WGREGT

I've looked online at all of the big bolt sites, and even contacted many of them to get quotes on getting one made, but their minimum quantity was either 250 or 500 and they were more than $5 each, if I'm remembering right.

What about the drilling of the bolt from the side (to meet the drilled hole down the shaft)? That weaken it at all? I can't drill the bolt all the way thru...that would put the wires exiting the bolt at the bottom when I need the wires to come out near the middle. Hmmmmm.....unless for some reason the bolt was short enough that when everything got tight we still had some room for the wires to pass thru to the exit hole as they came out of the bolt. Hmmm...

a) Sounds like your idea would be to basically get the wire to exit the mirror at another location, maybe on the bottom of the stalk (you're seeing the underside of the suzuki mirror in those top 2 fotos), basically underneath where it is now? Sure. Probably do-able, but you'd have to get the wire to come OUT of that hole somehow, which would mean separating the mirror glass/head from the shaft somehow (on other models this is done by breaking the glass to get to the bolt that holds them together...not sure how to do this on the gsxr mirror. It MIGHT be done by removing the signal part and gaining access that way maybe?) and then pushing the wire thru that new, somewhat hidden smaller hole maybe? And yes you could then drill a hole OUTSIDE of the footprint of the mirror base on the fairing (which you'd see) to pass the wire to the electrics under the fairing. But you'd see it. b) The soft rubber washer (like a hose connection washer maybe that fits inside a water hose attachment point) might do the trick if it has enough friction to keep it from rotating. I'm all about not having to do extra steps like grinding the nubs off the bottom of the OEM mirror if we don't have to.

update: I met with the machine shop guy last friday in person, and had ABS samples in hand. He didn't quote a price yet b/c he suggested a few small things that might lessen the price (like extending the base a few mm in order to give the machine more room to grab the piece etc.) which I am having done the end of this week. But, now that I got ABS samples, I have some issues. If you got ideas for fixes, I'd love to hear 'em, cause right now I don't like the solutions. I've always hated/despised the idea of drilling the bolts. Makes them weaker and seems like a giant PITA. But that's the only way I see possible to solve the problem of getting the wire from one side of the suzuki mirror, across the bolt, and exiting the base to go into the fairing. The wire right now needs to make it's way down the inside of the bolt about halfway, and exit out the SIDE of the bolt somewhere around the halfway point, at which point it then exits the base and goes into the fairing between the mounting bolts. And hopefully the hole drilled into the side of the bolt would line up with the hole in the base once everything was tightened down. I thought maybe I could just keyhole a small semicircle on the side of the existing suzuki mirror mount hole, and run the wire ALONGSIDE the exterior of the bolt (and just make the bolt hole a little bigger to allow room for the wire to do this), then exit out the bottom of the mount like normal. Not have to drill the bolt at all. But...cutting that small notch would get rid of at least one of the OEM small bumps on the bottom of the suzuki mirror that would "lock" to the corresponding bumps on the mount we're making, which would make the whole "interlocking" bumps thing.....pretty useless. There are only 3 of these interlocking small bumps on the top of the mount and the bottom of the mirror to begin with, and taking one away gets rid of the benefits of doing the interlocking thing to begin with. Plus, there's really no room to cut the notch anyhow (see fotos below.) So, as much as I hate it, drilling the hardened bolt seems like the only way. I can't see any way to get the wire to exit out of the bottom of the mount and still hide it, install the bolt cover cap, etc. So...ideas? PS The machine shop DID say the interlocking bumps thing on the mount would be problematic, and the corners probably would not be 100% sharp (as the router bit turns a round circle when cutting). Should we get rid of the bumps and maybe grind off the ones on the suzuki mirror to have two flat surfaces instead? Wouldn't fix the issue of the wire and drilling the bolt, but might make 'em cheaper? Might add vibes to the mirror and make them harder to keep in one spot and not rotate when riding though? Thoughts?

Well, hell. You guys got me thinking I need to move on this, so I texted the guy that made the ABS models for me. He says "I actually talked to a vendor I use here at work on the phone already on your behalf who has a casting foundry about these. He also has a machine shop in back. I'll go over tomorrow and take him your part. He's already said he thinks he can handle it in the machine shop, but I want to take him the part tomorrow and be sure." So, it looks like wheels are already turning and I didn't even know about it. How's that for some good news? Of course I'll fill you in once I chat with the guy personally.

