Floppy Mirrors...

mcdracula · Post by **mcdracula** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:09 am

I'm a fairly new scooterist, and must say that I'm delighted to find a forum like this! I guess my first post has to do with the stock mirrors that came on my Buddy. That mirror itself has become loose, and me in my infinite lack of mechanical ability can't seem to tighten it. Any help would be much appreciated.

Also, are any of you guys in/near Amarillo, TX? I think I'm the only one in Texas without a 1/2 ton pickup and drives a scooter!

Post by **jmazza** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:56 am

You'll really need a little wrench (can't remember the size) to tighten them down good. One is reverse threaded (spins the other way) and if I remember, it takes a combination of wrenching and moving the stem by hand to get them in place nice and tight.

It's hard to explain but I think will make sense when you try it.

If you only try to hand tighten them, the wind will always win.

Good luck and welcome to ModernBuddy!

Post by **ericalm** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:49 am

Here are my tips from an old thread:

ericalm wrote:
rablack wrote:Be aware that one of the mirrors is reverse threaded (at least on the '06's)
Right mirror is reverse threaded on all Buddys.

There's actually a little trick to this, but it's a little difficult for me to explain. What I do is position the mirror so that it's angled more towards the back than I would want it to be. Then I tighten the nut with an adjustable wrench (which is why my scoots have little scratches in the paint next to the mirrors). Then, holding the nut in place with the wrench, I push the mirror towards the front of the scoot, further tightening the nut as needed to hold it in place.

Scooter mirrors do come loose, though, and everyone eventually has the experience of having one go totally free while riding. Wheee!

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:57 pm

I never have problems with my mirror anymore, when I first got my bike, I had to keep adjusting it all the time, but the trick I found was to roll the little nut up all the way and with the tread on the mirror itself, just tighten that as far as it normally would go, back it off a half a turn, then tighten the nut down a tiny bit and force the mirror back into a tight position.

Otherwise, if that doesnt work, go to a hardware store and get some lock-tite, the blue kind, it's a glue like substance for nuts and bolts, it's easy to take off, but keeps the mirrors in without wiggling or coming loose.

mcdracula · Post by **mcdracula** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:59 pm

Thanks for the advice you guys. I ended up actually taking the entire thing apart, including taking out the mirror and the rubber seal holding it in place. I successfully tightened everything up, but i really tore up the rubber in the process. I put the mirror back in place and wedged part of the rubber under the chrome lip to hold it in place, which is working, but upon close inspection, looks a little "ghetto". From what it sounds like, I would have had more success using the two methods listed, but I just started working on it like a dolt!

Where do you guys purchase aftermarket scooter parts online?

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:07 pm

For authentic parts and not chinese crap that doesnt fit, you can look at scooterworks.com, they are basically the parent company of Genuine scooters, so in the end, same company, same people. Through your dealer, you should be able to order a new pair of mirrors, but they cost like 40-50 dollars If I remember. You can look on ebay, there are these nice black mirrors that do fit the buddy, a few people have bought them, search "Black 8mm mirrors"

You gotta make sure they are reverse threaded or else they wont go on, these are, so they will work.

Otherwise, there are some sportier mirrors people in the ruckus community like to use. Ebay "zoomer mirrors"

broke · Post by **broke** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:33 pm

Frosty, those mirrors are intense! If I had those on my scooter I would definitely hang dice from them!

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 5:02 pm

Arunto had these on his 07 buddy before he sold them, he actually only had 1 on the right for the mod look, a lot of people like these mirrors, they cost 30-40 dollars a pair on ebay.

mcdracula · Post by **mcdracula** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 3:09 am

Those mirrors are so slick. I for-see a pair in my near future.

Frosty, on your friend's Buddy, do you happen to remember any type of visibility issues? They same a little short, but it may just be me. Aesthetically they're are great.

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 3:25 am

I really dont know him, just asked him what parts he uses.

As for visibly, though they dont stick up as high, they stick out more, and are much wider. They are very skinny though.

I think if my mirrors ever rusted and needed replacing, or fell off by accident and broke, I'd get these since they look nicer and are cheaper than OEM mirrors.

According to some research I did, these are either taiwanese or chinese knock offs of name brand mirrors, tanex or something. I forget the official brand's name. But they are made of the same material and look 100% the same, might as well buy a pair for 30-40 dollars.

Heres some of arunto's old pics of his 07 buddy before he sold it. I am posting the links, not the actual image since the pictures are huge. Those who want to see, click!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v381/ ... C_2351.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v381/ ... C_2350.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v381/ ... C_2345.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v381/ ... C_1820.jpg

Actually he had them on the left only. My mistake, earlier I said right.

fretman · Post by **fretman** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 4:09 am

jfrost2 wrote: Actually he had them on the left only. My mistake, earlier I said right.

