Thanks, Mirrors

[Jim M.]

Thanks to the crappy '08 mirrors, I now have a nice scratch on my front fender. On the way home from work last Friday, I hit the back of an SUV. Two lane road traveling in the right hand lane because my turn was coming up when suddenly the SUV in front of me locks up the brakes. Obviously she wasn't paying attention and noticed stopped traffic ahead of her. When she locked up, I came down HARD on the brakes, then in the millisecond it took, I thought, "Where's the car behind me?!" Not wanting to be a hood ornament, I checked my mirrors. CRAP! All I see is my bags! So....in the second it took to let off the brakes a bit to make sure I didn't go flying from behind, the SUV is rapidly getting closer. I did good though with my non-ABS and didn't slide, but I was again braking HARD. Just before getting to a complete stop, I just tap the back end of the SUV. Just enough to put a nice scratch on the front fender. Oh then the SUV driver has the audacity to ask, "Did you leave a mark on my truck?" I told her, "I can't tell with all the other scratches on it!...and you need to pay F'n attention to what you're doing!" Anyway, I was just fortunate that the car behind me had jumped over into the left hand lane. I could have stopped in time had I known that. I hate these mirrors. The old C-10 I had before had the best mirrors ever! The C-14....not so much.

[Gumby]

Buy a new C14. 

Glad it did not turn out worse. 

[JoeRau]

Buy a new C14. 

Glad it did not turn out worse. 

The 2nd attempt at mirrors on the C14 are better.  Only half the mirror is full of bag for me.  It is something I got accustomed to, but I have to agree the ones on the C10 where much more functional.  I do like the breakaway design on the C14.

[ZG]

Glad you're ok and it wasn't worse, FWIW used front fenders are dirt cheap on ebay, they are the same fender as the ZX14 to broaden your search.

[RBX QB]

Buy a new C14. 

Glad it did not turn out worse. 

^^ That.

Any mess you can ride away from is a good one, right?

I seem to recall a thread last week wondering if the '10+ mirrors fit on the Gen 1 bikes... Might help (if they swap). I only see half of my bags in the mirrors.

[MrPepsi]

I've ridden many bikes with crappy mirrors, I've seen bikes with even worse mirrors.
The 08-09 Concours doesn't fall into either of those.
These bikes have fabulous mirrors, I'm sorry to suspect the problem existed elsewhere.
No disrespect intended.

[mike]

So.... you follow too close & aren't situationally aware but it's the mirrors fault.       Glad you weren't hurt.

[wally_games]

So.... you follow too close & aren't situationally aware but it's the mirrors fault.       Glad you weren't hurt.

 

[Jim M.]

So.... you follow too close & aren't situationally aware but it's the mirrors fault.       Glad you weren't hurt.

Nope,  had room. The point was I didn't know if the guy behind me did and I didn't want to be his hood ornament to find out.

[VirginiaJim]

I had a C10.  The mirrors were crap.  Kept on moving on me.  I hated them.  Couldn't see anything out of them for the vibrations.  Depending on your height, the C14 mirrors may not get you the best visibility.  Seems taller people had more issues with them.  I will say that my mirrors have not moved any since I originally adjusted them.  Can't say that for the C10 or my Voyager XII.

Indeed.

[B.D.F.]

Just be careful if you buy from the Pacific Northwest.... you never know what colors C-14 parts might be coming from that area....

Brian

Glad you're ok and it wasn't worse, FWIW used front fenders are dirt cheap on ebay, they are the same fender as the ZX14 to broaden your search.

[RBX QB]

Just be careful if you buy from the Pacific Northwest.... you never know what colors C-14 parts might be coming from that area....

Brian

Hey... don't stereotype... not all of us are on a monthly color rotation.

[jaclaw]

I know these look kind of goofy but they do help;
http://wingstuff.com/products/32586-blind-spot-mirror-mini-air-deflector?context=mirrors_accessories

[maxtog]

The 2nd attempt at mirrors on the C14 are better.  Only half the mirror is full of bag for me.  It is something I got accustomed to, but I have to agree the ones on the C10 where much more functional.  I do like the breakaway design on the C14.

On the 2nd gen, I would say only about 1/4 of the mirror are bags, if that.  Of course, it will depend on how tall your torso is (I am tall-torsoed) and your exact seating and grip positions.

OP- If you are shorter torsoed and using the stock (non-riser) bars, and on a gen 1, it would not surprise me if you had half the mirror be bags under normal riding.  If you are breaking HARD, the nose will dive, and it is quite possible the view would be obscured even more.  I am very glad you were not hurt... however, as you know, if you hit someone from behind, it is usually your own fault for not having enough following distance for the conditions.  Still sucks when people aren't paying attention.  I can certainly understand the fear of someone hitting me from behind- it is my primary concern when breaking hard in any vehicle.

[maxtog]

  Seems taller people had more issues with them. 

I had to think about that and do some quick geometry.  I am fairly sure the higher your head, the more the mirrors are angled up and the less the bags will be visible.  But it also depends on a lot of other factors, as I mentioned in the previous message.  One important thing to remember is that you can be long torsoed (like I am) and yet have short arms and legs (or the reverse)... and in that case, I (for example) have to lean over more to reach the bars, lowering my head more... but yet that is negated by the bar risers.  So it is simple as mud.

Of course, I am no expert in geometry

[phoneman]

  I have a 09 and I have to agree with you that the mirrors suck.  With or without the bags I still can't get used to them as they don't have a very wide field of view.

  Someone was making risers for the mirrors on the 08 and 09's.  I may have seen some talk on the other site.  I would put a set of those on mine in a heartbeat if I could get my grubby hands on them.

[texrider]

A pair of the small round stick-on blind spotters did the trick on my '09s mirrors.
Keeps me aware of lane squatters, and has all but eliminated those gee shucks moments when you'd nearly find one the hard way.

That, and  ABS rocks!

[Gsun]

Follow this thread to get info on mirror lifts.

http://forum.cog-online.org/index.php/topic,18984.msg70173.html#msg70173

[VirginiaJim]

I've also sent a pm message to him as well, although it looks like he hasn't popped in for awhile.

[martin_14]

So.... you follow too close & aren't situationally aware but it's the mirrors fault.       Glad you weren't hurt.

Nope,  had room. The point was I didn't know if the guy behind me did and I didn't want to be his hood ornament to find out.

Sorry Jim, I'm glad you're alright but you were obviously too close to the vehicle in front of you. She wasn't paying attention, may be... but she didn't hit the vehicle in front of her.
If I'm following somebody and another vehicle is close to my tail, I leave even more space to the vehicle in front of me because it's obvious that I'll have to be gentler on the brakes.