OP
UTC

Hooked
2016 Mp3 500ie Sport
Joined: UTC
Posts: 305
Location: California
 
Hooked
2016 Mp3 500ie Sport
Joined: UTC
Posts: 305
Location: California
UTC quote
Hello Folks
I installed Bar End mirrors on my Mp3 to try it out and see how it would look and work. Sorry for the long post, but I figure if anyone else has similar thoughts or desires they might benefit from the longer post.

I wanted better rear-view and side visibility to be able to better check blind-spots and check for faster traffic approaching from behind. I live in California where everyone drives 15 mph over the speed limit. As the Mp3 is not the fastest I need to be able to see whats behind me (or approaching rapidly) so I can change lanes or make plans to let them pass. Being able to see whats behind your or check the rear half-way through a turn is also important as the roads I travel are very twisty mountain roads around the San Francisco Bay Area. Stock mirrors are Okay, but I need a solution to better check-six while riding.

First I tried mounting blind-spot mirrors to the outer edges of the stock mirrors. The cheap stick-on round ones from AutoZone worked but rattled and buzzed due to the mirror being loosely mounted in the housing. I ordered better ones (link below) on Amazon and those worked very well and I will continue to use them despite minor issues with accidentally breaking them off occasionally.

So those little mirrors were good but I wanted something more permanent and less problematic. Bar-end Mirrors looked to be a good answer but I wanted ones I could mount on the under-side of the steering bar. It also could not make the bike wider as we have legal lane-splitting here in California.

I saw these (link below) in a clearance bin at CycleGear so picked them up figuring I could adapt it to the Mp3. Success! It worked. It needed a trip to the local ACE-hardware store to get shorter metric-screws (the default end-screws are too long) and a bit of electrical tape. But it worked. The result is the bike is about 2 inches narrower at the steering-bar height which makes lane-splitting easier. The mirrors are in-board and mounted under the steering-bar. I did notice the clamp-system did not adequately grip the mirrors allowing drift, a few wrappings of electrical-tape fixed that so no more mirror-drifting.

This past Fathers Day weekend I did a 120 mile loop through twisty mountain roads to try out my newly mounted bar-end mirrors for my Mp3. The course was fast-straights, uphill twists, downhills, blind-turns, an all around great mountain road fun loop. Lots of opportunities to try out my newly mounted mirrors.

The results were disappointing. They do perform the required job of showing me the blind-spots and are much more durable and less problem prone than the little add-on spot-mirrors. The problem is I have to take my eyes of the road for about a half second to check the bar-end mirrors and the field of view provided.

I think I will leave them on as they aren't hurting anything, look cool, and do provide another option for visibility. But I'm going to maintain using the primary stock-mirrors with the little extra wing spots. At about $30 clearance its not really worth the trouble and hassle of returning them at the moment.

The next step would be to just replace the stock antenna style mirrors with something compatible with the Mp3 and a wider field of view. Probably should have done that from the beginning, but oh well. Now I've scratched the curiosity itch of bar-end mirrors on an Mp3.

Shopping list for better visibility and bar-ends.

The little add-on mirrors I've got mounted now.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C0CY3US

Two 1 inch diameter rubber gaskets to dampen vibration while helping the mirror mount grip better
Two Metric M6 x 30mm 1.00 pitch - the original screws are far to long for this.
https://www.cyclegear.com/gear/speedmetal-billet-bar-end-mirrors - got on clearance
Black Electical Tape (gap filler) - free from the garage supply box.
Forum member supplied image with no explanatory text
Forum member supplied image with no explanatory text
UTC

Hooked
Piaggio MP3 ie 400 (RIP)
Joined: UTC
Posts: 204
Location: Sydney
 
Hooked
Piaggio MP3 ie 400 (RIP)
Joined: UTC
Posts: 204
Location: Sydney
UTC quote
Re: Bar End Mirrors
pinheadh78 wrote:
Hello Folks
I installed Bar End mirrors on my Mp3 to try it out and see how it would look and work. Sorry for the long post, but I figure if anyone else has similar thoughts or desires they might benefit from the longer post.

