Front tire balance.... Advice wanted...

[bob46371]

2003 VT750DC

Front tire replace April 2008 Aprox 6000 miles on it.... Recently I swear I can feel the front end bounce then smoothes out then it feels like the front end bounces again..... nothing that keeps me from riding but it is bugging me. I can't see or feel any damage to the tire. I am goiing to pull the front wheel this weekend. Can I balance it myself or should I take it to the dealer... Do they spin balance tires?

[Spirit_1100]

Originally Posted by bob46371

2003 VT750DC

Front tire replace April 2008 Aprox 6000 miles on it.... Recently I swear I can feel the front end bounce then smoothes out then it feels like the front end bounces again..... nothing that keeps me from riding but it is bugging me. I can't see or feel any damage to the tire. I am goiing to pull the front wheel this weekend. Can I balance it myself or should I take it to the dealer... Do they spin balance tires?

You can do the balance yourself. If you have a couple of jack stands or saw horses or chairs, you are good to go. Use your front axle to support the tire. Release the tire from different locations and see if it rolls. If it does roll, that means there is a heavy spot. Put weights on the opposite side of the tire to counter the heavy spot. With spokes, you can use either the stick on or spoke weights. Start with little weights and see where you go.

Also, look for the dot on the side of the tire. This is supposed to be where you place the valve stem. if your tire doesn't have a dot, then the tire manufacturer didn't balance the tire. If there is a dot and it isn't at the valve stem, let the air out of the tire, break the bead, and spin the tire until it is lined up. Then balance the tire. You may have to remove the existing weights to get it balanced with the tire in a new location.

As for the dealers...I don't know how they balance the tires. I would hope they have the equipment to spin balance them.

Hope this helps.

Joe

Joe

[Loic]

+1. I believe the dot are color coded red or yellow, one of them is to show heavy spot and the other light spot... but don't quote me on this..

[Steve-O]

take off the weights and replace with Dyna beads. Much better and will keep your tire in balance for the lifetime of the tire.

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/

[Cbjr]

Originally Posted by Steve-O

take off the weights and replace with Dyna beads. Much better and will keep your tire in balance for the lifetime of the tire.

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/

+1 started using the beads on my V-Strom - so far so good.

[highlandman]

Originally Posted by Spirit_1100

You can do the balance yourself.

Here's a little refinement to Spirit's procedure that takes a little longer but is a lot more sensitive:
(1) Set up just like he said
(2) Spin the tire forward, fast enough for it to go around at least two times. When it stops, put a chalk mark at 12:00. Do this three or four times.
(3) Repeat but spin the tire the opposite direction.
If the tire is balanced, the marks will be all over the place with no recognizable pattern. Reassemble and ride.
If the marks form two groups, then the spot halfway between the average of the forward group and the average of the reverse group is the light spot. Add weight there and try again.
Motorcycle tires are not wide enough to require 2-plane computer balancing, so static balancing should be good enough unless you want to ride 150mph.
-Glenn

[bob46371]

Thanks to you all

I ordered the dyna beads and will give a full report when they arive

[Steve-O]

You won't be sorry. Couple things. They come with sufficient instructions. http://www.innovativebalancing.com/service.htm

Couple suggestions:
-Buy the applicator tool.
-I have an engraving tool and use this to vibrate the valve stem as you pour the beads in.
-Don't put dynabeads into a "wet" tire. Some of us change our own and use "lubricants". Give the tire plenty of time to dry out (500 miles) before installing dynabeads. And if you used grease to install the tire, forget the dynabeads.

Your tires will always be in balance and you will notice a smooth ride at all speeds.

[bigdogrod]

i had the same problem when i mounted my whitewalls, give it about 500 miles, the bounce goes away (at least mine did)

i went back to the delaer that installed them twice, plus went to 2 other shops and all told me the balance was fine, so i just rode and rode and rode, and finally the tire is smooth