Rear view mirrors

[Kenomni]

I have recently switched to this ST1300 bike, coming from decades on big cruisers.. My one main issue with this bike are the mirrors. I need to find a way to be able to view cars coming up directly from behind me, especially at stop signs or red lights. I've been caved in once already on a cruiser and that bike was totaled. Luckily I walked away, unbroken. I could have seen it coming but at that moment I was distracted and looking away. With this 1300 I can't see anything behind me, including my wife when we ride separate bikes together. I'm always watching out for her and can only see her when she is off to the side and fairly close. I need to find a cure for this issue otherwise I'm thinking to give this bike up. Other than that it is a phenomenal bike. How can we overcome this issue? Handlebar mirrors?

 

[Nexus]

Rear facing dash-cam?

There are some that will transmit to your phone. You would just need to mount the phone somewhere easily visible.

 

[Bush]

I have recently switched to this ST1300 bike, coming from decades on big cruisers.. My one main issue with this bike are the mirrors. I need to find a way to be able to view cars coming up directly from behind me, especially at stop signs or red lights. I've been caved in once already on a cruiser and that bike was totaled. Luckily I walked away, unbroken. I could have seen it coming but at that moment I was distracted and looking away. With this 1300 I can't see anything behind me, including my wife when we ride separate bikes together. I'm always watching out for her and can only see her when she is off to the side and fairly close. I need to find a cure for this issue otherwise I'm thinking to give this bike up. Other than that it is a phenomenal bike. How can we overcome this issue? Handlebar mirrors?

Ok. I don't have a 1300, but I'm quite sure the 1300 mirrors operate in the same manner as the 1100's and I can adjust them to see directly behind quite easily. Don't yours move? Possibly the ball socket is sticky. Take 'em off and shoot some silicone lube in there.

 

[Kenomni]

Rear facing dash-cam?

There are some that will transmit to your phone. You would just need to mount the phone somewhere easily visible.

Thanks but as you can tell by my age, I'm a bit old fashioned and would like to keep things simple. I can't see another way to solve my problem other than to install handlebar mirrors and I don't know if that can be done on this bike. I'd hate to give up the bike because of the mirrors but I'm prepared to do just that unless I find a solution.

 

[red one]

I'm thinking like Bush. My 1100 mirrors are the best I have ever had. The ST1300 looks as big and adjustable as the ST1100. You sure some hasn't jury rigged your mirrors as so now they don't move like the O.E.M?

 

[Nexus]

Well the PO installed these small mirrors on the inside part of my mirrors. They are fantastic for checking your blind spot. I bet they would give you a great view behind if you mounted them to the outside of the mirrors.

 

[ST-Traveler]

I put blind spot mirrors on my ST1300 and it helped with traffic coming up from behind.
2-3$ 2" round in the corner of each mirror should do the trick.
The mirrors do move inside the housing to get better aim.

 

[CYYJ]

I've done the same thing as Nexus & ST-Traveller - added small convex mirrors to increase my field of view. I searched for stick-on mirrors that would match the outside curve of the rear view mirror, and installed them on the outboard side. In the photo below - taken from the rider's eye-point - you can only see my garage door in the main mirror, but you can see all the garden tools mounted on the side wall of the garage in the little convex mirror.

Something else that I have found helps me - I have adjusted (rotated) the clutch and brake levers so that they are perfectly in line with the handlebars when I look in the mirror. By doing this, instead of seeing two obstructions in the rear view mirror (handlebar and clutch lever in different places), I only have one obstruction because the clutch lever occludes the handlebar.

Lastly, I adjust the mirrors so that all I see in the bottom inboard corner is the top edge of the saddlebag and rear grab rail - nothing else. This gives me a full field of view directly behind the bike (but, with no overlap), and the widest possible field of view to the traffic lanes on either side of the bike.

Michael

Convex Mirrors

 

[fnmag]

I have recently switched to this ST1300 bike, coming from decades on big cruisers.. My one main issue with this bike are the mirrors. I need to find a way to be able to view cars coming up directly from behind me, especially at stop signs or red lights. I've been caved in once already on a cruiser and that bike was totaled. Luckily I walked away, unbroken. I could have seen it coming but at that moment I was distracted and looking away. With this 1300 I can't see anything behind me, including my wife when we ride separate bikes together. I'm always watching out for her and can only see her when she is off to the side and fairly close. I need to find a cure for this issue otherwise I'm thinking to give this bike up. Other than that it is a phenomenal bike. How can we overcome this issue? Handlebar mirrors?

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Larry Fine]

Ken, I'm kinda wide, too, and had a similar concern on my '01 ST1100. I found that I could angle the mirrors inward enough to move the focal point toward the outside of each mirror, enabling me to just be able to see directly behind.

