I made a little progress with cleaning up the handlebar setup on my DRZ400E. I got my Doubletake Adventure mirrors mounted and got rid of the cell phone holder. The new mirrors actually make the bike safe to ride on the street and the phone holder was wasted space. The mirrors did cause a new worry that I didn’t think about when I installed them though. I have an idea on how to address that, but not 100% sure if it will work…
New Mirrors
When I bought this bike, it had a miss-matched pair of cheap “enduro mirrors” on it. You know, the crappy little ones that come on “street legal kits” you can buy to make a dirt bike street legal so you can put a plate on it. One was an Acerbis and the other was some off brand I’d never heard of. The problem with both of them is they weren’t rigid enough – they both shook so bad that I could barely see out of them when the bike was running. Besides that, whoever installed then put the to far in AND backwards, so even if I could use them, all I’d see was my shoulders – not the traffic behind me. When I tried to reposition them, the first one broke while I was tightening it to the handlebars. No worries, just meant it was time to get a decent set of mirrors.
Doubletake Enduro Mirrors
I decided to go with a set of Doubletake Enduro mirrors. I’ve read good things about them online, so I figured the expense might be worth the price. They definitely are, at least imo. They mount really solid to the handlebar and the RAM leg and mirror are also really solid, so there is almost no shake when the bike is running. Besides that, the reach (???) is longer so they sit closer to the ends of the bar. Now I can actually use them to check traffic around and behind me – a HUGE safety improvement when I’m riding. They install with just a common wrench which is nice, but can also be a problem if you park in a bike where shitty people can access it…
Like last Saturday. A friend was having a get together at a downtown bar and I decided to ride the DRZ (perfect excuse to not drink). It’s in kind of a sketchy neighborhood, so I parked near a window so I could keep an eye on the bike. Sure enough, about a half hour after dark I noticed a car parked behind my bike with the headlights on and passenger door open. Didn’t see anyone standing next to the bike, but I decided to walk outside and check it out. Decided to stand about 15 feet away and pretend to not notice the car. The two occupants watched me (it was pretty obvious) for about 5 minutes before the passenger closed his door and they drove away. Didn’t think too much about it until I started riding home…
I got about a block when the mirrors started moving around. I KNOW they were tight because (1) I’d installed them myself and (2) I’d ridden a few times with no loosening issues. My theory is the two dudes in the car were messing with the mirrors. My quick fix will be to put Loctite on the mounts. That won’t stop someone from taking off the RAM mounts and mirrors, but replacing just the RAMs and mirrors is cheaper than replacing everything. Or maybe just not take my bike to sketchy areas, but I can’t always avoid that.