Sorry guys, but no updates. I have been working 7 days a week, 12+ hours a day since early March, so I haven't been able to go get the ABS prototypes or shop them around like I wanted to. I hope things will get back to normal after the Memorial Day holiday for me.

Just to keep you guys in the loop: I am talking to a local moto-part designer the week of the 15th sometime about these. He has thoughts of making them with a foundry? Not sure about details. I'l let you know more after we meet. He also knows a local shop who might be able to offer better pricing. Last week I talked to the machine shop @ UCLA about doing them actually (they have a low hourly rate) but they are closing for the summer to bring in $2 mil of new machinery. Shop foreman did say that they'd be glad to help us after they get everything up & running though, but I'd like to pursue these other 2 leads/ideas just in case. More when I know it.

Wera...PM coming your way....

My thoughts: As much as I'd like to put this to bed and send in an order, I'm guessing it's gonna be way more than $181/set for just the few of us this looks like it will be. Another thing: If we go this route, with my current shop who designed the piece, even if they make these, I'm now finding out that I do not own the design. To me, this is...quite wrong. Seems the "design" is not for sale, apparently at any price. To me, this is a deal-breaker. In my mind, if you design a part (and make it) then I pay you, then...we're done and I walk away with the file. If I decide to make a million more somewhere else in the future, that's up to me. Plus, to top it off, I know what these went for Round 1 with Darth. Yes, he may have gotten a few more (quantity 50) made, but I still think the quotes I'm getting are astronomical compared to what he paid, not that many years ago. I'm inclined to find another designer, give him my/our collective thoughts, and walk away with the file to get bids. Anyway, my .02. What are you guys thinking? PS IF you have a one of these from the Round 1 that you'd be willing to lend me for a bit to have a designer get me a workable file, I'd be delighted to give you some $ to hold until they are returned. Of course I'd have it all set up on my end before you put them in the mail to minimize that time you'd be without them. highsideNZ says: "Ok Count me in and I have a shipping address in Portland OR so costs should be domestic. So we are saying that around $200 USD is the all up, plus freight. And these are anodized black? Cheers Phil" Yes they are anodized black. And yes, $200 is the all in amount I'm shooting for, only adding in freight. But that was when we had 8 folks. Still waiting to see who's in. The way it's looking now though, is less than that. Which means more cost for the rest of us. I'm inclined to rethink this...UGH. IN: wgregt marooncobra ultimateVFR Switchblade Polarbear highsideNZ Waiting to hear from: Lacy/VFR800R

IN: wgregt marooncobra ultimateVFR Switchblade Waiting to hear from: Lacy/VFR800R Polarbear highsideNZ (oops! Fixed it.)

Still In? wgregt marooncobra ultimateVFR Lacy/VFR800R VFRpwr Polarbear Switchblade highsideNZ

Decision time: I just got the pricing for 16 pieces. It's $1450 USD. That's $181.25 per person for the 8 of us. This includes CA taxes, I presume, since I asked for them to be included in the price. Again, keep in mind we'd add the drilled bolts (around $20 USD?) and the shipping to wherever you are. I'm thinking/guessing the shipping to US destinations wouldn't be much at all. Small pieces, small weight, small price. Of course if anyone drops out, the price goes up for the rest of us, and there is the possibility we'd get the "not interested" back from the folks making them as it gets to a point for them that it's not worth it for a small quantity. It's not worth trying up the machine time and the operator time when they can put that time to better use for bigger orders. I'd have a piece for approval after 7 days, and delivery of all 16 pieces in (yikes!) 90 days. I'd post fotos/thoughts on the prototype when I got it for those buyers to weigh in. Again, this is the very last time I'm in charge of this project. SO...who is still in?

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/83179-mirror-base-buy-for-gsxr-signal-mirrors-for-6th-gens/

I might suggest you start a new thread to get people on board. This one has 62 pages, and though I've looked at it several times, I'm not sure where the description of what you're selling actually is... ie; what is the cost, how many do you need, ect. I'm sure all the info is in this thread, but I'm not willing to re-read 62 pages to find it... or is it in the classifieds already and I'm just not paying attention?? Done. New topic posted.

