First time biker from Finland

Thanks to very informative videos from TwoWheelObsession on YouTube, I decided to get a pair of Rizoma Reverse Retro bar end mirrors, Rizoma bar end caps MA533B and adapters for the Yamaha handlebar. I ordered them from Motostorm in Italy and the order went very smoothly. Sadly, the Rizoma parts weren’t up to my expectations or their price.

I believe Rizoma has updated both the mirror bushings and the Yamaha adapters after TWO made his video, and the installation of the end caps and mirrors was very straightforward and easy. I just unscrewed the original bar end weights, screwed in the Rizoma adapters for the Yamaha bar and then screwed the end caps to the adapters with included bolts. Next I slid the mirrors on the end caps using the thin white bushings that came with the mirrors and tightened down the mirrors to the end caps. I just had to make sure the left mirror doesn’t block the clutch lever. Rizoma also included small plastic plugs to cover the original mirror mounting holes. They are adequate for now, but I’ll have to try and find better fitting plugs somewhere.

The mirrors seem to be of hight quality, look great and work just fine. Somehow the lower profile gave the bike a more muscular look.

There’s just one problem with the Rizoma parts. The bar end caps use plastic crash pads that are supposed to be snapped in for a smooth look. Problem is, one of the bar ends is bigger than the other one. You can’t tell that just by looking at them, but the plastic pad doesn’t stay in place on one end of the bar. On the other end of the bar the fitting seems to be so tight that I still haven’t had the guts to actually press the pad in.

I contacted Motostorm about this and they asked me to send them more material to describe the problem, so they’ll be in touch with Rizoma.

I know this isn’t a big issue, but the Rizoma parts were a total of around 240 Euros so I’d like them to be just perfect, so I wouldn’t have to start glueing stuff together. I could’ve ordered similar stuff on Ebay for a lot less.

Ouch, I went for , were only £15, and with your little finger you can click it in or out when filtering through traffic and returns to your set position. Took 2 minutes to install.

Installing the Evotech Tail Tidy was also an interesting experience, since the bike was already equipped with an Akrapovic high mount exhaust. As forum user kenme has shown (http://www.xsr700forums.com/forum/6...rapovic-evotech-tail-tidy-picture-thread.html), the two Akrapovic steel spacers under the fender do not work with the Tail Tidy without modifications. I didn't want to hack the original spacers, just in case I'd some day sell either the Tail Tidy or the exhaust system, so I had new spacers made out of stainless steel. With new, shorter spacers the Evotech fit just perfectly and made a nice difference in the bike's looks.

Since the Evotech piece is clearly made for a UK registration plate (it even comes with yellow plastic bolts), a Finnish plate needed a little work to fit. I drilled two holes in the Evotech aluminium piece, and the plate went in place nicely. I wanted to install it close to the plate lighting to make the rear look all nice and tidy, and I used the original Yamaha plastic backing plate behind the registration plate for a detailed, professional look. I also wrapped the pointy end of the Tail Tidy with bitumen tape so the plate wouldn't rattle against the metal.

Next time I'll upload some pictures!