Broken mirrors are a common occurrence if you ride your Adventure Bike off-road with the stock units. Replacement costs can get pretty expensive when a single OEM mirror can run as much as $75 or more. Solid mounted stock mirrors can also become a hazard to your face in the rough stuff if you ride with goggles or an open visor. At some point, you’ll want to switch to folding dual sport mirrors if you ride frequently off-road. Folding motorcycle mirrors are able to absorb impacts better and you can also collapse them down to get them out of the way.

Many of the folding motorcycle mirror designs on the market are problematic though. Their cheap materials make them only slightly less prone to breakage than stock mirrors. They often don’t fold completely out of the way and they can pop back up in rough terrain. Folding Dual Sport mirrors typically vibrate so much that you can’t see anything behind you and many off-road riders just use them to avoid scrutiny from the cops.

Double Take Mirrors Design
Dakar Rally finisher Ned Suesse was determined to avoid these problems with a unique design for his folding motorcycle mirrors. Ned had three main design goals in mind when he created Double Take Mirrors:

1.) Make them work as well as OEM mirrors for seeing things.
2.) Make them fold down completely out of the way.
3.) Make them tough enough to avoid damage in a fall.

Double Take folding dual sport mirrors utilize a high quality glass reflector that won’t easily scratch when covered with grit and mud. The mirrors are mounted with a standard RAM 1″ ball mount base and extension arm that allows the mirrors to swivel and adjust to nearly any position. The hinged design makes it easy to fold down the mirrors completely out of the way and they can be locked in place so they don’t pop back up. Double Take Mirrors are built with vibration damping materials that offer a clear view of what’s behind you. You can also quickly remove them without tools for serious off-road excursions.

Double Take folding motorcycle mirrors use standard RAM 1″ ball mounts as pivot points on the extension arm for maximum adjustability and impact resistance.

Installation
After hearing good things about the Double Take Mirrors, we decided to mount a set for a long-term test. We started by unscrewing the old mirrors and replacing them with a RAM 1″ ball base in the original threaded holes. A set of needle nose pliers were used to gently tighten the ball mount base without gouging the soft metal. Next we attached the extension arm and mirror to the ball mount base and used the twist lever to lock everything in place by hand. The installation was completed in less than 10 minutes.

Road Test
Our first time out, we noticed the Double Take Mirrors can be adjusted in more positions than OEM mirrors for optimal rear view angles. When the mirrors are adjusted out to the sides in a lower position, it made it easier to see around your body. When adjusted to a higher position, it was easier to check your rear view without lowering your gaze from the road.

The longer 3″ extension arms allow you to adjust the mirrors out to the sides giving you a better view of what’s behind you.

To see how well the mirrors handled vibration, we rode with one stock mirror and one Double Take Mirror mounted on our KTM 990 Adventure test bike. During testing, we noticed a bit more vibration in the lower RPMs with the Double Take Mirrors. However, the additional vibration in the Double Take Mirrors was minor and would probably have gone unnoticed if not for the side-by-side comparison. Rear view visibility seemed roughly equal at higher RPMs.

One small annoyance we experienced with the Double Take folding dual sport mirrors was that they sometimes lost their adjustment after riding at higher speeds. The mirrors stayed in place under 80 mph but when traveling any faster, the constant wind pressure would start to push them out of adjustment. Cranking down the twist lever made this occur less frequently.

Off-Road Test
We couldn’t experience the true value of the Double Take Mirrors until the asphalt ended and the dirt began. By simply loosening the twist lever, we were able to fold the mirrors down flat over the center of the handlebars completely out of the way. This improved our visibility on the trail and removed our worries about breaking mirrors on the trail. They stayed locked down even on big whoops and there were no more concerns about getting hit in the face by a mirror.

The breakaway design of the Double Take mirrors makes it possible to ride off-road safely without folding down the mirrors.

One of the things we like most about the Double Take mirrors is that you can keep them in the up position off-road if you choose. Riding with mirrors out off-road makes it easier to see if your buddy is still behind you or to check if your helmet cam is still recording. If you take a fall, hit a tree branch or catch a mirror in the face, the Double Takes’ breakaway design allows them to just move out of the way without causing any damage.

On several occasions we tested the impact resistance of the Double Take Mirrors and no breakage occurred. If you want to avoid contact with your helmet, the Double Take Mirrors can be adjusted out farther to the sides than OEM units.

Durable and Functional Dual Sport Mirrors
There is no such thing as an indestructible mirror, but the Double Take Mirrors do come with a lifetime guarantee against breakage for everything except the glass. If you do ever break the mirror glass, you can get a replacement for only $10.

The Double Take Mirrors had a few minor limitations on the street but they were comparable to the stock mirrors in rear view visibility. We felt the trade-offs on the street were well worth the benefits gained off-road. At around $45 per side (with mounting hardware) they are a good value compared to the stock mirrors and you can feel confident they will last.

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Photos Courtesy Bill Lieras

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.