I broke my mirror

Started by Proteus, September 04, 2010, 05:26:18 PM

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Proteus

Anyone know of a way to replace just the glass in the mirrors? I believe the mirror is convex.
Broke my LH OEM mirror on the Vision this weekend. Just the glass broke, everything else is fine. I had a couple of mirrors cut to size for me. I heated the mirror housing in the oven for about 15 mins and once the plastic loosened up I pushed the new glass in place. I let it cool slowly and "Bang" the mirror cracked when the mirror cooled. The other problem is that the regular mirror is flat, and I'm pretty sure the OEM mirrors have a slight convex curve. Seeing if there are any options other than $75 for a new OEM mirror or $20 for a non OEM mirror.

Mike Jacobs

Quote from: Proteus on September 04, 2010, 05:26:18 PM
Anyone know of a way to replace just the glass in the mirrors?

No, but I'm willing to kibbitz while you experiment.   ::)

QuoteI believe the mirror is convex.

Do you actually want to go with that, in your replacement?   "Objects in the mirror are larger (and closer) than they appear."

QuoteBroke my LH OEM mirror on the Vision this weekend. Just the glass broke, everything else is fine.

Had that happen on a car once, and I went to the auto parts store and bought a sticky-backed press-on supplemental mirror that was almost the same size and shape as the original and just stuck that on, on top of the old broken glass.   You could hardly tell there was anything under the new mirror unless you looked real closely.   But that's a pretty redneck fix, not the way a perfectionist would do it.   Dunno which way works for you.

QuoteI had a couple of mirrors cut to size for me. I heated the mirror housing in the oven for about 15 mins and once the plastic loosened up I pushed the new glass in place.

Did you heat up the glass first, same as you heated up the plastic housing?  Otherwise, as the plastic is cooling (shrinking), the glass is warming up (expanding).  Not the combo you want.   That could cause additional stress in the material just when you need it to be relieving stress.

QuoteI let it cool slowly and "Bang" the mirror cracked when the mirror cooled.

Mebbe next time you should have the new mirrors cut slightly smaller (just a millimeter or so around each edge is all I'm saying) than the old ones.  That way when the plastic shrinks it won't be as tight a fit, which is probably what overstressed the glass and caused your first replacement set to break.

QuoteThe other problem is that the regular mirror is flat, and I'm pretty sure the OEM mirrors have a slight convex curve.

That curvature probably also helped the OEM glass relieve stress and added strength to boot, like a dome or an eggshell.  Cutting a flat replacement mirror just slightly smaller in edge dimensions could compensate for that difference.

QuoteSeeing if there are any options other than $75 for a new OEM mirror or $20 for a non OEM mirror.

Good luck trying again...
Mike Jacobs
Columbia, MD
1985 Honda VF700S Sabre
1984 Moto Guzzi V65SP
1982 Yamaha XZ550 Vision US
1978 Suzuki GS550 standard
1996 Kawasaki EX250 Ninja

Raj1988

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