Well, I just received the product from A&S. So far, I agree with everything said: the instructions are all in German, there's no mention of Verholen, and installation ain't simple because it seems to involve removing fairing and body parts so as to trace the turn signal electrical wire all the way down to where it attaches to a socket (I presume). Not sure if I want to go through such a fairly (but not too) involved process to install an accessory that, from all accounts, may or may not provide much benefit. Think I'll sleep on it and decide later whether to keep or return.

You DO NOT have to remove the faring, just the two little panels between the gas tank and the faring. Once you locate the connection plug for the turn signals tie a line or a wire to the side of the plug that you will be pulling out. That way you'll be able to pull the wires back down after you re instal the the turn signal stalks after you've put the extenders in.

Wow! Reeeaaallly appreciate the tips. Off to the garage now to see what damage I can do for today

Successfully installed the left widener. Took it out for a test drive with the stock right hand side mirror, putting me in a good position to compare and contrast.

Product strengts: First, it's the only one of its kind. Secondly, I estimate an increase in rear vision of about 18% to 19%. Suppose you divide your lane into three parts, the right one-third, the left one-third, and the middle one-third behind you. Pick a straight stretch of the highway and ride on the middle one-third. With the stock right hand side (RHS) mirror, I can see the right one-third. With the widener on the LHS, I can see the left one-third plus about 30% of the middle one-third (30% of the 33.33% gives me a little over 9% increase in rear vision; double this when the RHS widener is installed for an overall gain of about 18% to 19%). It should be noted that, IMO, the increase applies to only about 50 to 75 feet behind me. Beyond that distance, both mirrors do a pretty good job. Thirdly, it increases clearance between the bar end and the mirror. This may not be a problem for others, but I happen to have replaced the K12S handlebar with the K12R handlebar, giving me about 1 to 1.5 inches extra upright riding position. The downside is that if the handlebar is turned all the way to the left, then the right bar end touches (for some, almost touches) the mirror, and vice versa. With the mirror wideners, there's more than 3 inches of clearance between the bar end and the mirror. Lastly, there was no noticeable difference between RHS and LHS in mirror vibration and shake.

Product Weaknesses: First, all instructions are in German and there are not enough pictures to figure out what needs to be done. Secondly, the recess in the bar wideners do not perfectly match the base of the stock mirror, so that's a slight problem. It's a bit like putting a square peg in a round hole, but not too bad. Thirdly, there is no contour in the widener and so it does not match the gentle contour of the fairing. Lastly, it seems to come in only one color, a sort of brushed black, which does not perfectly match the color of the fairing on my black 2007 K12S, but generally matches the color of the stalk of the mirror.

Overall Conclusion: For me, on balance, it's a keeper.

Thanks, particularly, to Eric and others for invaluable tips. Should you decide to purchase and install the wideners, be sure to tie the turn signal wire to a string so that you can pull it back and re-attach to the socket. Also, the panel between the tank and the fairing is the only part that needs to be removed, but to do so, I found it necessary to loosen the screws on the side fairing so that the panel could be easilty taken off.

Will post pictures after RHS is installed.

Here are some pictures.

Attached Thumbnails

     

Glad it worked out for you

Hey taxswami,

Thanks for submitting this review to us - we've added a link to it on our site: http://www.ascycles.com/detail.aspx?ID=44525

-Megan

You may want to take a picture of the actual product. Methinks you are using a pic you got from the vendor. It's not what they look like in person.

Eric,
Those are my pictures of the actual product on my bike!

I was talking about the picture on the A&S page. Nice looking bike BTW!