See BelowAnyone who has experienced the Concours mirror flop knows how irritating it can be. The first week I had my ’86 (bought new in 1990) my left mirror flopped and refused to hold set. The dealer grumbled but replaced it with the new style mirror and admitted they were aware this was a problem with these mirrors. The bike was long out of warranty when the right mirror (old style) started to flop and not hold set. I went through the process of taking it apart every so often to snug up the nuts on the support arm. Once it flops it refuses to keep a set afterwards. My right mirror innards wore out from this procedure. The left one (newer version) was holding up just fine. Big "K" wanted too much dough for replacements so I decided to try something else. I bought a couple of Emgo fairing mount mirrors from JC Whitney. These mirrors use a combination plastic shaft and steel ball setup. I wanted to adapt these mirrors to the ZG fairing mirror supports.
See BelowWhen I heated up the plastic shaft enough to bend it, one shaft broke, (see photo below) the other made the bend but appeared so weak I was afraid it would let go under stress (cold--high speed--bumpy road--etc). I like the boots that came with these; they mate right up to the Concours mirror supports. Then I bought the Emgo screw in mirrors. These have long steel shafts with 10mm x 1.25 threads. I got them from JC Whitney on sale for $8.99, catalog 82J. After some eyeball measurements I heated the shaft with a torch to straighten the elbow then re-bent the shaft 3 inches from the end of the threads. I used my shop vise and Vise-Grip pliers as a heat sink to keep from melting the ball socket and left the mirror attached to the shaft. I first removed one mirror head to heat the shaft, but getting the mirror head back on the steel ball was a bear! After re-bending the steel shaft I let it cool to prevent melting the mirror socket (rinsed with cold water also helped) while I held it with the Vise Grips between the hot section and the mirror.
I cut the shaft off 1 1/8 inches from the end, removing the threads and a bit more. Rethread the shaft for about 1 ¼ inches. I used 3/8 x 24 dies because I had a handful of lock nuts that size. I felt the finer thread size would hold better than course threads. I placed one nut on the shaft (under the boot) up against the end of the shaft threads with its flat side against the mirror support. The inside nut flat end also against the support, basically sandwiching the mirror support between the locknuts. This clamps the support between the lock nuts. Later I found that I needed to put some Loctite on the threads and the nut faces to keep things tight. The old style support has a cutout the nut will fit into. The newer version has none, its surface is flat, re-designed for the later style mirror.
So far, after about 8000 miles, everything is staying tight, even at extra-legal speeds and in cold weather. The mirrors hold their position and are easy to adjust without that sinking feeling that I used to get adjusting the stock mirrors that any second it was going to flop over!!. I used the boots from the fairing mirrors instead of the skinny boots from the screw in mirrors. They look and fit better although someone suggested I paint the stock mirror mounts the same silver color as the bike. I really hadn't considered that, but I have to agree, it would look less dorky. Just haven't had the time, too many other things to do. I re-used the little flat bar that holds the boot in the stock mirror (with the two tiny screws in it) from the original boot in the original holes to hold the Emgo boot in place better.
I put the little flat bar inside the housing and used a piece of black plastic and the screws on the outside through two holes punched in the boot. The later model mirror boot has only one screw. I used one small screw, lock washer, nut and piece of black plastic through a single hole to keep the new (Emgo) boot in place. A little black RTV helps seal things also. So, I ended up buying four mirrors in all to get the look I achieved in the photos. I popped the Emgo mirror heads off the broken and bent fairing mounts (plastic combo shafts) and will keep them for spares. It’s a pain to get the mirror head back on the shaft ball, but I used some RuGlyde tire lube, a pry bar, elbow grease, sweat and a few well-chosen cuss words to pop the mirror back on the ball joint. These mirrors have a screw/nut combo to snug the mirror socket to the shaft ball.
Total cost for this project was about $40 plus some shipping. Of course, that was 1997 prices. I think today the mirrors would cost $12 to $16 dollars each or a total of around $60 bucks. Still would need to buy 4 mirrors, two of the screw in type and two of the fairing type (for the boots).I ended up with four mirrors (two of each style) and now have two spare mirror heads and two funny looking boots. One boot, I cut and glued to fit my shift lever as the old rubber cover was wearing out. The mirror glass is certainly not as good or as large as the stock mirrors but are slightly curved to give a bigger field of view. One aspect I didn't forsee was the change in airflow across the grips. The higher, wider position of these mirrors allows more direct airflow across my hands and forearms. This is good for summer. A 400 mile trip for Labor Day weekend (1998) proved that my hands were cooler and I had a great deal more air flowing up the sleeves of my 'Stich suit. The grip warmers and Gerber electric jacket should handle the increased air flow during colder times. From the front Concours, with the stock mirrors down so low, always had that lop eared "Water Buffalo" look. Now its has a "Danger! Danger! -- Will Robinson! – Robbie the Robot look.