dbeau Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Anyone every ridden with their wheel(s) un-balanced? I'm curious because I just changed my tires recently and when I was balancing them I have to put almost twice the amount of weights on the rim than there was before to get it to balance. From stock the bike had a 30gram weight on the front wheel. After putting the new wheel on I had to put 1 3/4 ounces (49.6 grams) to balance it. Could the new tire have been that more lopsided? Or maybe the stock tire wasn't in balance to begin with? I can't say that original setup did anything to make me think the tire was unbalanced but I don't know that I've every experienced and un-balanced motorcycle wheel. Hence the question, what are the symptoms of an unbalanced motorcycle wheel. Just FYI I did locate the heavy point of just the rim and then matched the paint mark on the tire to that point to try and reduce the amount of weights needed. It seemed to help with the rear tire Because I only needed 1/2 ounce to balance the rear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member 1moreroad Posted August 14, 2018 Premium Member Share Posted August 14, 2018 Ridden a previous bike (01 Ninja 600) without balanced wheels. Couldn't tell the difference. I've had a Cycle Gear and a local shop comment on how many wheel weights it takes to balance the rear wheel on this bike. Seems like that was a popular thread on this forum a couple of years ago, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipperT Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Not this bike, but others. A lot depends on load, suspension, and your sensitivity to this kind of thing. I think it’s much more noticeable on front wheels, especially spoked 16-21” variety. -Skip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsp Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 I have mounted and balanced many tires on several FZ and FJ 09's. They take a higher than average amount of weight compared to other sport bikes. Finally after a year of ownership I checked the balance of just the wheel with valve stem but no tire. It took an ounce to an ounce and a quarter to balance with no tire. Not very good. john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enx Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 That's good thing to know where your wheel have a heavy spot. The tire has a yellow dot on a sidewall, which indicates lightest spot. If you put yellow dot in heavy spot on the wheel, you minimizes amount of balancing weights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhchris Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 That's good thing to know where your wheel have a heavy spot. The tire has a yellow dot on a sidewall, which indicates lightest spot. If you put yellow dot in heavy spot on the wheel, you minimizes amount of balancing weights. Speaking of weights... Where do you get your wheel weights? And are you using the weights that clip on to the ridge in the center of the Blurpel painted rim? cb 1968 Triumph Bonneville 650 1971 Norton Commando Roadster 2002 Harley 1200 Sportster 2003 Honda ST 1300 2016 FJ 09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsp Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 I mount and balance several tires per week. Most riders prefer stick on weights. They are available all over the place, in large or small quantities, from 1/8 ounce up or 3.5 grams up. I personally use the stock weights, they are fast and reliable. Most riders discard the stock weights so I collect the nice ones. New ones are very expensive. On my next tire change, I'm going to balance my wheels by grinding the rib in the heavy area, then balance the tire as usual. john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerdawg Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 So maybe I'm an oddity but I balanced quite a few sets on my fjr without even using weights. Just threw the tire on the rim and went for a ride... Never felt anything out of place, even up to 140mph. I'll be curious to see how it works out for my first tracer change. Worse case scenario I have about 4 ounces of beads that I can put in the tire if needed. They work well but never needed then on the fjr.... Which has the same size tires as the tracer. I've taken to mount own tires as of late because the dealers want over 60 per tire to mount and one upwards of 80 if you bought the tire elsewhere and that was with me bringing the tires to them on the rim... What a rip-off!!! I used to have a guy that was doing it out of his house for 20 a tire but he moved. Oh the good old days! 2019 Yamaha Tracer 900 GT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbeau Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 Yeah the high prices are what brought me to this point. For what the shops wanted to charge for mounting 2 tires off the bike, I bought all the necessary tools and will be able to do it myself forever now for free. It is a pain in the butt but I guess my cheapness outweighs my laziness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerdawg Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 After you've done it a few times it ends up feeling quite nice. I spent about 4 hours trying to mount my fjr tire on a harbor freight mounting machine to no avail and that was with two other guys helping me. SMDH. I almost gave up but bought a good tire breaker and some spoons from RevZilla and can now change them on the floor with some blocks of wood in about 20 minutes. Live and learn ..... It's definitely not as intimidating as it once was. 2019 Yamaha Tracer 900 GT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsp Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 I charge $15 to mount and balance. I need to raise my price. john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamarider Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 Just mounted a set of roadsmart II. No weights on the rear and the 30 gram on front that was already there. But to answer the op's question, i have always balanced my tires. I'm thinking of trying the dyna beads next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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