My apologies if this sounds a little like a rant:
Last week I got a flat on the rear of the Road King. Had to ride on it about 5 miles to get home, so I decided to have it replaced. Yesterday, I took the wheel to a HD dealer here in Western MI, and they replaced the tire, new tube, mounted, balanced, liner ... about $280. I figured although it was more expensive than other shops, it was convinient, and it's done. But here's the thing - it has been a while since I had to replace a tire, and the sight of the 8 chromed lead wheel weights stuck to the wheel caught me off guard. I couldn't figure that out. My wheel wasn't that out of balance before, and I know Dunlops are usually pretty true, with the light spot marked to align with the valve for fitment. But the HD Dealer mechanic installed the tire with the lightspot on the exact opposite side of the wheel from the valve. What an idiot!! No offense to those who are becaues I know several good mechanics that are graduates, but do you suppose this "Einstein" is a MMI / HD graduate. Money well spent! The 8 weights are exactly lined up with the marked "light" spot. Bonehead.
What a hassle, but I am planning on making them fix it, and since they got me for $44 for labor, maybe I should ask them for what 1.5 hours of my time is worth. That's about what it will take to get there, wait for it, and get home.

 

Ya you would think that when it got time to balance the tire, someone would say 'hey, something is wrong here" - but instead they just start packing on the weights.

I know that there is a limit and I'm pretty sure that this exceeded it.

Why not stop to figure our what is wrong or call someone with more experience.

My last tire had the light spot marked on the wrong side. Give me a break!!!
Thanks for sharing.

 

OK here is some info. Dots on tires do not always mean that is the light or heavy side. Sometimes these are just reference marks for the manufacturers. QC checks, prodcution checks, and so on. In the past some manufacturers did have markings for "light spots" and they were to be lined up with the valve stem. So the dot not being lined up is not that crucial.

Here lies the problem witht your wheel though. Tubes if not properly installed can bunch up and crease (fold) inside the tire. If this happens over time it will rub a hole in the tube and we all know what happens next.

As far as the EIGHT weights on the wheel, that would be excessive. If we have a tire that throws more than 3.5 oz we send the tire back to our supplier. we will go to extra measures to fix anything over that 3.5 oz. You can rotate a tire 180 degrees and it normally fixes the problem.

Good luck on this because you don't know how they are going to fix it. If they don't break the tire down the whole way and try to turn the tire the tube will "bunch up".
I would try and watch the tech do it. I would really try to watch the balancing part.

Hope it helps.

 

I hear you. You can bet I'll try to watch, and after a short review with a responsible person maybe they will understand my request. Thanks.
I checked the Dunlop site and they specify to place the dot at the stem. Everything else aside, the manufacturers directions should be followed , right?

 

Yes everything else is the same. Sounds to me like they have the tube wadded in one spot making it really heavy on one side. We only find really bad tires (out of round, out of balance) every now and then. Not really that common. There are lots of tricks to installing tubes. They need to be inflated before being installed. Then you push most of the air back out. After you have installed the tube and pulled the valve stem you need to inflate the tube again (with the valve stem out) before installing the tire the rest of the way, this gets all the creases and fold removed before finishing the install. It's not rocket science but we see some screw ups believe me. It takes a little more time to do it this way but it will last the life of the tire.