DIY Tire Balancing - Just How Close is Close Enough?

jettawreck · Jun 8, 2017

Appears as though almost all the Ride-On m/c products are currently sold out, per the website link.

JimGregory · Jun 8, 2017

2005RedRider said:
RIDE ON has proven to be a great product in my bike tires!

Does anyone know if someone makes a product like this for car tires?

Dale

Yes ride on does.
I'm sitting here looking at my new front tire, and ride on themselves are out of stock of ride on. Ughh..
Guess I could squirt it in there any old time.

Byron · Jun 8, 2017

Ken H said:
I was all over the map with it. Sometimes up, sometimes down depending on where the weight was positioned as I moved the weight around to see what was working the best. The drift was only a few inches at most. Cant recall which wheel was drifting which direction after my balancing efforts. Is there a significance of the direction of drift?

I will have to check out the BMW weights. Your right about what a pain it is to get the adhesive off of the rim from most generic wheel weights.

I contemplated doing that and probably should have tried that to see how it would work out. It would seem to make sense to concentrate the weight as opposed to spreading it out. I suppose I was tunnel visioned on the fact that the weights I took off had been applied in a continuous strip as well as others from previous mountings based on the left behind adhesive stuck to the rim. This is the first time with this bike that I haven't taken the tires in to be mounted and did them myself.

The only difference is not enough weight tire rotates up, to much and it drops.

I've gone as far as using acetone to remove the white tape and then replace with 3M body molding tape which holds but cleans easier once removed.

Next time try doing it on a day when you're not in a rush and just experiment, best way to learn.

T_C · Jun 8, 2017

Counteract beads. Works good in the bike and the trailers. The next time my car needs tires... they will be there too.

I have both internal and external TPMS units. The bike gets the beads added by busting a bead after they are set and pouring them in.
I have seen the saran wrap method. Last time I bought beads they came in the extra large packs, 16oz I think. Inside the bag were 4 saran wrapped 4oz pack of beads. They were pre-packaged for larger tires. For my non-internal TPMS tires I just use a small funnel and a piece of 1/8" vinyl tubing.

JimGregory · Jun 8, 2017

jettawreck said:
Appears as though almost all the Ride-On m/c products are currently sold out, per the website link.

When Larry endorses a product you have to act fast!

Ken H · Jun 8, 2017

Byron said:
The only difference is not enough weight tire rotates up, to much and it drops.

I should have been able to figure that out. Guess I have been overthinking this too much. :weights1:

Byron said:
Next time try doing it on a day when you're not in a rush and just experiment, best way to learn.

Next tire change I will allow more time to experiment with this.

Rekoob · Jun 8, 2017

From what I recall about Ride-On is it says dispersed within the tire, unlike other products that will come pouring out when the bead is broken. I saw a few videos of Ride-on being put in, rode a few miles, rode over a bunch of nails, then they pulled the nails and dismounted the tire. Ride-on was pretty much covering the tread area of the inside all the way around the tire and didn't appear to be sagging or moving at all. Now what it does after sitting all night might be a different story.

I have beads in right now and they did make a smoother ride although I didn't think the ride before the beads even had any vibrations. I will prob try Ride-on in the next set.

TourNut · Jun 8, 2017

The last few years I've let the dealer balance my tires but they throw on car stick-on weights that come off way too easy so I put on equivalent saddlebag MC weights , clipped to the central wheel rib - they way it was designed for and consider that balance a rough balance . Then put in about 3 oz. of CounterAct Beads to fine tune the balance and on into the future of the tire.

Igofar · Jun 8, 2017

Being just a little OCD, I decided to test the Ride-on in my rear tire just before putting on new tires

Making sure I had 42 PSI in the tire, I took an awl and punched several holes in the tire and then rode around the block a couple times....no loss of air.
I then took my drill and drilled half a dozen small holes in the tire and then rode around the block some more....only loss 1-2 PSI of air (probably when drilling and not rolling).
Then next morning I still had 38 to 39 PSI in the rear tire! I'm convinced this stuff works.
Its also saved my :butt1:a couple times when I've picked up screws or large nails on the road more than 100 miles from home.
.02

