Motorcycle Mirrors & Mirror Extensions

Bar-ends, a different mirror or an extension

Most people on this page are choosing between three things. Bar End Mirrors replace the standard mirror stalks and sit at the end of the bar instead of on a boss. A different mirror keeps the standard mount and changes the mirror itself: SW-Motech's Mirror Set Sport is an aluminium mirror on a longer arm, stepless in rotation and tilt, and extends up to 30mm in length. A Mirror Extension does neither: it moves the mirror already on the bike further out, without changing what the mirror is. SW-Motech's extensions are mostly a rigid aluminium or moulded polyamide arm reaching up to 40mm. One steel version, for BMW fitments, reaches further, to 66mm.

Motogadget's mo.view mirrors come in six lines: classic, club, sport, spy, blade and race. Many are listed in a flip version, and the bar-end ones say so in the title.

Extensions earn their place for a specific reason. Some riders with broad shoulders have reported a standard mirror sitting too close to see round. Hand guards sit exactly where a bar-end mirror wants to go, so an extension keeps the original mirror and just moves it clear. A mirror sitting close to the bike's own bodywork often shows more pannier or side case than road behind it, and moving it out fixes that too. Which one is right depends on what is already on the bar.

Fitment: thread, bar diameter and which side

The filter on this page sorts by make. Start there before scrolling the whole page by eye. Once a bike is picked, two things still need checking that the filter alone will not catch. Mirror threads come in two common sizes, 8mm and 10mm. On plenty of bikes the left and right threads run opposite ways, one tightening clockwise and one anticlockwise. A mirror that will not turn in is very often on the wrong side, not faulty. Riders on the same make have disagreed with each other about which side takes which thread, and SW-Motech's own range includes a version with the same right-hand thread on both sides for the bikes that need it. Check the listing and the bike.

Motogadget's mo.view titles name the mount where it matters: a 22mm or 1 inch pivot, or a clamp. Check the handlebar and the mount before ordering.

SW-Motech's own bar-end mirror pages list what is in the box: the mounting hardware for that specific bike, cover caps for the holes left by the original mirror mounts, and, where the bike needs it, the fitting for the brake fluid reservoir that sits where the mirror boss used to be. Some SW-Motech products here are tagged for Harley-Davidson, including two Sport mirror set products for the Road Glide (24-).

What goes wrong

Reports on bar-end mirrors are mixed, and the pattern is worth knowing before ordering. Some riders say their stalk mirrors blurred at higher revs and a bar-end mirror on the same bike stayed clear. Others report a bar-end mirror vibrating, or giving a narrower view than the mirror it replaced. It tracks the quality of the specific part more than the format itself. One buyer's cosmetic-finish complaint on a bar-end set was reported in late 2025, and the warranty claim on the paint finish was turned down. Worth knowing it happens, not evidence it is common.

Bar-end mirrors also widen the bike by however far they sit past the bar. That matters when filtering, and several UK riders weigh it against the view they gain. Most handlebar muffs are cut to fit over a plain bar end, not a bar-end mirror. Winter riders who want both usually end up choosing one or adapting the muff. Hand guards sit in the same place at the end of the bar. That is the main reason the extension line exists.

What else you need

A separate SW-Motech mounting kit is on the page too. It covers bikes where the mirror and the mount are sold apart. Cover caps for the original mirror-mount holes come in the box with SW-Motech's own bar-end kits, so nothing extra needs ordering for that part of the job. Motogadget sells a mo.view screw kit on its own. None of SW-Motech's own pages say how long fitting takes, or what tools it needs beyond what is in the box. Ask the parts team if in doubt before ordering.

A handlebar riser changes where the bar sits, so if one has gone on since the mirrors did, it is worth checking the mount position again.

The law

The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, regulation 33, lists what every vehicle type must carry for mirrors. For a two-wheeled motorcycle, the requirement column reads: "No requirement." Read plainly, that means the regulation does not require a motorcycle to be fitted with a mirror at all. Where the bike was first used on or after 1 October 1978 and a mirror is fitted, the regulation then requires that mirror to meet a set construction standard. The DVSA's MOT inspection manual for motorcycles has no section on mirrors. Its sections cover identification, brakes, steering, lamps and electrics, wheels, tyres and suspension, structure, the audible warning and exhaust noise. Mirrors are not among them.

Manufacturer's notice

SW-Motech's own product pages describe the mirror surface on SW-Motech mirrors as carrying an ECE R81 test mark, to be installed in line with Directive 97/24/EC Chapter 4. That is SW-Motech's statement about its own parts, not a statement about UK law or about the other brands on this page, and nobody here has checked whether the two lists of directives match.