The fix for loose mirror stems

After a few months I noticed that my mirrors would 'come in' and I would have to keep readjusting them. I tried to tighten them but got nowhere with tightening the allen screw on the bottom. You see, the mirror stem has a step that seats against a ledge in the mounting bracket with a plastic washer and allen screw on the bottom to hold it snug. The factory in its infinite wisdom has made the bottom of the mirror stem protrude past the mounting bracket hole the exact depth (thickness) of the plastic washer. So no matter how tight you screw the allen bolt into the mirror stem, it will never tighten against the mounting bracket to hold it securely in place if the plastic washer has been 'squished' from overtightening.

But a simple solution is at hand. Discard the plastic washer under the allen bolt and replace with a similar diameter steel washer with a larger thickness than the plastic one. Make sure the inside hole fits OVER the mirror stem to tighten directly against the mounting bracket.

Just for looks, I painted the visible side and the edge of the washer a gloss black to match the color of the mounting bracket.

My left side mirror is fcuked after being replaced after a drop and they crossed threaded it and I cant get the fcuking thing off :?

If the allen bolt is cross-threaded into the mirror stem and the allen hole has been reamed out from over-exertion, the only suggestion I have for you is to try a pair of Vise-Grips. But place a piece of paper with a hole for the bolt head to keep from scratching the surrounding area.

Try Loctite blue, I use it on every bolt that is removed and retorqued.

I always loctite the bolts , especially the bolts that kept coming loose on the exhaust trims .

Accurate assessment Sebring.
Let's not forget the convoluted stainless steel sleeve, which was pounded flatter on my bike.


222 for stuff that just needs a little help.

Also a big fan of purple loctite. Even blue can be a stone cold biznatch to break free - especially with fiddly little screw heads or allen bolts. I joke that every bolt I touch either gets purple loctite or anti-seize, depending on where it goes.

Also, mixing red and blue loctite does not give you purple loctite...