Those zoomer mirrors are very slick looking - I may have to investigate.
Might he have it only on the left due to the right one being reverse threaded?

fretman · Post by **fretman** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 12:54 am

fretman wrote: ... zoomer mirrors...might he have it only on the left due to the right one being reverse threaded?

Following up on my own question, I just checked w/ the ebay seller - he has reverse thread adapters, so that's not an issue. He has 8mm and 10mm adapters - anyone know what size the Buddys are?

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:20 am

8mm. Ask for standard left adapter, and reversed right.

fretman · Post by **fretman** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 4:58 am

jfrost2 wrote:8mm. Ask for standard left adapter, and reversed right.

Thanks, ordering now, in chrome. I'll post a pic when they're installed.

bounce · Post by **bounce** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:32 am

those are gonna look clean! do post... i'd love to see how they look on a buddy.

i bought my buddy a little over a week ago now, and my mirrors got floppy yesterday. i figured out how to tighten them, but they don't seem to want to stay. if it remains an issue, i'll definitely try the lock-tite.

playing around with them though made me realize you could change the angles of the mirrors, and they're on some sort of ball-bearing. so far... they're kind of useless because they're not as flexible as some other scoots.

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:47 pm

For bright colored bikes I think black or carbon fiber would look nice, but stainless steel look, or chrome would look better for dark bikes. Also make sure you get non tinted glass in the mirrors, if you get tinted, everything will be blue when you look in the mirror.

fretman · Post by **fretman** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 6:24 am

It'll be two weeks before I get the zoomer mirrors, as they ship from Hong Kong... Meanwhile - a 2nd Buddy mirror busted on me today! My dealer actually welded it for me, just to make it usable til the new ones come. To be clear, I'm talking about the circular joint behind the mirror itself,not the arm part. There is definitely a QC issue on these, that, or I just have really bad luck...

fretman · Post by **fretman** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 6:33 am

jfrost2 wrote:...Also make sure you get non tinted glass in the mirrors, if you get tinted, everything will be blue when you look in the mirror.

I didn't know I could specify - the ones in the pic looked kinda blue. That seemed sort of appealing, but I did (do) wonder if it's a problem.

EDIT:UPDATE - I contacted the seller (epoch_shop), said he didn't sell non-tinted ones. So, we'll see how they do.

fretman · Post by **fretman** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 8:39 pm

As promised, here's pics of the Zoomer mirors, installed on my Buddy today! The reverse thread was a non-issue, as they were installed on the windshield rack, not in the original Buddy sockets...

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:33 pm

Looks really good!

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:34 pm

jfrost2 wrote:For bright colored bikes I think black or carbon fiber would look nice, but stainless steel look, or chrome would look better for dark bikes. Also make sure you get non tinted glass in the mirrors, if you get tinted, everything will be blue when you look in the mirror.

Thanks for the mirror post and tips! I ordered the chrome version a couple of days ago (to go with the black Buddy) and just did a shipping track and saw they left Hong Kong today.

The only problem ... when I emailed the seller, he said he only has the blue mirror tint available. I suppose I'll get used to that.

Rob

fretman · Post by **fretman** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 5:52 am

Rob wrote:...I ordered the chrome version a couple of days ago (to go with the black Buddy) and just did a shipping track and saw they left Hong Kong today The only problem ... when I emailed the seller, he said he only has the blue mirror tint available. I suppose I'll get used to that.
Rob

Same here - epoch shop said that's all he sells. The blue tint hasn't been a problem - it took some time to get used to how narrow they are, and it took me a while to get them positioned just right. After that though, they're fine, and they do give a nice wide horizontal picture.

broke · Post by **broke** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 6:29 am

dude... fuzzy dice! where's the dice?

fretman · Post by **fretman** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:45 am

broke wrote:dude... fuzzy dice! where's the dice?

Gotta get 'em. And a pine tree shaped air freshener.

mshaw09 · Post by **mshaw09** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:47 am

I went 65 mph today for the first time and I got soooo excited! Until I noticed that my mirrors damn near fell off. They both became extremely loose. I will definitely be replacing them.

louie · Post by **louie** » Sun Feb 15, 2009 2:52 am

mshaw09 wrote:I went 65 mph today for the first time and I got soooo excited! Until I noticed that my mirrors damn near fell off. They both became extremely loose. I will definitely be replacing them.

try tightening them first. i put on a pair of the newer longer stemmed mirrors mine didn't come with. that morning i had to tighten them after 5 miles of 65 mph.. but that was it the rest of the trip and since no prob.

Post by **polianarchy** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 8:03 pm

Wow, that looks TIGHT, especially with the windshield. I might just have to gank this mod!

Modern Buddy

Floppy Mirrors...

Floppy Mirrors...

Floppy Mirrors

Re: Floppy Mirrors