UPCOMING REVIEW – MOTO-TEK HAND GUARD MIRROR KIT – AS GOOD AS ROTTWEILERS BUT 5 X CHEAPER?

Lately I’ve been browsing hand guard mirrors. I currently use Double Take Adventure Mirrors, which work very well. My only gripe with them is that they’re quite large and take up part of my natural view of the surroundings. Hand guard folding mirrors do solve that problem as they’re smaller, lighter and tidier in form, but the first thing I want to test is whether I’ll get a similar view of what’s happening behind me as I do with the crystal clear Double Takes.

At this point I’m assuming that the diminutive hand guard mirrors will, indeed, provide adequate rear vision, which is why I’ve ordered a set of Moto-Teks. Originally I was drawn to the Rottweiler Quick Flip Arrow Mount Kit but at $290 bucks a pair, I paused. $290? Really? Hang on a second.. let’s do the maths for a person ordering from outside the US.. Let’s say you’re EU or UK based. I know of no UK companies that supply the Rottweilers so you’re going to have to order a set directly from the States.

Maths
Rottweiler Quick Flip Arrow Mount Kit – $290 USD (£240 GBP)
Cheapest UK/EU Shipping Option – $60 USD (£50 GBP)
Total before import tax = £350 USD (£290 GBP)
Duties = $350 plus 20%
Total Including Shipping & Taxes/Duties – $350 USD x 1.2 = $420 USD (£350 GBP)

OK, take a deep breath. THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS STERLING for a set of bar mirrors? Look, I don’t mind spending good money on quality kit but there is a limit to everything and my limit for a tiny set of mirrors is a long way short of 350 quid!

Fortunately, I did eventually recover from the shock of the above mathematics and shortly after my recuperation I came across the Moto-Tek mirrors. From the photos and description, I personally cannot see a single significant difference between the Moto-Teks and the Rottweilers, except perhaps the logo printed on the Rottweiler versions. The mounting gear, stems and mirrors themselves all appear to be identical in every way. In fact, the only difference I can find is they cost £50 a set shipped instead of £350. Even if we just take the US price with US shipping and zero duties, we’re still looking at £250 versus £50, a 500% difference.

Now, I don’t own a set of Rottweiler mirrors and at £350 a set, I never will, so I will not be able to categorically compare the two products, but what I will be able to do is analyse the quality of the Moto-Teks and if they’re good quality and built to last then I’ll see no reason to look elsewhere.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I DO NOT, under any circumstances, condone counterfeit products. If a company has put time, effort, money and expertise into creating a quality product then they alone should reap the rewards, not some rip-off merchant in the Far East who does nothing but leach off other people’s ideas and concepts, but to me, this does not appear to be a case of one company copying another. Identical mirrors and stems can be found by anyone on Ali-Express for $11 a set. In order to make them into the Rottweiler type hand guard mirrors you simply need to add two bolts and a small piece of aluminium billet (pictured directly above) and hey presto! So how did we get from $11 to $290?

I’m going to leave that conversation right there and maybe return to it after testing the Moto-Teks. I will post a full review and my final thoughts in the next two weeks, so please check back for the conclusion. Of course, if the good folks at Rottweiler Performance would like to send me a set of their mirrors to directly compare to the Moto-Teks, I would be only too happy to perform a side by side review.

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