Napoleon Mirrors (Bar end) installation help

[hgravelpha@aol.com]

How do you install these things. I could not get the rubber piece in. It should fit. Help.

[Steve G.]

I've got Napoleon Berens on 3 of my bikes. Often I have had to carefully trim the rubber down to fit inside the bar. If you go this route, be carefull you don't split the rubber. Perhaps a bit of drying lubricant might do the trick. I use alcohol [methel hydrate] which will quickly evaporate once the rubber is in the bar.

Ciao, Steve G.

[Mike Stewart]

I had the Napoleon bar end mirrors and could not get them in past the threads of the bars. Some other members were able to get them in (must be stronger than I). I ended up cutting the part that inserts into the bar flush with the mirror base and mounting the mirrors through the hollow clutch and brake lever pivot using a longer bolt. Have had it this way for over two years now and am pleased with it.

 

Mike

[jrt]

I used a dremel tool to (slowly and carefully) grind down the rubber insert until it would fit. Use the wood drum sander attachement and you can replace the drum after you're done.

Cheers,

Jason

[Lex]

Two comments:

 

First, I've gotten the rubber parts in a few times. I trick I used was a combination of lubricant (as suggested above) and twisting them in past the threads. Just try to make them into a big, rubber bolt. The twisting is not a matter of strength, just patience. A set of carefully used vice grips helps for the last bit, you can't get a grip on the small amount of rubber outside the bar.

 

That said, I'd recommend using the mounting Mike suggested, which I call the Al R. system since he is the first person I know of to post about it.

 

Whatever, you will be happy to get the stock mirrors off the bike. It doesn't sound logical but they really do make the bars vibrate more. One of the advantages of the Al R. mount is that you can keep the end weights or, even better, put on some larger ones to reduce the vibration even more.

 

I have the Napoleons and the "heavy" Throttlemister on my Convetibars and I can actually use the mirrors at almost any RPM/ throttle combination and my hands no longer tingle after a long ride.

 

Cheers,

 

Lex

[Guest IanJ]

I had a good experience installing Napoleons by taking the bolt and spacer of the stock barend weights, and putting them onto the Napoleon. However, I don't have stock bars, so this solution might not work for anyone who doesn't have Two Brothers Racing bars...