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Balancing the Wheels

8K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  Lucecannon 
#1 ·
hi all
i have a wheel balancer and it works really well on the front wheel
but when i came to do the rear it was obvious that i need an adapter

has anyone gone down this road?
i could make,or get one made,but will this kind of balancer still work on a wheel with the offset of the rear wheel

also,is it really neccessary to balance the rear?
the orig weights are opposite the pressure sensor,so im relatively happy with that
i do plan to swap tyres back and forth so need my own balancer
ive got a homemade tyre remover (WIP)which fits to the towbar

i didnt notice any dots on the tyre denoting weight
thanks russ
 
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#2 ·
Marc Parnes makes an adapter. A local machinist could make one with little effort. I have balanced many tires on bikes with TPMS sensors and the rears almost always end up with 2 ounces opposite, or nearly opposite, the sensor.

MotoGP teams don’t balance their rear tires, or so I hear.
 
#3 ·
I have used balance beads in lots of tires and also static balanced them. I have been reading here and there where people do not balance motorcycle tires at all and just mount them on the rim and ride.

I recently needed to install new rubber on my 07 R1200GS for a trip to Labrador. I opted for Shinko 705's and chose not to so any sort of balancing. I figured worst case would be I'd have to add balance beads if the tires displayed signs of being out of balance. As it turns out they have been indistinguishable from every other tire I have balanced. Smooth as glass over 4,000+ miles so far.

From now on I'm going to initially forgo beads or static balancing and see how the tires feel. Then only balance if there is an issue.
 
#4 ·
I change about 20-25 tires a year on Spousal Unit’s and my bikes as well as for friends. Balancing adds about 5-10 minutes per tire. Every now and then I encounter a tire that takes an extreme amount of weight. Repositioning the tire on the wheel can sometimes help, but had I not discovered the issue when I tried to balance the tire it would have been ugly. Since I do it myself it is a small effort to balance every tire. I might have a different point of view were I paying to have it done. I suggest that if you elect not to balance your new tires, then you should balance your wheels without a tire mounted. Leave the weights on the wheel and then you have only the inbalance of the new tire to deal with. If you have the TPMS, then balancing your wheels is very important if you are not going to balance when you install new tires.
 
#5 ·
Like you I change my own tires and also for friends. I do about the same as you 20/25 +/- per year with several hundred tire changes under my belt. I'm not saying don't balance them. But especially since I change my own tires to me it worth running the new tries 1st to see if they even need balanced. There is nothing catastrophic going to happen if you don't balance them other than some additional vibration. If the vibration presents itself during the test run then I'll deal with balancing
 
#6 ·
I have found that many rims (mostly cast) the heavy spot is not where the valve stem is. But on all 4 of my GSA rims it is due to the TPMS. Some tires don't have a mark for the light spot. If not I balance the rim first and after mounting (before seating the bead) I put it on the balancer again to find the light spot and then spin the tire so that spot is at the heavy spot on the rim. I learned from flying and working on helicopters for many years those vibrations go somewhere. On a motorcycle, bearings, drive-train, suspension, frame, and to the seat (rider comfort). Probably the most negative effect of not balancing would be a shorter wheel bearing life. So I always balance any tire I mount.
 
#7 ·
When you guys balance the wheel only (before mounting the new tire), I assume you wind up with weights in two different spots correct?

I've had a hard time getting the rear to balance on my '18 GSA but I have not been balancing the wheels first. No matter what, it's like it can't be balances. Probably my issue, no?

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
#8 ·
To me balancing the wheel before installing the tire is like wiping before you poop. It makes no sense.


J-Dash,

To answer your question the answer is potentially yes and you may end up using more weight to compensate for the weights you just put on the wheel. This is why it make no sense to me.
 
#13 ·
There is chance of two sets of weights if you balance the wheel then install the tire and do not recheck the balance of the now assembled components.
Your logic is tough to follow there PerazziMx14. So, I have a wheel and the wheel has weights on it to put in balance. I add a tire to the wheel and I do not attempt to balance the wheel tire combination, therefore I do not add weights to the weights already on the wheel..... yet somehow I have two sets of weights. :confused:
 
#14 ·
Your logic is tough to follow there PerazziMx14. So, I have a wheel and the wheel has weights on it to put in balance. I add a tire to the wheel and I do not attempt to balance the wheel tire combination, therefore I do not add weights to the weights already on the wheel..... yet somehow I have two sets of weights. :confused:

Doing it that way is no different than just installing the tire and riding off into the sunset. Balancing the wheel and then adding an unbalanced tires to the wheel would translate to an unbalance wheel tire combo?
 
#10 ·
I know where the heavy spot is on all my rims as I mark them. I only balance a rim first if the tire has no light spot mark. Not all tire manufacturers do this. Then when I know the light spot on the tire i put it at the heavy point on the rim. The weights that balanced the rim come off (just held by tape) and balance the wheel/tire before mounting on bike. Just trying to minimize the amount of weight required to balance tire. I have found some tire makers need to mark their tires. If a tire had no light spot marked then at a minimum I would do what Pterodactyl said as that is better than not balancing. Harley cast rims are the worse in my experience, I had one that required 3.5 oz to just balance the rim.
 
#15 ·
i think im going to be ok
the front is balanced
the rear is not,but the weights already on the rear,are opposite the TPS
this makes sense to me

unfort i cant ride the bike yet,as the exhaust is getting ceramic coat,and the guy is still waiting for product he ordered

when i balanced the front,i only needed to move the balance weight previously fitted,a small amount.the weight ended up opposite the TPS...i prob would have got away with not balancing the front

i dont thing 110KPH is going to worry these tyres re imbalance

thats a great idea to balance the wheel....then im only looking at the tyre out of balance,and these days the tyres are fairly true(decent brand names)

the next time i change the tyre thats what ill do

thanks for all replies
russ
 
#17 ·
I change my own tires and started using balance beads many changes ago. Initially I used beads designed for the task, but have recently changed to using airsoft beads. They are hard rubber and I’ve reused them over multiple tire changes because there were no damaged beads and no obvious change to the inside of the tire. I make sure to use 2 oz of beads and bothfront and rear are quite smooth at 100 mph.
 
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