The conceptualizing has not drifted too far afield yet. The idea, as stated in the first post, is twofold:
1) To provide a better rear view mirror that shows you more than your elbows. This need was increased as soon as I mounted my (highly desirable) Vstrom handguards on my Gen 3 as those guards now entirely block the inner 1/3rd of my mirror's rear view. Seeing a rider's headlights that is following anywhere behind me (regardless of distance) requires me to move my head at least 6" to the side.
2) To also provide a
high mounting point for the new breed of LED auxillary lights. Yes, aux lights for conspicuity can be mounted in a multitude of locations, but by mounting the lights up near the mirror bases the lights can serve the dual purposes of improved daytime consppicuity, and (greatly) improved nighttime illumination.
There are always more than one way to skin a cat. And there are also a number of other things to be considered regarding both of these stated goals. One is the desire, by many, to retain the homogenous looks and larger mirror size of the stock mirror heads. A contrary consideration is the subframe breakage issue that the stock mirrors present, which can only to be worsened by lengthening their outward protrusion.
I can report that we have a first pass prototype of some spacers produced, very similar to my wooden ones except they are a fraction of an inch longer, fabbed up in some sort of plastic SLA (?). Dave will be test fitting them on his 2nd gen soon and we should have some photos to share at that point.
In the meantime, we will continue to pursue the FZ1 mirror mounting bracket options as a second solution to the same two goals. As BigOgre mentioned, modifying the FZ1 mirror studs would not be an irreversible mod to the bike itself, so not nearly as bad as hacking up the stock mirrors.
@someguy - Yes, plastic will be used for prototyping. Not sure which would be better for production of spacers, should we actually get to that point. The alloy material would probabl;y be easier to paint body colored to make them blend in with the rest of the bike better.
@Fastalk - I've had bar end mirrors on (hooligan) bikes before and can attest first hand, they suck. You have to turn your head so far to see the mirrors that you are actually taking your eyes and even peripheral vision, off the road ahead. Not a good idea if you want to be riding for a long time into the future. It also does nothing for obhective #2 of mounting aux lights.
@art miller - The first gen mirrors were not much better than the 2nd gens in terms of rearward view, which is why you see so many 1st gens with the antenna like FZ1 mirrors mounted on them. Once you have enjoyed the advantages of a
good rear view mirror on a bike, it is just something that you cannot live without.
Other bike manufacturers do not seem to understand this any better than Yamaha does. I also have mirror spacers on both my Vstrom and VFR800. In each case the rear view was being impeded by views of my arms, but adding the outward spacing of those mirrors made the view much better, and safer, IMO.
Not everyone will have the same desires as my 2 goals. Some folks think the rear view on the stock mirrors is fine./ Others have no need for mounting aux lights up high. To them I say: Lucky for you. You can go on with your life with no more need of worrying about how any of this comes out.