WAITING TO HEAR FROM: Badelman OUT: Mk3dub DeltaboxiI Deltaboxil 2nd set digitallyhip IN: wgregt marooncobra ultimateVFR Lacy/VFR800R VFRpwr Polarbear Switchblade highsideNZ

Oh! Just remembered Deltaboxi emailed me a few days ago and said his top limit was $100, so he's out. Which means...our price *gulp* MIGHT go up? Ugh. WAITING TO HEAR FROM: digitallyhip Badelman OUT: Mk3dub DeltaboxiI Deltaboxil 2nd set IN: wgregt marooncobra ultimateVFR Lacy/VFR800R VFRpwr Polarbear Switchblade highsideNZ

WAITING TO HEAR FROM: DeltaboxiI Deltaboxil 2nd set highsideNZ digitallyhip Badelman OUT: Mk3dub IN: wgregt marooncobra ultimateVFR Lacy/VFR800R VFRpwr Polarbear Switchblade If there's enough interest, sure. I'm guessing we'd need about the same number of buyers (12) in order to keep the cost similar to the 6th gen ones maybe (just a guess)? So...do you and Rush2112 have 10 friends?

I fully understand. Thanks for all of your help. I wish there had been a way to do either of them much cheaper but it doesn't look like it. I'll be in touch for the mirrors, etc .

OK. That's two of us. Hopefully the rest will chime in here in a day or two and we'll see where we are at.

I have. That's where I was getting them from. Depends on the final length we need, but they had all the sizes I needed. You do? Care to fill us in how you did the mod? I'll add you in. 13 it is! 1) wgregt 2) Switchblade 3) DeltaboxiI 4) Deltaboxil 2nd set 5) Marooncobra 6) Polarbear 7) highsideNZ 8) Mk3dub 9) digitallyhip 10) Lacy/VFR800R 11 )Badelman 12) VFRpwr 13) UltimateVFR

Latest/last update on this. OK folks. Decision time. I got a new CAD file from a LM here. Shopped it around. Came up more expensive than the original file. I sent it to 2 other LM's who requested it to try their local machine shops. 1 came back with yet another higher quote than my original, and one came back with a "not interested at such low quantities" response. My suggestion is to go with my first, original design quote with a few caveats for you who are interested still. If we JUST got the mounts alone, anodized, and I pick them up, with lovely CA state tax they came to $126.44 for a set of two. Let's call it $130 USD even to make it easy. At that time, I would still need to buy the two bolts (one per mount) and pay to have them drilled. I rolled that cost, plus the US shipping, into my original quote of $160-ish. So, I propose that we get these made, and then reassess/add in the bolts and drilling. I'm guessing that all of you would NOT want to source the bolts and drill them yourself, am I right? If I was buying these I'd prefer a full set in the mail. The bolt quantity was too small to order a full box (only 24 needed). After we got these made I'd still need to get funds from each of you for the bolts and drilling at a machine shop, and the shipping. The shipping I can then do on a case-by-case basis maybe since some of you are outside the US? Right now, at our latest count, we had 12 people interested. I'm betting in order for those numbers to stay the same we'd need to keep those 12, and maybe even add a few more? Keep in mind, we MAY potentially get right back up to the $150/$160 USD area once all is said and done with these once I add in the bolts/drilling/shipping, so keep that in mind. I *think* the price I originally got for the drilling was something like $6/$7 USD each bolt, and the bolts cost $5 a pair or so. Either way, this will be the last time that I'll run this around the park. I've spent a good deal of time on it and the numbers seem to stay in the same ballpark, or worse. Let me know what you think. As of the last count we had, our 12 buyers were:

Will do.

At our last count, with our small numbers of folks who want them, we were @ $160 USD just for the mounts, not including shipping and the drilled bolts, I believe. Jump in and correct me if I am wrong, but $175-ish/set out the door USD for the mounts is still too steep in my mind. Am I wrong here?

Let us get CAD-worthy drawings completed and we'll get back to you, how's that?

No hurry. I prefer they be right vs. fast anyhow.