42 cent mirror extension!

[mike3069]

OK, I admit it. I'm cheap! But this one is so good I'm willing to share it!

This requires eliminating the little tabs in the front of the mirror arm
junction but thats not an issue for me 'cause I lost one of mine
about week 2 of ownership.

Go to the hardware store and buy 2 inside star lockwashers
that fit the mirror arm bolt.


Remove the bolt from the arm. Do not remove bushing.

Remove little black plastic things. Rotate arm forward.
Place washer behind arm as shown.
Push the waser in with a screwdriver.


Use an awl or small srewdriver to align the washer so
the bolt will go in. This may be easier to do from the underside.


Before moving the arm, put the screw in place and start the threads.
Do not make it tight yet. Just snug enogh to keep it from flopping around. Get on the Spyder and position the mirrors.


The arms should be close to straight out (90 degrees)
from the centerline of the bike.


When you like the position Snug down the screws so the washer bites.
NOT TO TIGHT. If you torque it to the max... well just don't!

Tell me how you like it after a test ride.

[docdoru]

Nice

[bjt]

Thanks for the cheap mod. I will try this out once the temp gets up to the "Spyder maintenance " range. In the mid to low 20s so far this week.

[Roaddog2]

[Tonga]

Thanks for the info. I never thought of doing that. The first thing I tried was to move the arms out farther but they wouldn't go. I still say that BRP should come out with housings for the mirrors that are angled more outward as the mirrors have no adjustment outwards but lots inwards, One would think this a "SAFETY" issue !!

[SSPSpyder]

Mike, thanks for the tip - I installed my Kewlmetal extensions this past weekend and they are just a hair smaller than stock and I had a hard time getting them tight enough - your cheap fix should solve the problem nicely.

[sabunim5]

"Remove little black plastic things. Rotate arm forward.
Place washer behind arm as shown. "
Mike,
I was not able to remove the litlle black pastic things. Before I get the hacksaw blade out, I wanted to be sure there wasn't another way to remove them. Thanks in advance for your reply.
sabunim5

[LDFIREWORKS]

cool beans nice job

[SpyderByter]

Mike,

I have a 8x1.25 mm tap here as well as a metric nut and bolt assortment. I put the bolt from the mirror up to the tap and it is close, but not perfect. I also tried to run the tap through a nut that I know is 8x1.25 and it does not run through smooth. This is why I am asking.

I looked at the Spyder parts list, but unfortunately, it does not list the thread size of the bolt on the breakdown for the mirrors. For bolts, it only shows diameter and length, not thread size. So I went online and looked at complete tap sets and as far as I can tell, 8mm taps only have threads of either 1.25 or 1. I am guessing that's threads per mm, so 1 would be courser than 1.25 right? The bolt off of the mirror looks finer than the 1.25 tap and a 1.25 bolt from my assortment. Yet I don't see 8x1.5 taps.

I would apreciate any advise from you guys who seem to be naturals at making fixes. I am but a shade tree mechanic at best. I don't want to screw it up more than I have.

[mike3069]

Since this is supplied as an assemble to BRP, I suppose it is possible the bolt is SAE, not metric.
My is currently 800 miles away, so I can't go check this out.
How about it from someone closer to their ?

Mike,

I have a 8x1.25 mm tap here as well as a metric nut and bolt assortment. I put the bolt from the mirror up to the tap and it is close, but not perfect. I also tried to run the tap through a nut that I know is 8x1.25 and it does not run through smooth. This is why I am asking.

I looked at the Spyder parts list, but unfortunately, it does not list the thread size of the bolt on the breakdown for the mirrors. For bolts, it only shows diameter and length, not thread size. So I went online and looked at complete tap sets and as far as I can tell, 8mm taps only have threads of either 1.25 or 1. I am guessing that's threads per mm, so 1 would be courser than 1.25 right? The bolt off of the mirror looks finer than the 1.25 tap and a 1.25 bolt from my assortment. Yet I don't see 8x1.5 taps.

I would apreciate any advise from you guys who seem to be naturals at making fixes. I am but a shade tree mechanic at best. I don't want to screw it up more than I have.

[bjt]

SpyderByter, if you have an industrial supply house that specializes in bolts and fasteners near you, I would take the BRP bolt to them and tell them what you are looking at doing. They should, at a minimum, be able to tell you what size tap you need for those bolts. They can probably sell you the necessary tap and show you what other thread repair products they have just in case the threads are damaged beyond repair. The store like that in my town is called Mid-State Bolt though I'm not sure if its a national company or just local.

[SpyderByter]

Thanks,

I went to a local harware supply today with the bolt. It is definetly metric. They had 8mm bolts with two thread pitches, 1.25 and 1. I thought 1.25 would be a finer thread but I was wrong. It does not run like SAE where it is measured by threads per inch, where the higher number would be finer. I was not able to find an exact match, but I did find the same length and thread, in chrome and allen instead of black and torx. I will use the chrome unless I can find black.

The local Industrial supply house in this area is Grainger. I looked online at thier taps sets. I am going to pose a question about this job, but i will go into general discussion, so Mike's pictures don't get buried by pages.

Thanks for the advise

[LarryC]

I know this is an old thread, but will this work on a 2015 F3? The mirrors are terrible! If a car is within a car length or two to either side, I can't see them in my mirrors.