I wanted better rear-view and side visibility to be able to better check blind-spots and check for faster traffic approaching from behind. I live in California where everyone drives 15 mph over the speed limit. As the Mp3 is not the fastest I need to be able to see whats behind me (or approaching rapidly) so I can change lanes or make plans to let them pass. Being able to see whats behind your or check the rear half-way through a turn is also important as the roads I travel are very twisty mountain roads around the San Francisco Bay Area. Stock mirrors are Okay, but I need a solution to better check-six while riding.

First I tried mounting blind-spot mirrors to the outer edges of the stock mirrors. The cheap stick-on round ones from AutoZone worked but rattled and buzzed due to the mirror being loosely mounted in the housing. I ordered better ones (link below) on Amazon and those worked very well and I will continue to use them despite minor issues with accidentally breaking them off occasionally.

So those little mirrors were good but I wanted something more permanent and less problematic. Bar-end Mirrors looked to be a good answer but I wanted ones I could mount on the under-side of the steering bar. It also could not make the bike wider as we have legal lane-splitting here in California.

I saw these (link below) in a clearance bin at CycleGear so picked them up figuring I could adapt it to the Mp3. Success! It worked. It needed a trip to the local ACE-hardware store to get shorter metric-screws (the default end-screws are too long) and a bit of electrical tape. But it worked. The result is the bike is about 2 inches narrower at the steering-bar height which makes lane-splitting easier. The mirrors are in-board and mounted under the steering-bar. I did notice the clamp-system did not adequately grip the mirrors allowing drift, a few wrappings of electrical-tape fixed that so no more mirror-drifting.

This past Fathers Day weekend I did a 120 mile loop through twisty mountain roads to try out my newly mounted bar-end mirrors for my Mp3. The course was fast-straights, uphill twists, downhills, blind-turns, an all around great mountain road fun loop. Lots of opportunities to try out my newly mounted mirrors.

The results were disappointing. They do perform the required job of showing me the blind-spots and are much more durable and less problem prone than the little add-on spot-mirrors. The problem is I have to take my eyes of the road for about a half second to check the bar-end mirrors and the field of view provided.

I think I will leave them on as they aren't hurting anything, look cool, and do provide another option for visibility. But I'm going to maintain using the primary stock-mirrors with the little extra wing spots. At about $30 clearance its not really worth the trouble and hassle of returning them at the moment.

The next step would be to just replace the stock antenna style mirrors with something compatible with the Mp3 and a wider field of view. Probably should have done that from the beginning, but oh well. Now I've scratched the curiosity itch of bar-end mirrors on an Mp3.

Shopping list for better visibility and bar-ends.

The little add-on mirrors I've got mounted now.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C0CY3US

Two 1 inch diameter rubber gaskets to dampen vibration while helping the mirror mount grip better
Two Metric M6 x 30mm 1.00 pitch - the original screws are far to long for this.
https://www.cyclegear.com/gear/speedmetal-billet-bar-end-mirrors - got on clearance
Black Electical Tape (gap filler) - free from the garage supply box.
I used the 2in round mirrors which I put on the outer top corner of each mirror for my MP3, they show the blind spots, the negative side you lose some of the space of the original mirror, but that is not an issue as you can see the blind spots easily. This works great. I am sure you can get two from any auto shops and they are not expensive. Try that out and see how good it is. Other idea that I have is to use the mirror with rear camera, the issue is to find a way to hard install the mirror or be able to install it and remove it with out any issues, then you would be able to see behind you without any issues.
Note: the mirror which has a small screen shows what the rear camera is filming (used in cars)
@web-tech avatar
UTC

Veni, Vidi, Posti
2008 MP3 500, 2013 BV350, 2020 Vespa Sei Giorni, 2008 Vespa S150
Joined: UTC
Posts: 8926
Location: Ashburn, Va. Home to the Internet
 
Veni, Vidi, Posti
@web-tech avatar
2008 MP3 500, 2013 BV350, 2020 Vespa Sei Giorni, 2008 Vespa S150
Joined: UTC
Posts: 8926
Location: Ashburn, Va. Home to the Internet
UTC quote
Don't like the idea of having to look down to see what behind me. Eye scanning should happen ever 10-20 sec, left mirror, right mirror, gauges. That is a lot of taking your eyes off the road..
OP
UTC

Hooked
2016 Mp3 500ie Sport
Joined: UTC
Posts: 305
Location: California
 
Hooked
2016 Mp3 500ie Sport
Joined: UTC
Posts: 305
Location: California
UTC quote
WEB-Tech wrote:
Don't like the idea of having to look down to see what behind me. Eye scanning should happen ever 10-20 sec, left mirror, right mirror, gauges. That is a lot of taking your eyes off the road..
Exactly this. It was taking too long to scan the mirrors which diminished from the benefits of added visibility.

