When Royal Enfield mirrors behave like ballet dancers

A socket won't fit but I can just barely grab this bottom nut with a 12mm wrench
while I tighten the two mirror hold-down nuts atop the plastic control module.

I had to smile the other day when someone online wrote that the one thing you can always count on with a Royal Enfield is that the mirrors will get loose and swing uselessly out in front of you as you ride.

Does any other motorcycle on earth do this? It happens from time to time on my own Royal Enfield Bullet. It's no big problem, but it looks stupid.

You don't want to stop to tighten them up. So you keep riding to your destination with your mirrors gently swaying back and forth. Every time you come to a stop they swing completely forward, like two insect antennas.

I suppose the cause of the loosening is vibration from the big single-cylinder motor.

But unanswered is this question: why do the left and right mirrors do this at the same time? You'd think they'd get loose one at a time, but they always dance their ballet in perfect unison.

Applying a product such as Locktite to the threads of the mirrors might solve the problem.

But, in fact, you never bother to do this because you're always in a hurry and let it go with a simple tightening.

The fixing nuts are obstructed by the proprietary handlebar control modules on my 1999 Bullet, so I don't go to the trouble of removing them completely, as doing a thorough job might require.

Mirror on 1947 Indian required nothing but brute strength.

Motorcyclists of old didn't worry about fitting a tiny wrench into the space left by space-age plastic controls to tighten the mirrors.

Look at these photos of the handlebar mirror fitted to a rusty, crusty 1947 Indian spotted for sale recently on eBay.

Old-fashioned and effective.

Man, that's simplicity! The owner could put a lock nut on there, grab his largest adjustable wrench and power the nut into place permanently. I'm jealous.