Modern Vespa

Before I accidentally yank the mirrors right off the stems, how much play is there supposed to be and which directions will they move? Mine are difficult to move and I'm not sure how much I can move them without causing damage! Also, I am thinking of the rectangle shaped mirrors for better visibility. I've seen them on Scooterwest.

IMPORTANT: the left hand mirror has a reverse thread

(Unlike the original GTS)

Are you certain of this? Neither my Vespa nor my Scarabeo have a reverse threaded mirror. My Buddy (PGO) does, but it is the RIGHT mirror, so that if the scooter falls on that side the mirror loosens rather than tightens/snaps.

The newer scoots (something like since 2013?) do have a reverse thread on the left. Both mirrors need to be pushed forward to loosen (or hit the brakes hard).

Becky's LH mirror is a LH thread.

so far, I am only talking about adjusting the round mirror. does it adjust up,down and in and out? it's just hard to move right now and I don't know how far to make it move. I'll check it again to see what I'm not figuring out. I think there is something about reverse thread on the install video by Scooterwest.

As far as I am aware there is very little movement of the actual mirror head. To set it accurately you need to loosen the 17mm nut, set the mirror to approximately how you want it, tighten it, and then fine tune with the few degrees of movement of the mirror face. I can move my mirror face reasonably well on the up/down axis, but there is hardly any play on the left to right axis.

Thank you Touring300. That's what I needed to know. Sometimes I don't know my own strength and I could do some damage!

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I sure missed the memo on THIS. What is the point of reverse threading the left side mirror, except to sell more mirrors?

Greetings:

If you think about left the mirror making contact with a garage door as you miscalculate your Bad-Cave launch trajectory, the mirror will simply unscrew a quarter turn, hopefully with no harm. If the RIGHT mirror does the same, it will turn the handlebar sharply to the right and possibly break off. Thus, at least on all the vintage Hondas I've owned, it was the RIGHT mirror that had the Lefty threads. My 2003 ET4 uses a R-threaded nut on the underside of the left mirror. The right mirror and both mirrors on my 2010 are conventional right-handed fittings with compression nut.

As they both loosen when pushed forwards, I think it would have something to do with reducing injury from rider impacting the stalk with their arm.

That would be true, but I think the simpler explanation is simply that both mirrors tighten when pushed to the rear by wind pressure or being bumped. Yamaha uses the same system (LH thread for left mirror). Who hasn't had a RH threaded mirror on the left side work loose, then suddenly rotate to the rear while riding?

Anybody remember when lug nuts on some cars were left hand on one side and right hand on the other? Mostly older Mopars. Some trucks had that on the axle nuts on the front wheels only.

sit on your seat normally and palm your mirror. it physically doesnt translate up down or sideways... it only slightly rotates.... so from the top while palming it, the top of the mirror will rotate toward and away from you... only slightly... i believe thats it..