Alternative Mirrors

[Millietant]

I had been thinking about changing my mirrors and had pretty much decided that if I ever did, I'd follow the recommendations from people on here and put a set of CBR 250 mirrors on my 3 CV

Well, last weekend on my Sunday run out, while riding across the field/car park at the Founders Day Rally, i heard an unusual clunk, but couldn't see anything wrong when i checked the bike over, so i continued on, left the rally and went for a blatt around some local lanes. I did notice that i could hear a loud resonant buzz, especially at low revs and I realised it was the left side mirror - the vibration damping weight had come unglued (after a mere 32 years) and it was just rattling around and buzzing inside the mirror.

When i parked the bike up in the garage at home, I noticed that our Fazer 1000 (2001-2005 FZ1) mirrors looked to have longer stems and wider mirror surfaces than the FJ and I remembered how I always thought they were great mirrors - so I went to back to my "Keep it Yamaha" approach, checked that it looked like they could be made to fit the FJ and ordered a set of Fazer/FZ1 mirrors.

They arrived this lunchtime, so after a couple of minutes on the bench grinder, 30 seconds of drilling (to enlarge the hole in the stem where they bolt to the FJ bases) and a handful of stainless M8 washers.............. Bingo, new mirrors, no rattling, better visibility and I reckon they look much better than the originals, but still the bike is all Yamaha......Result. The only thing that wasn't instantly straightforward was the need to turn the mirrors around through 180 degrees on the stems when trial fitting them, so as to get the stems sitting at the right angle to get visibility beyond your elbows.

I have to say, with the slightly thicker stalks, I actually like them even better than the CBR mirrors.

While I was in the garage with the tools out and remembering all the clutch discussions over the last couple of days, I also thought it was about time I got my finger out and fitted the braided stainless clutch line that's been sitting on my FJ parts shelf for about 10 years. I always said to myself that I'd do it when I next needed to do some work on the slave cylinder, but what the heck.......... I had the time and the subject was fresh in mind.....so 2 jobs that I hadn't expected to be doing can now be ticked off the list.

[Millietant]

Been out for a 150 mile ride today and boy are those mirror's great !!!!!

I can still see both elbows, but only in the inside 1/4 of each mirror lens....the rest of the mirror gives me a huge clear picture of what's going on behind me and despite not having the huge damping weights in them, they are virtually vibration free and give a clear image all the way up to about about 105 mph so far (I haven't gone any faster yet since fitting them).

A real success 

[FJmonkey]

they are virtually vibration free and give a clear image all the way up to about about 105 mph so far (I haven't gone any faster yet since fitting them).

Not much point in checking your mirrors when you are at 100+ 

[Millietant]

they are virtually vibration free and give a clear image all the way up to about about 105 mph so far (I haven't gone any faster yet since fitting them).

Not much point in checking your mirrors when you are at 100+ 

I had to keep checking them to see if the Harley riding friend I was out with, could keep up at such elevated speeds !!

[Millietant]

A couple of people have asked what was involved in fitting these 2001-2005 FZ1 (FZS 1000/Fazer 1000) mirrors onto my FJ, so I put together a brief explanation and a few photo's - maybe  its something that could be saved in the Flies section, if its of any use to anyone ?

Firstly I drilled out the hole in the bottom of the stem to 8mm. Then ground/filed the stem to get the arm to swivel far enough back, when sat in the mount, to put the pods in the right place to get proper visibility (it's not a lot and took me about a minute or 2 each side to do - grind/file fit, grind file fit....... repeat until it's right). There's a tiny shoulder around the hole that I just filed smooth as well (5 seconds with a flat file). For ease, I put a dab of superglue in the recess where I fitted the single M8 washer, just to hold it place while I put it all together, and then I found that three M8 washers on the other side gave a snug push-fit, into the FJ mount. Tightened it all up and rotated the pods (which were facing the wrong way because the mirrors are on the "wrong" sides) to get the position perfect for visibility. Really easy, took me about 5 minutes each side once I'd figured out the holes size, found the washers and realised that the mirrors needed to go on the wrong sides vs the Fazer

[red]

SAFETY NOTE: WARNING!  Do NOT grind soft metals like aluminum with a grinding wheel.    
The soft hot metal can penetrate into the grinding wheel, and build up internal pressures until the grinding wheel fractures or explodes.
For all soft metals, do such power tool metal-work with carbide cutting wheels, or sanding disks (made to cut metal).
ALWAYS wear good eye protection for all grinding, cutting, and sanding-disk operations on metals.

[Millietant]

There you go, that's a new one to me. For the few seconds it was on the wheel it didn't seem to be any issue, but I'll know for the next time.

Cheers red, good to know and learn something new. 

[fj1289]

My understanding was never use a wheel that has ground aluminum on steel.  The steel grinds a lot hotter and makes the embedded aluminum expand more and can crack the wheel (which then shatters)

[Pat Conlon]

My belt sander works great on aluminum. Thanks Red & Chris, that's good to know...

[red]

My understanding was never use a wheel that has ground aluminum on steel.  The steel grinds a lot hotter and makes the embedded aluminum expand more and can crack the wheel (which then shatters)

FJ1289,

Unless you have a dressing tool to completely strip off the contaminated layer of grinding wheel, that soft metal embedded in the grinding wheel never goes away.  I recommend discarding that grinding wheel, before it does serious damage.  Your call, sure, but fair warning.

[Millietant]

Just to finish things off, here's a comparison of the mirrors I've tried to get right using my mobile phone camera.

It's not perfect, but I think the improvement is clear in the scope of visibility.

[Millietant]

After today's ride off about 230 ish miles, some of it at "higher" speeds, I've noticed significantly less wind noise and buffeting than i had with the original FJ mirrors.

Not sure whether this is down to the shape, profile, or position of the new mirrors, but it's an unexpected bonus from the swap.

This got me thinking that as both the CBR and Bandit mirrors are of a similar "pod" shape to my FZ1 ones (and they move the mirrors further away from the bikes centreline), has anyone else noticed this effect after their swaps??

[Pat Conlon]

Yes, I also noticed less wind noise with my Rizoma mirrors which are positioned lower and further out than the oem mirrors.