Mirrors don’t always mix well with riding hard trails on your Dual Sport. Not only do they get in the way, bumping your helmet or arms, but they also have a tendency to loosen up and start swinging around like a propeller. Plus after an outing or two those stock mirrors will likely break off the moment you clip a branch or tip over on a rock. Many riders choose to just remove them but there are plenty of benefits to riding with mirrors, even off-road, as long as they are durable and stay out of the way.

For 2024, DoubleTake mirrors have received a major revamp. This most recent redesign (Version 2.0) was spurred on by the constant desire to innovate and stay ahead of the copycats. Company founder and ex-Dakar Racer Ned Suesse, along with his team, decided it was time to take a look at the product with fresh eyes and come up with the next generation design that would retain all the useful features customers love while providing an even stronger and more stable solution.“We felt we could optimize the whole thing based on what we’ve learned over 14 years and that was our guiding principle: take something good, and make it better.”

What’s New

The core change in the new design is a move away from the standard 1-inch RAM Ball base system that screws into the standard handlebar mounts. The new mirrors use a larger 1.125-inch ball that is cranked down firmly in place with an 8mm allen head bolt, along with a lock washer to ensure it stays on tight in tough terrain. 

With the old RAM design, you had to tighten it down with pliers rather than a wrench, which could distort the rubber ball and they would occasionally loosen up. The new stud-mounted 1.125” balls use a new ‘no-crush’ technology that includes an aluminum core with a thin nitrile coating. This ensures the balls do not get distorted from the clamping pressure, allowing you to maintain smooth, precise adjustment over time. 

The larger base ball diameter has the benefit of improved surface area for grip, while the clamp that holds the ball now features a radial ridge surface, instead of smooth one, which helps it clamp onto the ball more securely with less force. The top ball mount, where the mirror attaches to the stalk, remains a 1-inch ball design. This was determined to have more than adequate clamping force for the top pivot point so it has remained unchanged. This also retains the system’s compatibility with other RAM-style accessories such as GPS, camera or smartphone holders.

Further improvements to clamping force have been achieved by the use of a longer hand crank tightener dial. The new design is now 25% longer, providing even more leverage when snuggling down the mirror. The stalk itself gets updated as well, now slightly longer for improved visibility around the shoulders. The new streamlined stalks also include a support backbone to enhance stiffness without adding bulk. 

Selecting the right mirror for your bike also got easier with new universal ‘all-in-one’ mounting hardware. Now you can just buy the standard mirror kit and everything you need is in there like different studs, risers, and washers to fit nearly any dual sport motorcycle out there. The final V2.0 product line revamp culminated in three new models: Adventure, Enduro and Dual Sport. Here’s how they differ:

Adventure: Longer for improved viewing sitting down with luggage on larger adventure bikes. Higher up in your view and more stable at speed. Good for bikes that are seeing a lot of street mileage.

Enduro: These have the shorter stalks with longer mirrors. Optimized for those who like to tuck the mirrors down in rough terrain but still gives excellent visibility with the extended length mirrors on the road.

Dual Sport: Smaller round mirror attachment on the smallest stalks. Easy to tuck away but they are also stable enough and out of the way so that you can just leave them up in rough terrain. 

Of course you can still mix and match parts depending on your style of motorcycle. For example, a classic-looking machine might look better with the round mirrors, while a bike with a modern aesthetic will be complemented by the more angular Adventure mirrors. And for those looking to upgrade from previous versions of DoubleTake mirrors to the new design, you can purchase just the base balls and stalks, while retaining the old top mirror attachments, to save a few bucks.

Getting Them Installed

While we’ve been testing all three of the new Version 2.0 DoubleTake mirror designs on our bikes, for this review we are focusing on the ‘Dual Sport’ model, which offers the unique promise of keeping your mirrors in the ‘up’ position while riding tough trails. This model uses the smallest stalks and the smaller round mirror attachments, keeping things light and out of the way, yet they retain the unbreakable design and are still large enough to provide adequate rearward vision for occasional street use. 

