I am starting to believe the reasoning behind the crappy mirrors on our bikes is these bikes were made for Harley's Safe Riding classes, and I remember from my safety class not one of bikes had mirrors, they had all been broken off way before I took my class. So why would they want to put extra $ into taller or more stylish mirrors when chances are they are going to get broken off anyways. I bet if you looked at Harley's catalog the mirrors on our bikes are the cheapest they make......besides new riders are not going to know any better about the crappy mirrors and not being able to see behind them.
my 2 cents.