the coolest kid on the block!!

jeff dean · Post by **jeff dean** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:22 pm

Personally, rust doesn't concern me on a slash-2. If rain is in the offing, I am on my R1200RT which has ABS and a full fairing.

Does you bike have the reverse thread mirror hole on the clutch perch? If so, try that mirror for better rearward visibility. If the threads are stripped, Vech has a cure, which I have on one of my R60/2s.

Allan.Atherton · Post by **Allan.Atherton** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 8:07 am

Be sure to get the Albert mirrors, available from Vech, not the Bumm mirrors. The Alberts are much better because they have a slightly convex mirror surface and show more area than the flat mirrors on the Bumm...
Agreed. The Alberts are smaller than the Bumms, and cost $50 more. But they are higher quality -- stainless steel with a good solid gasket. And being convex, they have a wider field of view.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roundel/59853496/

... My controls and hands are in my direct line of sight of the mirrors.... I have euro low bars with the risers in the rear holes on the triple clamp facing forward. This puts my bars in front of the damper nut. In the past I've tried other mounting options with the bars/risers, but his way seems to be the only way that works without hitting the 6 gal tank....
The bars should clear the large tank with the risers in the front holes and pointed to th rear. I never heard of pointing the risers forward. Perhaps your odd bar position is the problem. With the bars in the normal position, you look over the bars into the mirrors, and your view to the rear is under the bars.
http://home.insightbb.com/~aatherton/R6 ... R60_L2.jpg

The headlight mirrors are not very safe in traffic. The field of view is too small, there are too many blind areas, and it takes constant head movements and leaning to look around inside the mirrors. If I rode in traffic much, I would add back the left handlebar mirror because it gives a good view around you and directly behind. Then take it off for show.

jeff dean · Post by **jeff dean** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:09 pm

Agreed. The Alberts are smaller than the Bumms, and cost $50 more. But they are higher quality -- stainless steel with a good solid gasket. And being convex, they have a wider field of view.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roundel/59853496/

Cool site! I would not buy Bumms. I have some back in Wisconsin I would be glad to give to anyone next spring for shipping. Either that or throw them away.

The headlight mirrors are not very safe in traffic. The field of view is too small, there are too many blind areas, and it takes constant head movements and leaning to look around inside the mirrors. If I rode in traffic much, I would add back the left handlebar mirror because it gives a good view around you and directly behind. Then take it off for show.

And good points about the left mirror. I don't "show" bikes, so I leave the clutch-perch-mount left on all the time.

R50Bill · Post by **R50Bill** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:11 pm

Will these fit the headlight? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-5-or ... enameZWDVW

No bidding please.

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 7:11 pm

Howdy Bill and welcome, don't think these would fit the headlight, they look more like handle bar mounted mirrors to me.

I'm with Jeff on this one, having purchased the Blue Moon mirrors I was not happy with the quality so ended up with the Alberts from Vech and they look perfect, however as Darryl mentioned you need to shuffle a little to get an adequate rear view, the wider you are the more the shuffle...............

P.S the guy that designed the rear view mirror has never looked back!!!

Peter

R50Bill · Post by **R50Bill** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 9:46 am

Howdy Bill and welcome, don't think these would fit the headlight, they look more like handle bar mounted mirrors to me.

Thx, anyone else's opinion about these fitting on the headlight?

BTW, I went to the Vech site, but they said they are no longer in production.

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 10:00 am

I also agree...the shape of the stems on these mirrors are clearly for use on the handlebar. I've not see how the headlight mirrors are supposed to attach, but the threads and nut on the ebay mirrors is very typical of bar mounted mirrors.

Kurt in S.A.