Slik Designs Extendze Mirrors

Slik Designs Extendze Mirrors

The ins and outs of knowing what's behind

CW EVALUATION

IF YOU RIDE A SPORTBIKE, YOU PROBably know more about your armpits and elbows than you care to admit. That's because the mirrors on most sport machines are tucked in so closely that unless you twist your upper body out of the way like a contortionist, all you see in the mirrors are the outer regions of your torso.

This is precisely what motivated John Vanderslik to come up with his patented Slik Designs Extendze mirrors. Much like the truck mirrors that can be extended when towing a trailer, Slik mirrors slide in and out on long stalks over a SVá-inch range of adjustment. When fully retracted, the mirrors are in about the same location as most Stockers, the center of their viewing area 614 inches from the fairing; full extension changes that dimension to 10 inches.

Adjustment couldn't be easier. Loosen the cone-shaped locking ring on the zinc-coated steel stalk, slide the mirror in or out to the desired location and tighten the ring. Two friction-loaded ball sockets—one on the aluminum base and the other on the plastic mirror housing—let you adjust both the angle of the stalk and the orientation of the mirror.

At full extension, the convex mirrors provide a grand, slightly wide-angle view of the goings-on behind you, with nary a shoulder or elbow joint in the picture. Tucking them in for a tidier appearance or close-quarters maneuvering takes just seconds.

Functionally, the mirrors work very well, but they present a few issues for potential buyers. For one, Vanderslik has only a very limited fitment chart based on his personal experience, mostly with numerous older bikes—such as the '97 Honda CBR900RR we used for this

DETAILS

Slik Designs USA

4856 Hirsch Rd.

Mariposa, CA 95338

209/966-2200

www.slikdesignsusa.com

Price...$149 + $10 shipping

Ups

A Provide unobstructed view to the rear

A Easy to install

A Mirrors shaped almost like most

stockers

^)owns

▼ Very little fitment information

▼ Base may not look so good on

your bike's mount

▼ You pay return shipping $$$

if they don't fit evaluation. And if you buy the Extendze and find that they won't fit, you can return them for a refund of the full purchase price except for the return shipping charges. Slik's website does, however, provide the dimensions of the mounting base, which you can compare to the mount on your bike. But depending upon the motorcycle on which they are mounted, the base mount of these "universal fit" mirrors may not provide the same nicely finished look as the Stockers.

Are these acceptable compromises? That depends entirely on you—and how eager you are to always know what might be creeping up behind you. □