Balancing Act

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ifm61
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Balancing Act

#1

Post by ifm61 »

Okay, so the tyres arrived, I bought the updated Moly 77 (grease, not paste) and basically now I'm ringing around to see who does what for how much. Then I had a chat with a mate, "why don't we do it, seems straight forward," which i have to admit, it does, until we talked about balancing... He contends that motorcycles don't need wheels balanced after a new tyre goes on, and whilst i bow to his wealth of knowledge, i found that a strange fact... So it begs the question: T or F? I've read around, like i do for every topic it seems, and there's the usual 50/50 for either community, but i'm throwing this one out to people who specifically know the bike i ride ('79 GL1000) from the inside out. To balance or not to balance...
To be honest, I'll have it done regardless for my own peace of mind and the fact that once that insurance gets paid i intend spending all the time i can seeing how these new tyres handle !
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CYBORG
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Re: Balancing Act

#2

Post by CYBORG »

I ALWAYS balance my bike tires.
and, just like car tires, they need balancing periodically thru their life. The last few years I have been using dyna beads which maintain the balance thru out the life of the tire.
1978 custom GL1000
1977 custom with 1200 engine
1985 gl1200
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tlbranth
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Re: Balancing Act

#3

Post by tlbranth »

Back in the 70's we didn't, to my knowledge, balance tires. Never had a problem even when I took my CB750 up to 126mph. I do balance them now, however. I bought the jig to do it and it's too easy to do so why not?
Terry
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CYBORG
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Re: Balancing Act

#4

Post by CYBORG »

tlbranth wrote:Back in the 70's we didn't, to my knowledge, balance tires. Never had a problem even when I took my CB750 up to 126mph. I do balance them now, however. I bought the jig to do it and it's too easy to do so why not?
I agree action1 action1
1978 custom GL1000
1977 custom with 1200 engine
1985 gl1200
82_GL1100
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Re: Balancing Act

#5

Post by 82_GL1100 »

I bought a wheel balancer ~30 years ago and have never regretted it. It's a fairly easy process.

Do bike tires "need" balanced? Some of the tires I've installed are close enough that I probably would have been okay without balancing. If you never go over 60mph, and are lucky to get tires that are naturally close to being in balance, you'll probably never notice the difference.

As to "DynaBeads", I'd forgotten all about them. I used them on several bikes, but never was completely convinced one way or the other as to whether they actually helped. Haven't added them to new installs for years.

TLDR - It's your life. I balance my bike tires.
82 GL1100 Standard 44k miles 83 wheels & forks
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Whiskerfish
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Re: Balancing Act

#6

Post by Whiskerfish »

my vote, Yes balance them.
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stretch160
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Re: Balancing Act

#7

Post by stretch160 »

over the last 250,000+ miles and approximately 80 sets of tires (sport bikes wear them pretty quick) I have balanced nearly every set. An inexpensive static balance can be made for about $20.
I found that some tires usually did not require any weight. pilot powers come to mind. Other tires required a lot of wait to balance. Shinko for instance. I also found that on some tires the colored dot marked the heavy spot and on others it marked the light spot.
an unbalanced front tire can contribute to head shake and cupping, while an unbalanced rear tire will wear unevenly and both will last longer if properly balanced. I prefer a static balance to dynamic.
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rcmatt007
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Re: Balancing Act

#8

Post by rcmatt007 »

so what are y'all using to balance your tires?
-Rodger-
all it takes for evil to prosper is the want of a few good men to do nothing-Edmund Burke
The question is not how much time do you have, it is what you do with the time that you have Gandalf
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CYBORG
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Re: Balancing Act

#9

Post by CYBORG »

rcmatt007 wrote:so what are y'all using to balance your tires?
Dyna beads
1978 custom GL1000
1977 custom with 1200 engine
1985 gl1200
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rcmatt007
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Re: Balancing Act

#10

Post by rcmatt007 »

what I meant (beside the beads) was where did people get the tool to balance their tires
-Rodger-
all it takes for evil to prosper is the want of a few good men to do nothing-Edmund Burke
The question is not how much time do you have, it is what you do with the time that you have Gandalf
"One of the greatest dignities of humankind is that each successive generation is invested in the welfare of each new generation." Fred Rodgers
"it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert" ancient saying
78 constantly modified/customized since 1978, BOTM June 2015 de-evolving this very moment viewtopic.php?f=30&t=65511
76 Ltd "cookies bike" ALMOST DONE
79 project, finished, FOR SALE
'86 1200 (Beth's)(FOR SALE) with motorvation sidecar (sidecar sold) , July 2017 BOTM
'17 HD Road king and 08 HD Heritage softail (Beth's) (FOR SALE). I guess you can say we have MBS
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robin1731
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Re: Balancing Act

#11

Post by robin1731 »

rcmatt007 wrote:what I meant (beside the beads) was where did people get the tool to balance their tires
With Dyna beads you don't need any tools. Just put them in through the valve stem hole. :orange

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Steve81GL1100
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Re: Balancing Act

#12

Post by Steve81GL1100 »

++ on the Dynabeads. They're inexpensive --less than $20 for the kit for front & rear -- and you never have to think about it again. Available directly from the mfr at www.innovativebalancing.com
Not connected to them at all, aside from buying several sets of Dynabeads...
-Steve-
Steve
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CYBORG
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Re: Balancing Act

#13

Post by CYBORG »

I was skeptical in the beginning. but have used them for years. just install,...and forget about balance
1978 custom GL1000
1977 custom with 1200 engine
1985 gl1200
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LuckyEddie
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Re: Balancing Act

#14

Post by LuckyEddie »

Harbor freight #98488. Works fine for me for many years now.
LuckyEddie

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CYBORG
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Re: Balancing Act

#15

Post by CYBORG »

LuckyEddie wrote:Harbor freight #98488. Works fine for me for many years now.
How do YOU determine how many beads to use?
1978 custom GL1000
1977 custom with 1200 engine
1985 gl1200
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