report: koubalink mirror extensions work well

[James W. Flower]

I bought some Plast-Aid and tried it out over the weekend. The prong that's molded into the inside of the right side cover (it pokes into a grommet on the sub-frame to help hold the side panel on) was broken, hanging loose. I followed the mixing instructions and built up a "foot" of Plast-Aid around the outside base of the prong, and on the inside too (it's hollow, U-shaped). I let it sit overnight. I haven't used all my strength on it, but I've yanked on it pretty hard and it seems to be on there as good as new. Looks ugly, but it's inside the side panel, which is also why I didn't try mixing any color in. The stuff is very forgiving in terms of ratio of liquid to powder, and goes through several useable stages between thin and very viscous. Putting some bumpy miles on the fixed side panel will tell, but I'm very optimistic. Plast-Aid, . -James

[James W. Flower]

I bought a pair of KoubaLink mirror extensions. There's only one model, it comes in plain aluminum or black anodized ($25 one $30). I got the very good looking black, model ME-2B. These things are aluminum rods, about 2-1/2" long, with male threads at one end and female at the other. Actual length of extension is 2". On two piece mirrors (like the Napoleons I have on my A13 KLR) they can be fitted vertically or at an angle, depending on whether you want the mirrors higher or wider. The Napoleons' threads fit my KLR, so I'm sure these extenders would fit pre-08 KLR mirrors and perches (I dunno nuttin bout dem new-fangled, post-07 KLRs). On the stock KLR mirror, they'll only fit vertically. That's the way I mounted them, and now I'm looking at a lot more road and a lot less of my own shoulders. They didn't increase vibration of the mirrors. Only problem I had was that I had to chase the threads on one of them to make it screw on smoothly. And I suppose the mirrors are a tad more vulnerable in falls now that they stick up farther. I'm very happy with them, and Norm was easy to deal with. http://www.koubalink.com/mirror.html>, . -James