CW Evaluation: Doubletake Mirror

Stock mirrors on dual-sport and adventure bikes are typically exceedingly frail when taken into the wild. Tree whippings and tip-overs can destroy them in short order. Worse, if the mirror screws into the clutch or front-brake perch, a crash can break said perch, leaving your lever dangling and useless. And dangling and useless is no way to ride.

Doubletake Mirrors solve these issues. The setup includes a convex SAE reflector in a reinforced Zytel (a DuPont nylon resin) body with ball end ($25), a RAM mount clamp (in 2- or 3-inch lengths, $11 or $12.50), and a rubberized RAM ball mount with threaded stud ($10), all individually purchased. Screw the ball mount into the stock location (there is a $5 reverse-thread adaptor if necessary), or buy a separate split bar clamp ($5).

The rubber damps vibration, and a wide adjustment range makes it easy to fold mirrors down and out of the way in tough conditions so they don't punch you in the face over rough terrain. Or leave the mirror(s) up and if you crash or hit branches, the mirror(s) will yield, not break. If you happen to crack the reflector, replacements are $10.

The one downside? There are no wrench-friendly flats on the threaded adaptors, meaning I used pliers to tighten them and they look like they were chewed by a dog.

Other than that, these are the best, most versatile, and useful mirrors for adventure and dual-sport riding.