***Product Review*** Rizoma (eBay Clone) "Reverse Retro" Bar End Mirrors

[Rev. That Guy]

Another budget oriented product review.....

My Background:
Im 30 years old and have been riding since about 14 years old on the dirt and in the yard, then once i turned 16, I would beg and plead to ride buddies bikes on the street. I purchased my first bike in 2001, a 95 CBR600F3 full track bike that I converted back to street and have been riding ever since. I have owned nearly any type of bike you can think of from the Various vintages of CBR 600s, to Ninja 250s to a BMW R1200GS and R1200RT, a Victory hammer S, Hondas, Yamahas, Suzukis, Kawis, and most recently my MV Agusta and RC51. Sport bikes, standards, cruisers, dirt bikes, dual sports and everything in between including ATVs. I consider myself a confident and proficient rider and those that know me know that while I am not the fastest rider out there, I am certainly no slouch either. I have done many track days in the past but nothing recently but the foundation is there. I know my way around a bike with a wrench and have done nearly everything from engine rebuilds to frame up restorations. Hopefully this speaks to my credentials and credibility here. That being said, all of the opinions expressed are simply that, MY opinion. Your mileage may vary and your riding style and preferences may be different from mine.

Rizoma (eBay Clone) "Reverse Retro" Bar End Mirrors


No info available about the manufacturer.

My Bike: 1984 Honda VF1100C V65 Magna

Initial Impressions:
I ordered these mirrors because I needed something different from my OEM mirrors. On the Magna, the stock bars had about 10 inches of rise, but then drooped down for the grips. Not a fan of this, I put MX flat bars on the bike and as a result, my mirror perches caused the mirrors to be too far in, giving my a great view of my chest and arms, but not much else. So bar end mirrors were needed. I have used round ones in the past but through they wouldn't look right in this application, so I chose to go with this style of mirror. It looked pretty good, was a clone of the Rizoma mirrors that are well over $100, and they came with nifty anodized red accents. The price was only $17 for them so I figured I cant go wrong there.

They arrived in pretty short order, about 13 days. When i got the package, like always, I usually am wrist deep into them before I even get back to my house from the mailbox. When i got home, I dumped everything out on the work bench and suddenly became a little irritated. Literally a pile of parts fell out and no instructions. Oh well, figuring this stuff out is half the fun, right? A few minutes later I had cobbed together something that looked like the pictures and proceeded to fit them to the bike.

One thing I did notice on these is that they are actually quite stout. The mirror is actual glass, and has a slight bluish tint to it. I was unsure about this at first but totally dig it now. the bezel holding the glass is cast aluminum and the pivot ball on the back appears to be stainless steel. The Arm is also cast aluminum and both the bezel and arm have a nice textured finish in a satin black. The arm then clamps onto a rubber grommet and anodized red aluminum plates go on either side and then a stainless steel allen head bolt with a rubber expanding nut holds it all together and on the bike. This all took a little bit of time to get them setup how they are supposed to be but once I figured it out, was no problem.

The bar end mirrors slip into the end of the bars (you must have hollow bar ends) and then you tighten the main bolt to expand the rubber nut on the other side. This went pretty smooth for the most part. Once you have it firmly fixed into the bar, you need to se the arm where you like it and then tighten the stainless allen head pinch bolt on the arm. This actually proved to be kind of troublesome as You cant quite get it tight enough without that sinking feeling that your about to strip the thing out. Well turns out this is just an issue if your forcing the arm around. Normal conditions, it isnt a problem.

I played with having the mirrors pointed out and pointed in. Pointed out yeilded slightly better visibility but looks horrible. Pointed in offers adequate visibility and looks A LOT better IMO.

It appears that you could easily attach a weighted bar end to the outside of these in lieu of the outer cap and use a longer main bolt so thats cool. I dont need the weight in the bars and not real concerned about the crash protection as I feel a 600lb cruiser coming down on these will break them with or without the bar ends.

Long term thoughts:
After riding this around for some time, changing how they mount and sit, flipping them to hanging under the bars, then flipping them back up and tinkering some more, I like how they look and work. They arent great and you can certainly tell they are the cheaper version, but bang for the buck they are fabulous. There is virtually NO vibration at all (although my V4 engine is famous for its smoothness). The slight tint to them is also great and take out some of the harshness of reflections and glare.

I BIG annoyance, however - and this isnt really the fault of the mirror per say, but moreso the design concept and installation - is that when dismounting the bike, or pushing it around, my hand can easily catch on the mirror and knock it out of position forcing me to reset it once on the bike again. I have been working on not hitting it with my hands but it is kind of in the way for that. Other than that, they are great so far.

On the anodized aluminum parts, I have noticed a little bit of sun fading. Not much, but noticeable. Pretty good considering cost and that I have had them over a year now. Simple solution, loosen the main bolt and spin the plates 180 degrees so the faded part is on the bottom. Problem solved for another year or so.

Overall impressions:
Great little investment. Obviously, they are not perfect, but what is when you start talking custom applications. I'm not sure if I would buy these again though. Nothing wrong with them really, but I think for my application, there are more elegant options. Certainly not many more unique than this, and I like that, but not the most practical around. Overall I am happy with them though. If your looking for something different, but don't wanna break the bank, these are a good option, but if you have the money for them, get the real Rizomas as I feel they are a bit sturdier and likely aren't going to discolor or fade. The black on these is still like new, however.

The Breakdown (On a scale of 1-5):
Price: 5 (excellent price)
Build Quality: 3.5 (most is great but I would change a few things)
Appearance: 4.5 (This, of course, will vary depending on your tastes)
Longevity: 4.5 (Holding up well sans slight fading of red anodized parts)
Overall Value: 4 (decent value for sure)

Hope some of you find this useful.

- Justin