Balancing question

[photorider]

So, I'm trying mounting and balancing my tires myself for the first time. I wanted to just use the levers in the tool kit to see if I could do it. The changing and mounting tires went pretty smoothly. A little frustrating at first, but I bet I could do it in half the time now.

My question is about the balancing. I lined up the spot on the tires with the valve stem and the rear tire needed 56 grams (almost 2 oz.) to balance it. Is this too much? Do I need to rotate the tire or something? Or, can I just not worry about it?

BTW, I'm using the stick on weights on a stock rim with Metzeler tires and tubes.

As always, thanks in advance for any input.

[kgadley01]

2 oz is a lot of weight. it won't hurt a thing, but if you have time you could try and turn the tire to get better results. if you lined up the dot with the valve stem as you stated, its probably as good as its going to get. what brand of tire was it? I mounted a Dunlop E-3 this morning, and only needed 1/4 oz of weight to balance it. good luck...

[UncleMark]

In my shop, I balance the rim before I put a new tire on...


Get the old tire off
Clean the rim - remove all "road" enhancements
Remove all old weights - clean the "sticky" off
Buff the inside bead landing and clean
Balance the rim - place a mark at the lightest point - not always the valve stem
Now mount the tire placing the marks on the tire 180 degrees from the mark on the rim
Inflate to desired pressure
Balance the tire


The last LT I did required only 1/4 of an OZ. He had a shop do his last tire change and I removed over 2.5 OZ's.

Unless I have done the tire before (and I change all the tires for the guys in my club), I routinely remove 1 to 2 OZ's of weight and replace it with less than half the amount.

[lkchris]

Official BMW shop manual states 60 grams is maximum wheel weights permitted.

[photorider]

Thanks for the replies everybody. Uncle Mark, I had some time this weekend and I decided to give your technique a shot. I screwed up the offset when I re-laced the wheel so it had to come off anyways (it was rubbing the fender brace pretty badly).

By first balancing the rim (makes a lot of sense actually) I was able to cut the weight in half. Thanks again. This forum rocks.

[keelerb]

Last time I reshod my airhead (which is the only time I've done so, the bike being relatively new to me), with Metzelers on the snowflakes, I lined up the dots with the valve stems and neither wheel/tire combination required ANY weight.

First and only time I've ever seen that happen.

[UncleMark]

Metzelers on the snowflakes, I lined up the dots with the valve stems and neither wheel/tire combination required ANY weight.

I have seen my share of rims... Some have rubber valve stems, some have short steel.aluminum stems, some have long steel/aluminum stems and some even have the angled stem (cringe). Interior TPMS systems also carry a little bit if weight. But no matter what, rims all balance to a different point. And that's the purpose of the pre-balance. Find the lightest spot and place the tire indicator relative to that light spot.

With valve stem based TPMS, I always screw the TPMS on the stem and run the pre-balance. I also leave the mark on the rim so that if I redo the wheel mount, I can find out how far the pre-balance point has moved. And they do... not by much, but they do.

I can hear the Dyna beads guys now... But for me Dyna beads are not an option as I pull my shoes three to four times each year for remounting or rebalance, changing out a Metz for summer riding to a Bridgy (or in this case Storm 2) for wet winter riding. Loosing beads or drilling a hole in a perfectly usable tire is not an option.

I also use porcelain coated weights. They stick good and look great.

[RonKMiller]

In my shop, I balance the rim before I put a new tire on...


Get the old tire off
Clean the rim - remove all "road" enhancements
Remove all old weights - clean the "sticky" off
Buff the inside bead landing and clean
Balance the rim - place a mark at the lightest point - not always the valve stem
Now mount the tire placing the marks on the tire 180 degrees from the mark on the rim
Inflate to desired pressure
Balance the tire


The last LT I did required only 1/4 of an OZ. He had a shop do his last tire change and I removed over 2.5 OZ's.

Unless I have done the tire before (and I change all the tires for the guys in my club), I routinely remove 1 to 2 OZ's of weight and replace it with less than half the amount.

TOTALLY KEWL.... :bow:bow

So nice to see things done the right way - and it only takes a few extra minutes. ;)

[Isamemon]

uncle mark
that is way cool.
I just had new metz put on my rims, and the front took 2oz of weight
it had nearly that much wiht the dunlops that came off
would be real interesting to see if your way would save a bunch, wonder too if there is a difference in road feel and tire life

[UncleMark]

would be real interesting to see if your way would save a bunch, wonder too if there is a difference in road feel and tire life
Interesting you should mention that...

I put a brand new Avon on a '00' LT that would be used during the winter months and gets ridden very aggressively. Brand new mind you... fresh off the truck from SWMOTO. It went on nice, I put about 1/2 on oz. on the rim and off the owner went on a test ride. Tire ran like crapola... some kind of bad vibration at speed.

Rotated the tire and rebalanced... Now there was 1.5 OZ's on the rim. While not as pronounced, the vibration was still there. Went back to the original setting, same outcome. We determined that the tire was bad out of the crate. SWMOTO shipped a new one, no questions asked and I reinstalled. 1/2 OZ on the rim and a flawless run at speed.

To the owner and myself, we feel that the larger the weight pod, the less "road feel" you will get out of the tire.

Also, one more good reason to clean the rim bead? Your "over time" air loss will be one heck of a lot less. My Bridgy which has less than 2K left on it, has had only one pass with the air compressor since I mounted the tire in October 2009.

Like Ron said, it only takes a few extra minutes... and he's right on with that thought! Great minds think alike... and like to tour... ;)