thekaz · Jun 8, 2017

Ken H said:
I have a Marc Parnes balancer. Just mounted a set of new tires on my R12 GS and have balanced them as best as I could. Followed the typical method of letting get the tire on the balancer without weight and let it settle to the heavy spot, mark the light spot at the top of the tire and then applying weight to try to attain balance using the 'set the tire at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock position and if the tire is doesn't move then its balanced' method. I can get the balance real close on the front tire but not perfect. The tire will hold position at 3 o'clock and 12 o'clock but drifts ever so slightly at 9. No matter how much I try to adjust the weight the tire will drift just a bit. I can't get the darn thing perfectly balanced any better no matter how I position the weights. The obvious conclusion is that the amount of weight just isn't quite right. Im using a strip of adhesive weights applied in the center of the rim. The individual weights in the strip are in 5 gram increments. These particular weights are pretty sturdy and I don't have anything that will cut one of them to try to make a 2 1/2 gram or less weight to fine tune the balance. I have the same predicament with the rear tire but it drifts a bit more than the front one. Nothing radical, but it does move. Does the positioning of the weights affect balance at all? (i.e.- middle of rim, side of rim, etc.) And might it make a difference if weights were applied in two strips side by side as opposed to one long continuous strip? The GS rims are made in such a way that there is room to do two strips.

So just how close is close enough when balancing a motorcycle tire? Is it of any significant concern if you can't get weight on the rim to the exact microgram so there is absolutely zero movement of the wheel? Is a little movement when the wheel is set at a particular position on the balancer of any concern?

The Youtube videos make tire balancing look like a piece of cake but I have spent way too much time trying to attain perfect balance. Any of you guys that balance your own tires and its a piece of cake I would like to know any tips or techniques that you use.

I balance with a similar set up but I built one myself decades ago using some ceramic bearings and a titanium shaft. Usually takes me a few minutes to balance and really stopped counting after a couple of hundred motorcycle tires LOL Some consider it an art form like syncing carbs but really is just about practice & trial/error. The whole mount the dot or sticker at the valve is becoming pretty brand specific. I usually just mount it and spin

You will probably not feel 1/4 ounce out and most modern tires are pretty awesome. Seems not adding weight at all is getting pretty common. If your chasing weight then you may have a bearing,wheel issue or tire is out of round ( very rare on bike tires ) . Hard do define what you mean by slow movement ? I don't worry about alittle.
OH and sorry I am Canadian so I should know grams BUT I am just that old so not sure how many grams per 1/4 ounce

NOW to stir the pot and poke the bees nest :headbang:

LOL
Why do racers not use beads or liquids ?

T_C · Jun 8, 2017

thekaz said:
NOW to stir the pot and poke the bees nest LOL
Why do racers not use beads or liquids ?

Probably don't want to sweep up the track of a couple hundred beads when a tire fails.

SupraSabre · Jun 8, 2017

T_C said:
Probably don't want to sweep up the track of a couple hundred beads when a tire fails.

That could be a problem!

4:

Igofar · Jun 8, 2017

Perhaps it's because they shred their tires half way through the race and are not worried about long term balance?

JimGregory · Jun 12, 2017

Ride-on seems to work nice.

Roger · Jun 12, 2017

Ken H said:
<snip>I can get the balance real close on the front tire but not perfect. The tire will hold position at 3 o'clock and 12 o'clock but drifts ever so slightly at 9. No matter how much I try to adjust the weight the tire will drift just a bit. I can't get the darn thing perfectly balanced any better no matter how I position the weights.<snip>

Did you check alignment with magnetic North and/or the position of the Moon? :think1:

Roger

Ken H · Jun 14, 2017

Roger. said:
Did you check alignment with magnetic North and/or the position of the Moon?

Roger

No, but that's about the only thing I didn't try.

I have been on the road since Monday and have been ripping up and down the roads in Arkansas yesterday and today. So far so good relative to tires. Smooth riding all the way. One more day in the Ozarks and then heading back back home.

Brant · Jun 14, 2017

Aother huge :plus1:

using Ride-On! An 8oz. bottle with 4oz. in each mounted tire

.

DeanR · Jun 15, 2017

Brant said:
Aother huge using Ride-On! An 8oz. bottle with 4oz. in each mounted tire.

Ride-On says 6oz in my front and 10 oz for the rear.

Fred D · Jun 15, 2017

OEM Honda clip-on weights come in 10, 20, or 30 grams. Draw your own conclusions for how close is close-enough

Mikedo · Jun 15, 2017

Fred D said:
OEM Honda clip

I believe this is a very telling observation. I went to beads this last change and I have no real opinion yet, either way, it seems smooth enough to me. Next time might be Ride On product. (10 grams = 1/3 ounce)

Mike D.

DIY Tire Balancing - Just How Close is Close Enough?

jettawreck

JimGregory

Byron

T_C

JimGregory

Ken H

Rekoob

TourNut

Igofar

thekaz

haz gone feral

T_C

SupraSabre

48 Years of SoCal Lane Splitting/Commuting-Retired

Igofar

JimGregory

Roger

Ken H

Brant

DeanR

Fred D

Mikedo