I bought my 04 Fatboy from a "Motorsports" dealer, not the HD dealer in town. Anyway, The bike came with two new tires installed. Since day one it has felt a little twitchy at freeway speeds on some roads, but not all. I've been playing with different tire pressures and seem to have made some improvements.

I noticed last night that there are no weights on the rims, front or back. Is it safe to assume then that they didn't balance the tires? Could this account for the twitchy feel on some stretches of road?

Thnx for your input.

 

Not impossible, but highly unlikely that both wheels on the same bike don't need just a small amount of balancing weight, and unlikely that the dealer used RideOn or Dyna Beads.

Take a look at using RideOn or Dyna Beads.

 

Dyna Beads

 

Ride-on!!!!!
works great

 

I would think it is highly unlikely that they would install wheels without balancing them. The Indy that mounts my tires uses Dyna beads. I would take it back to where you bought it and have them take a look. If the tires really aren't balanced I would think it would feel more than just a bit twitchy at highway speeds. Unbalanced wheels are usually very noticeable.

 

Unless they can be put in via the valve stem I'd have to take it in to have it done. That's a joke... Perhaps, as was said the indy uses them, I'll call in the morning and ask. Thnx for the input.

 

A "Motorsports" dealer knows how important a balanced tire is regardless of what the name on the tank says. It is possible that the previous owner had the tires put on by an inconfident and/or immoral indy before trading it in.

 

Possible, but the tires had what appeared to be zero miles. You know that new tire look, **** and all. Still possible given the low miles on the bike they could have been 6 months old and had 20 miles on them.

 

You say its twitchy on some roads but not all. If it was a balance problem it would be consistant. My last rear wheel didnt require any weights which was a first for me.

 

My guess it has dyna beads also. I have used them for years now and they work great!