I'm undecided if I want to remove em or leave em, but they are not going to be used much due to that limitation of scan-time.
UTC

Member
GTS 300
Joined: UTC
Posts: 13
Location: Brooklyn, New York
 
Member
GTS 300
Joined: UTC
Posts: 13
Location: Brooklyn, New York
UTC quote
Re: Bar End Mirrors
I want something like this for my gts 300 where you find these mirros.
pinheadh78 wrote:
Hello Folks
I installed Bar End mirrors on my Mp3 to try it out and see how it would look and work. Sorry for the long post, but I figure if anyone else has similar thoughts or desires they might benefit from the longer post.

I wanted better rear-view and side visibility to be able to better check blind-spots and check for faster traffic approaching from behind. I live in California where everyone drives 15 mph over the speed limit. As the Mp3 is not the fastest I need to be able to see whats behind me (or approaching rapidly) so I can change lanes or make plans to let them pass. Being able to see whats behind your or check the rear half-way through a turn is also important as the roads I travel are very twisty mountain roads around the San Francisco Bay Area. Stock mirrors are Okay, but I need a solution to better check-six while riding.

First I tried mounting blind-spot mirrors to the outer edges of the stock mirrors. The cheap stick-on round ones from AutoZone worked but rattled and buzzed due to the mirror being loosely mounted in the housing. I ordered better ones (link below) on Amazon and those worked very well and I will continue to use them despite minor issues with accidentally breaking them off occasionally.

So those little mirrors were good but I wanted something more permanent and less problematic. Bar-end Mirrors looked to be a good answer but I wanted ones I could mount on the under-side of the steering bar. It also could not make the bike wider as we have legal lane-splitting here in California.

I saw these (link below) in a clearance bin at CycleGear so picked them up figuring I could adapt it to the Mp3. Success! It worked. It needed a trip to the local ACE-hardware store to get shorter metric-screws (the default end-screws are too long) and a bit of electrical tape. But it worked. The result is the bike is about 2 inches narrower at the steering-bar height which makes lane-splitting easier. The mirrors are in-board and mounted under the steering-bar. I did notice the clamp-system did not adequately grip the mirrors allowing drift, a few wrappings of electrical-tape fixed that so no more mirror-drifting.

This past Fathers Day weekend I did a 120 mile loop through twisty mountain roads to try out my newly mounted bar-end mirrors for my Mp3. The course was fast-straights, uphill twists, downhills, blind-turns, an all around great mountain road fun loop. Lots of opportunities to try out my newly mounted mirrors.

The results were disappointing. They do perform the required job of showing me the blind-spots and are much more durable and less problem prone than the little add-on spot-mirrors. The problem is I have to take my eyes of the road for about a half second to check the bar-end mirrors and the field of view provided.

I think I will leave them on as they aren't hurting anything, look cool, and do provide another option for visibility. But I'm going to maintain using the primary stock-mirrors with the little extra wing spots. At about $30 clearance its not really worth the trouble and hassle of returning them at the moment.

The next step would be to just replace the stock antenna style mirrors with something compatible with the Mp3 and a wider field of view. Probably should have done that from the beginning, but oh well. Now I've scratched the curiosity itch of bar-end mirrors on an Mp3.

Shopping list for better visibility and bar-ends.

The little add-on mirrors I've got mounted now.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C0CY3US

Two 1 inch diameter rubber gaskets to dampen vibration while helping the mirror mount grip better
Two Metric M6 x 30mm 1.00 pitch - the original screws are far to long for this.
https://www.cyclegear.com/gear/speedmetal-billet-bar-end-mirrors - got on clearance
Black Electical Tape (gap filler) - free from the garage supply box.
@hillbilly_fred avatar
UTC

Hooked
2019 MP3 hpe 500 sport Advanced " Missy "
Joined: UTC
Posts: 291
Location: West Germany
 
Hooked
@hillbilly_fred avatar
2019 MP3 hpe 500 sport Advanced " Missy "
Joined: UTC
Posts: 291
Location: West Germany
UTC quote
Re: Bar End Mirrors
pinheadh78 wrote:
Hello Folks
I installed Bar End mirrors on my Mp3 to try it out and see how it would look and work. Sorry for the long post, but I figure if anyone else has similar thoughts or desires they might benefit from the longer post.