We installed a set of these on our 2024 Husqvarna FE350S, replacing the bulky, fragile OEM units. As mentioned, the kit came with a base ball, mounting hardware, the mirror tops and the clamping arms. On the order page you can select either the long or short arms. We chose the shorter 3.5” arms for a more compact system.

You get three mounting studs to choose from depending on your specific application. You’ve got a choice of either a reverse thread, a fine thread, standard thread, or an extra long standard thread stud. We just compared the thread to the OEM mirror we pulled out to determine which option would work best. You can also choose to run them with or without a spacer depending on if you’d like some additional height for better visibility. Going for as low a profile as possible, we chose to run them without the spacers. 

Using an 8mm allen key with a lock washer, you can really crank the ball down tight and it stays tight. Previously, we’d use either pliers or the clamping arm as a tool to lock down the ball and there was always a question of whether the ball might loosen up again over time. Using pliers also came with the risk of tearing the rubber ball if you cranked it down too hard. Now with the allen key design you can give it a good ‘heave ho’ and know that it’s on there.

The base ball is 1.125-inch diameter and the top ball is 1-inch, so a quick inspection will tell you which direction to mount the mirror, but you can also look for the ridged grooves that only appear on the base arm clamp. The new twist tightener is about 25% longer now so it’s easier to get good leverage when cranking it down. I noticed now you can just snug it up with a soft touch, where before you really had to crank them down to get the ball to lock in tight. 

Grip at the joints is said to improve stiffness by 42% and the new no-crush ball keeps its round shape without distorting after being cranked down, which in the previous design could eventually lead to loosening mirrors and difficulty with smooth adjustments. With the new ball, it’s much easier to fine tune your mirror position in small increments. Once you get them positioned where you want them, you can lock them down tighter too for aggressive trail rides. After all was said and done, removing the old and installing the new mirrors was roughly a 10-minute job.

How They Performed

On The Street: The most important reason to have mirrors is for safety on the street. Being able to keep an eye out for cars in adjacent lanes, while keeping your head pointed towards what’s in front of you is imperative, whether it’s 20 miles on the road or 20 blocks. So what’s the point of having mirrors if they vibrate too much to see anything or they don’t extend out far enough around your shoulders to get a good view.

Heading down the road with both the stock and DoubleTake mirrors mounted, I didn’t notice any excessive vibration in the DoubleTakes as the RPMs rose compared to stock. I could see an increase in vibration at certain RPMs, which was different for each mirror, but if anything, the DoubleTakes vibrate slightly less overall. 

As far as slippage, I wound out the 350 to get it up to near triple digits and the mirrors remained steadfast against the wind. And this was just tightening the hand crank snug, not with a gorilla grip. Just be aware that unlike your standard mirrors that can be adjusted easily on the fly, once these suckers are cranked down for trail duty, you’ll need to release some of the tension on the dial if you want to make fine-tuned adjustments. Also, the adjustment in fine increments is better than the old DoubleTakes but not as easy as the motion of a standard mirror. However, you do have the additional adjustment point at the base, to set the arm bend angle outward or inward, that you don’t have on a standard mirror. 

As far as your field of view for cars behind you, the short stalk option  isn’t any worse than the stock mirrors. With the small stalks and no riser, they aren’t going to give you the full visibility of a big street bike mirror. It’s more than adequate though for those who primarily use their dual sport on the street for quick trips. It’s a trade off of course, but well worth it if you’re using the bike primarily as an enduro. Those who spend significant time on the street and want better visibility can opt for the longer stalks and/or install them with the risers.

In The Dirt: I took the FE350S on several hard trail runs with the DoubleTake Dual Sport mirrors and purposely left them in the up position rather than fold them down. To give them a fighting chance I cranked up the tension to medium level, but didn’t over-crank them. After going full race speed through several long sets of whoops, as well as some rutted out single track, plus some decent air time on a few jumps, the mirrors did not move a millimeter.

