Modern Vespa

LOl, vibration isn't even the issue yet, all I can see is my shoulders, even with the long stem mirrors. Are there better mounts I can purchase off the shelf? Or do I need to look at cutting a set out myself?

I'll be the dissenting opinion here.

Under bar mirrors are butt.

They look shit. You can't see shit out of them. They snag your knuckles at every opportunity. They're a pain in all nine assholes to install. You have to adjust them constantly. And every single one has a limited field of vision.

Leg shield mirror or tough it out with stock in the headset.

-g

I had a some spare time recently and needed to get a mirror on the scoot (cuz the police said so) and came across this thread. Well, I tried a legshield mirror, a good Halcyon one, but just did not like it. Sold it off, but still bucks down at the moment, I scoured the four corners of my messy garage and came up with this ungodly chrome BMW mirror. When and where I got it, I don't know. Anywho, I mounted the bathroom accessory on the headset. Nope, could not see around my shoulders. So I heated and bent a longer bracket and attached it sideways. I could see what was behind me , but it looked awful. I thought if I could mount it lower, it would not be so noticeable. In the end, I heated another short bracket and mounted it to the back of the spare tire. It works great and it's not too horrible.

Very nice Tierny! Great idea. Does it work? I did try a legshield mirror but found I had to take my focus off the road for much too long. Also I find the further the mirror is from your eye the narrower the field of view.

It works really well. I will probably move it up to the next mounting hole and see how that works. I'll put up a pic when I do.

It's not so much that I like the underbar mirrors, for all the reasons listed above. I just hate the vibration and mousketeer ears look of the mirrors on top. Maybe I should try some black mirrors and sturdier mounts and see if that's any better.

Great idea Tierney

Thanks. Necessity and desperation are great motivators as I have to ride over to the police station by the end of the month (tomorrow) to get them to drop the ticket. I actually tried a mechanics mirror - about the size of a dentist's mirror already, but the cops shot that one down. Said it had to be over 3 inches in diameter.

Functional vintage Vespa mirrors are indeed elusive.

The best i've come up with is this one on my smallie. Shortened and re-threaded the stem and bent it so it doesn't stick out like a kid raising his hand in class. Mirror sits about 3" above the lever.

Maybe I'll try flipping my under bar mirrors up top and see if I like them better that way.

I mean, I have pretty much nothing but time right now, even working from home.

Installed it higher up and at the same time it was moved in a bit. I probably will leave it for now.

Thats a clean look Tierney. Hows the visibility?

I think it looks pretty good but couldn't you have just used a leg shield mirror at that point?

I kinda agree...and the legshield ones fold in.

Maybe a bit less vibrationey? (IS that a word?)

Nice work though Tierney

just my opinion . I like bar end mirrors. I like being able to adjust angle of mirror without taking hand off grip.

I'd have done bar end mirrors in a second if they didn't require serious feats of engineering because both headset tubes rotate and have wiring inside them.

I'm going to try relocating the billet mirrors I'm using now to some slightly wider brackets over the headset and see what that gets me next.

No joke - this was not easy. The clutch cable is mental.

Deets are buried somewhere in here:

How to cheat and get a barn find.

I tried a leggy clamp mirror, just did not like it. I could not get it positioned properly except for mounting it real low and at that point it was just a piece of jewelry, couldn't see squat out of it. This one is a lot more practical (I can actually use it to see), infinitely more adjustable and swings in some for tight spaces.

I spent a little time in the garage tonight and fabbed up a prototype bracket for mounting my mirrors over and further out.

I have some 1/4" aluminum stock and some longer stem bolts ordered for the final version because at the height of the longest bolts I had, it interferes with the shifter, but you can get the idea. I'll also move the stem bolt in toward the speedo by a few millimeters, too.

I think it works well, I'll have to get out and try it on the road once I have the longer stems/bolts.

you know what would work well for brackets with a little modification...certain bicycle reflector brackets which you could probably pick up at a junk yard

I installed the prototype bracket on the lefthand side and took it for a ride last night. Even with the thinner (1/8") aluminum stock and an M8 instead of M10 bolt for the stem, it did just fine. It stabilizes against the underside of the headset, so less vibration than I've ever had with a scooter mirror.

It sits just wide enough that I don't rally have to move my arms to see out of it, and while I hadn't considered it originally, it's significantly closer to my eyes and line of sight, so I actually use it correctly.

I traced the bracket onto aluminum stock, will fab another for the righthand side this weekend, but I expect it will be similarly successful.

The final version will use M10 rather than M8 for the stems. I need to get an M10 tap & die, plus some M10x70mm bolts and I'll be good-to-go.

Just as long as the brackets are stiffer than mirror stems, it's a way better system. Mirrors eventually become loose and wobbly but it takes a lot longer.

Take some pictures of the brackets and your install. Also where did you get the mirror from? My Stella brackets are actually pretty sturdy, I just need a mirror the goes further out. Thought about try to bend mine a bit.

The 1/4" aluminum sheet arrived today. Not bad for an expected delivery date of April 21st.

I'll pull the brackets off to make the new ones and post templates when I do. The right-hand bracket is a little too short right now, so it mostly shows my arm. The left-hand bracket is only about a centimeter further out and it makes a huge difference.

The mirrors are from Dime City Cycles.

I'm now tempted to alight the stalks to the outer edge of the turn signals for even better sight lines, but we'll see. Center of the turn signal, which is the lefthand mirror alignment, is adequate.

thanks Brother T, i will try this method the soon my sprint is finish

stay safe everyone and cheer