Tire balancing
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 4,722
Likes: 7
RE: Tire balancing
ORIGINAL: Graduate
When the dealer mounts a new tire do they balance it. How is this done? Never have seen a wheel weight. Where are they?
When the dealer mounts a new tire do they balance it. How is this done? Never have seen a wheel weight. Where are they?
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 967
Likes: 3
From: Eastern Massachusetts
RE: Tire balancing
If you have cast wheels, sometimes the weights fly off or wash off. It's worth getting them balanced. If you're running unbalanced, you'll notice the ride smooths out dramatically after the wheels have been balanced. If you are under warantee, tell the dealer your weights fell of and they'll probably balance them for free.When you buy tires, you can usually get the balance thrown in. If you just ride in and ask the shop to balance them, it'll cost ya.
How's it done? Two choices: static or dynamic. Static balance is done by putting the wheel on a spud, giving it a spin and seeing where it stops. Dynamic balance is done by putting the wheel in a machine that will spin it up to speed and determine how to counteract the wobble.
How's it done? Two choices: static or dynamic. Static balance is done by putting the wheel on a spud, giving it a spin and seeing where it stops. Dynamic balance is done by putting the wheel in a machine that will spin it up to speed and determine how to counteract the wobble.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 10,033
Likes: 29
RE: Tire balancing
I have been riding for nearly 20 years on hand mounted tires and no balancing. I just line the sidewall dot up with the valve stem. My tires have a good life and my bikes ride just as smooth as the next guys........Yes, I have something to compare it to.....I ride a FLHPI at work with shop mounted and balanced tires on it. I can't tell any difference in it and my personal bikes' rides.
Cruiser
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 105
Likes: 0
From: B'ham, Al.
RE: Tire balancing
I have the Dynabeads in all 3 of our bikes. All are very smooth. But they were before also! Found 1 1/2 oz of wheel wts in my drive. Never could determine which bike they came from. The Dyna beads are fairly cheap to I added them to all the bikes. So far so good!
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Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 190
Likes: 0
From: Western NY
RE: Tire balancing
Went home and checked my spoked rims on my 07 FXDC and found no wheel weights. The are the OEM tires. Must be they didn't need them. I asked this because I thought I would change the back tire myself.
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Advanced
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 58
Likes: 0
RE: Tire balancing
I got new rubber mounted last week (metzler 880's) on my '07 FLHX. The stock tire I wore down rode smooth. Since we were changing the tires ourselves, we pulled the weights and used the recommended pack (2 oz) of Dynabeads.
Now, I feel a slight vibration when I approach 70mph and more pronounced at 80mph. Nothing that affects handling but I'm a little concerned. Anyone have any idea what it could be? I'm suspicious of the Dynabeads but maybe it could be the belt tension needs to be tighter? Faulty tire?
Just curious what others might suspect the culprit could be?
Now, I feel a slight vibration when I approach 70mph and more pronounced at 80mph. Nothing that affects handling but I'm a little concerned. Anyone have any idea what it could be? I'm suspicious of the Dynabeads but maybe it could be the belt tension needs to be tighter? Faulty tire?
Just curious what others might suspect the culprit could be?