I was also impressed that they stayed out of the way. I often feel my forearms touching the mirror arms when I’m riding aggressively with my weight far forward over the bars. It can be a distraction when you’re trying to focus on the trail. Not to mention mirrors can hit you in the goggles if you get a little off balance. I never had that happen with these mirrors. They are out the sides and just low enough to stay out of the way. Not having to fiddle with the mirrors every time you transition from street to dirt is a nice thing.

As far as rearward visibility, they are great for keeping an eye on companions when you’re leading the way. I loved the convenience of having both a left and right mirror as well, instead of trying to get by with just a right mirror. Folding down the mirrors over the bars is still an option too if you want them completely out of your field of vision, which I’d say would be the only reason to fold them down. But I found that it was easier and more convenient to just leave them up.

Impact Test: I hadn’t intended to crash test these mirrors, but I guess my bike had other ideas. While making a tight turn on a sandy surface, with hard pack underneath, I lost the front end going about 5 mph. It was a slow speed fall but it went down rather quickly. The hard impact gave me a nice raspberry on my elbow and my hip is still sore a week later. The Acerbis handguards did their job to protect the clutch lever and the DoubleTakes took the impact no problem, absorbing the hit and moving out of the way a few inches. While my body was worse for wear, the mirrors showed no witness marks. Knowing my body wasn’t going to out do the durability of these mirrors, a different kind of test was in order.

I hated doing this not knowing if I might actually break a perfectly good mirror but in the name of thorough journalism, it was necessary. After finding a nice sized tree branch that would simulate smacking a tree riding fast through woodsy terrain, I teed up to give these mirrors a few good whacks. Before letting loose the punishment for no crime at all, I ensured the arms weren’t cranked down gorilla tight, just medium level like I had them during testing. With the extra-strong grip of the new mirror arms, I was afraid they wouldn’t move out of the way on impact and possibly break.

Giving it a solid hit, the mirror just moved out of the way. I gave it a few more whacks for good measure, and after seeing no damage, really went to town on both of them. But the mirrors just took the abuse without any complaint or marks left. So it appears they are still just as tough as ever, perhaps even more. And if you ever do break one (actually riding), their lifetime warranty has you covered.

Who Are They For

Those Dual Sport riders who stay primarily off-road will appreciate their convenience for checking your rear view both on and off the trail. Anyone who does trail riding, yet still wants a usable mirror for stints on the street or highway. 

Our Verdict

The latest ‘Dual Sport’ mirror from DoubleTake improves on the original design and lets you trail ride with both mirrors in the ‘up’ position, giving you the benefit of effective rearward sight without being cumbersome. They offer a significant improvement over the stock mirrors on the Husqvarna FE350S or any Dual Sport for that matter. They are more durable, easier to use and now work even better as mirrors on the street or dirt, making them a valuable upgrade for any dual sport bike.

As far as pricing, the old DoubleTakes were about $100 for a set. Considering the significant improvements and just inflation in general, the $27 price increase seems fairly reasonable. They also come with a lifetime warranty in case you ever do break one.

What We Liked

• They don’t move once you lock them down.
• Stay out of the way when riding difficult trails.
• Just as bulletproof as ever.

What Could Be Improved

• Fine-tuned mirror adjustments aren’t as smooth.

Dual Sport Mirror Specs

• Construction: Super tough glass reinforced zytel material.
• Reflector Diameter: 4″ (100mm) 
• Overall Length: 6″ (150mm)
• Homologation: Convex lens meets SAE and CE specifications.
• Measured Weight: 10.9 oz each (with mounting hardware)

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Author: Rob Dabney

Rob Dabney started a lifelong obsession with motorcycles at the age of 15 when he purchased his first bike – a 1982 Honda MB5. Through his 20’s and 30’s he competed in off-road desert races, including the Baja 250, 500 and 1000. Eventually, his proclivity for exploration led him to dual sport and adventure riding. Rob’s never-ending quest to discover what’s around the next bend has taken him on Adventures in Latin America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and throughout the American West. As a moto journalist, he enjoys inspiring others to seek adventure across horizons both near and far.