I wanted better rear-view and side visibility to be able to better check blind-spots and check for faster traffic approaching from behind. I live in California where everyone drives 15 mph over the speed limit. As the Mp3 is not the fastest I need to be able to see whats behind me (or approaching rapidly) so I can change lanes or make plans to let them pass. Being able to see whats behind your or check the rear half-way through a turn is also important as the roads I travel are very twisty mountain roads around the San Francisco Bay Area. Stock mirrors are Okay, but I need a solution to better check-six while riding.

First I tried mounting blind-spot mirrors to the outer edges of the stock mirrors. The cheap stick-on round ones from AutoZone worked but rattled and buzzed due to the mirror being loosely mounted in the housing. I ordered better ones (link below) on Amazon and those worked very well and I will continue to use them despite minor issues with accidentally breaking them off occasionally.

So those little mirrors were good but I wanted something more permanent and less problematic. Bar-end Mirrors looked to be a good answer but I wanted ones I could mount on the under-side of the steering bar. It also could not make the bike wider as we have legal lane-splitting here in California.

I saw these (link below) in a clearance bin at CycleGear so picked them up figuring I could adapt it to the Mp3. Success! It worked. It needed a trip to the local ACE-hardware store to get shorter metric-screws (the default end-screws are too long) and a bit of electrical tape. But it worked. The result is the bike is about 2 inches narrower at the steering-bar height which makes lane-splitting easier. The mirrors are in-board and mounted under the steering-bar. I did notice the clamp-system did not adequately grip the mirrors allowing drift, a few wrappings of electrical-tape fixed that so no more mirror-drifting.

This past Fathers Day weekend I did a 120 mile loop through twisty mountain roads to try out my newly mounted bar-end mirrors for my Mp3. The course was fast-straights, uphill twists, downhills, blind-turns, an all around great mountain road fun loop. Lots of opportunities to try out my newly mounted mirrors.

The results were disappointing. They do perform the required job of showing me the blind-spots and are much more durable and less problem prone than the little add-on spot-mirrors. The problem is I have to take my eyes of the road for about a half second to check the bar-end mirrors and the field of view provided.

I think I will leave them on as they aren't hurting anything, look cool, and do provide another option for visibility. But I'm going to maintain using the primary stock-mirrors with the little extra wing spots. At about $30 clearance its not really worth the trouble and hassle of returning them at the moment.

The next step would be to just replace the stock antenna style mirrors with something compatible with the Mp3 and a wider field of view. Probably should have done that from the beginning, but oh well. Now I've scratched the curiosity itch of bar-end mirrors on an Mp3.

Shopping list for better visibility and bar-ends.

The little add-on mirrors I've got mounted now.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C0CY3US

Two 1 inch diameter rubber gaskets to dampen vibration while helping the mirror mount grip better
Two Metric M6 x 30mm 1.00 pitch - the original screws are far to long for this.
https://www.cyclegear.com/gear/speedmetal-billet-bar-end-mirrors - got on clearance
Black Electical Tape (gap filler) - free from the garage supply box.
Hey Pinhead! Why not use a piece of silicon hose instead of electrical tape? Looks better and holds good too.
OP
UTC

Hooked
2016 Mp3 500ie Sport
Joined: UTC
Posts: 305
Location: California
 
Hooked
2016 Mp3 500ie Sport
Joined: UTC
Posts: 305
Location: California
UTC quote
Removed the extra mirrors
Hi Folks
To give an update on the experiment. I removed and returned the mirrors.

When I was out riding with the sun directly behind the mirrors reflected the sun right into my face. The mirrors were also cumbersome to use as I had to take my eyes off the road too long to scan the mirrors and it didn't gain me much.

I will just stick with the regular default mirrors and the little add-on blind-spot mirrors.
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