10.24.2024

Product Review: KEMIMOTO Bar-End Mirrors

 The factory mirrors on the Ducati 900SS look great, especially with the accordion style rubber sleeves covering all the adjustment points.  But what they lack is any real world functionality.  It seemed like no matter how I adjusted them, all I ended up looking at were my elbows. Like most things, as the years piled up, they began to lose their stiffness, and began to sadly sag towards the ground. 

I attempted to find a suitable replacement, but none matched the correct mounting points.  There were some posts about high end Japanese mirrors that would work but I'm not spending hundreds of dollars on mirrors. Most aren't even functional at highway speeds anyway.  

With another pair of mirrors returned to Amazon, I started looking at bar end mirrors.  I've never owned a bike with them, always opting for factory placement.  But for only a bit more than I spent on these other mirrors, I could try these from KEMIMOTO.  

When I received them, I pieced together the mount kits and quickly found that none fit in these clip-ons (I believe they are Woodcraft). So, I started hobbling different solutions together as noted in my "Make it Work" post.

I had to redo the mounts again, when I installed the Oxford heated grips. Eventually I found a solution, which involved printing some slightly thicker TPU tubes, a few washers, and applying some hairspray as a lube and glue. The mirrors will still pivot forward and back, if I push hard enough but beyond that, they have stayed in place since installation.   

The positioning took some time to get used to, but after over 1300 miles with them, I've grown to love them.  Even at highway speeds they remain clear and useful. I do wish they were a bit bigger but the size is definitely enough for safety.  





Stay safe out there... 

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