I'm having an issue that someone on here has had to have overcame with a clever mod.

My mirrors shake to the point where I can't tell what's behind me.. and happened to be doing 75 mph in front of a leo for about 10 miles...

Not only that but It makes it hard to judge what is behind me and how close... is that 40 feet away or much farther?

They vibrate (mainly on the highway)

like when you're in a car and have the radio cranked and the bass makes your rear view mirror "buzz".

Thoughts?

Couple things I've learned over the years:

First, make sure all the engine to frame bolts are snug to spec. Wouldnt hurt to check the rubber isolation blocks either.

Next, and this is the one I like best, put lower bars on. The stock 70's and 80's 'bighorn' style bars aren't for me.

Check to see if your bike has vibration dampers in the end of the bars. usually a solid wad of metal. This helps on tall bars. Also check the tightness of the bars on the top triple clamp. Some have risers with rubber underneath that can rot out and let excessive bar movement.

I usually put low bars and bar-end mirrors on all my bikes.

What Ryan says above +

Go for another ride, try to notice which speeds cause the vibration you mention.

- If it's a steady vibration, accross all speeds, check bolts, rubber dampeners, and wheels
- If the vibration occurs at high speeds, check your swing arm bearings, steering head bearings, check that the wheels are torqued to spec, and get your wheels balanced

I will check both of those when I get home. thanks for the suggestions guys. This is my first bike so my modification experience is pretty limited. How hard is putting lower bars on it?

Had the same problem, filled the bars with expansion foam and used bar end weights. cut the vibration down about 80%.

Doing the bars are easy, routing the cables is where it gets 'fun'

ryanrules wrote:

Doing the bars are easy, routing the cables is where it gets 'fun'

Ick!

and Orange. I'll look into that.

Yeah its a real pain not being able to use them fully.

Depending on how much you change the geometry of your bars, you might not just be able to re-route cables. I replaced my brake lines with SS lines and from the master C on the new bars to the junction was about 5-6 inches shorter. I had a custom line made since SS won't tolerate any twisting or excessive bending. The lower bars did really improve handling and my posture-and the look of the maxim IMHO.

+1 to all the above advice. Great idea to check all those points anyway for safety sake, and so you don't lose anything while riding. There are a number of options for bar stabilizing. BB's, bar-snake, foam, weights, etc. Your hands will thank you.