However, I had to pop the mirror housings off of the bike in order to be able to angle the mirrors far enough, because I had to pivot each one beyond the final angle, which the housing made difficult, then pop the housings back on.

 

[SMSW]

I took a strip of aluminum (1" wide, 1/8" thick) about 5" long and bent it so that it gave me a vertical surface when the lower part was placed against the dash. I positioned one on each side, drilled holes for the existing screws, painted them matte black, and screwed them to the outer edges of the dash. Left one was along the edge just above the headlight adjusting knob (see Nexus' pic in post #6 above) and the right one was similarly positioned on the right dash edge. I then mounted the same convex mirrors Nexus used - mine came w/ a ball and socket joint and are adjustable. I can see a car alongside me in the next lane in those mirrors and I check them before changing lanes and when glancing in the rv mirrors.

 

[Kenomni]

Ok. I don't have a 1300, but I'm quite sure the 1300 mirrors operate in the same manner as the 1100's and I can adjust them to see directly behind quite easily. Don't yours move? Possibly the ball socket is sticky. Take 'em off and shoot some silicone lube in there.

 

[Kenomni]

Ok. I don't have a 1300, but I'm quite sure the 1300 mirrors operate in the same manner as the 1100's and I can adjust them to see directly behind quite easily. Don't yours move? Possibly the ball socket is sticky. Take 'em off and shoot some silicone lube in there.

I'll play with it some more tomorrow and see if I can get it close to what I'm used to. Thanks.

 

[st11ray]

The 1300 mirrors aren't as good as the 1100 mirrors but they are very good. I have never had any problems with them.

 

[Kenomni]

I've done the same thing as Nexus & ST-Traveller - added small convex mirrors to increase my field of view. I searched for stick-on mirrors that would match the outside curve of the rear view mirror, and installed them on the outboard side. In the photo below - taken from the rider's eye-point - you can only see my garage door in the main mirror, but you can see all the garden tools mounted on the side wall of the garage in the little convex mirror.

Something else that I have found helps me - I have adjusted (rotated) the clutch and brake levers so that they are perfectly in line with the handlebars when I look in the mirror. By doing this, instead of seeing two obstructions in the rear view mirror (handlebar and clutch lever in different places), I only have one obstruction because the clutch lever occludes the handlebar.

Lastly, I adjust the mirrors so that all I see in the bottom inboard corner is the top edge of the saddlebag and rear grab rail - nothing else. This gives me a full field of view directly behind the bike (but, with no overlap), and the widest possible field of view to the traffic lanes on either side of the bike.

Michael

Convex Mirrors

I like this idea. I'll work on it asap. Thanks.

 

[Kenomni]

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you. I'm impressed with this forum. From what I've seen so far it is well managed, clean and professional.

 

[CYYJ]

I'm impressed with this forum. From what I've seen so far it is well managed, clean and professional.

Yeah, we all get along pretty well. I think the trick is the average age of the forum members, which is somewhere around 55 to 65 years of age. In fact, I think the forum signup software is programmed to automatically reject anyone under the age of 40 if they try to sign up.

Michael

 

[Lowndes]

Hey, Kenomni,

Welcome to the forum!!

I had issues with the mirrors, too, but different. I had a blind spot behind and off to the side. The stick-on mirrors described above fixed that. What I really like is how steady the ST mirrors are compared to handlebar mounted mirrors.

Since these pics, I've added larger rectangular convex mirrors stuck on top of the little round ones you see here. Better angle for them this way.

All the pics are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/znq8873zu2BeiDyn7

This is the mirror mount with the blinker cover removed (it snaps off). That's a big "ball mount" on the back of the mirror that lets you adjust the angle. It's very stiff on mine.

I recently added an LED strip to the blinker housing and wired to the blinker for added visibility:

Before the LED strips were added:

 

[Nexus]

I then mounted the same convex mirrors Nexus used - mine came w/ a ball and socket joint and are adjustable. I

These ones are similar, if not identical, to mine. As SMSW says, the beauty of them is that once you stick them on, they're still adjustable. I don't know where to get them however, or if they're even still available.

 

[Kenomni]

Hey, Kenomni,

Welcome to the forum!!

I had issues with the mirrors, too, but different. I had a blind spot behind and off to the side. The stick-on mirrors described above fixed that. What I really like is how steady the ST mirrors are compared to handlebar mounted mirrors.

Since these pics, I've added larger rectangular convex mirrors stuck on top of the little round ones you see here. Better angle for them this way.

All the pics are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/znq8873zu2BeiDyn7

This is the mirror mount with the blinker cover removed (it snaps off). That's a big "ball mount" on the back of the mirror that lets you adjust the angle. It's very stiff on mine.

I recently added an LED strip to the blinker housing and wired to the blinker for added visibility:

Before the LED strips were added:

Thanks for the welcome. Those lights are awesome. And the add-on mirrors; I'll be looking for those tomorrow.