Mounting/balancing your own tires

[Truth]

This question doesn't apply to the GS, this just seems to be the most knowledgable crowd so here goes...

I'm saving my pennies to pick up a set of pilots road 3's for the FZ6. I work at Firestone and have plenty of access to automotive tire machines, so I don't think mounting bike tires will be a problem even though I've never done it. I know a lot of you do this even without the machines I have... But how do you balance them? I'm going to try and see if I can figure out a way to use the cage wheel balancer we have here, and if I do I'll post up how I did it. But how do you guys do it at home? I considered dyna beads, but they don't work too well in a car, so I crossed that off the list of possibilities.

I thought of the whole "support your local dealer" thing, but my local dealer wants $700 for this tires installed. And that's with me bringing in the wheels! Pretty much everywhere online lists these tires at $300 shipped. Is this normal bike tire markup?

 

[cowboyup3371]

Check this out from Basscliff's site

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/storagecliff/images/tire_change_tut_by_catbed.pdf

 

[Truth]

I shoulda known better!

Always check Basscliffs site first! Thanks.

 

[Steve]

My balance method is similar to what is shown on the last page of the link that Cowboy posted.

I say "similar" because I just use jack stands and the bike's axle, I don't have any special bearings for it to roll on.

You don't have to spin the tire and wait for it to stop. The first time you move the wheel, give it enough rotation so it will make a couple complete revolutions, note where it stops. Give it a nudge to rotate it about 90 degrees, note where it stops. Repeat until you determine a pattern. Put a weight at the top, turn the wheel 90 degrees, see where it stops. Repeat until there is no pattern to where it stops.

.

 

[tkent02]

Dyna bead work great in a bike with skinny tires, or truck tires, anything skinny. Not as well in a modern wide car tire.

 

[1_v8_merc]

Yep, it's easy. Just need two jackstands and some sort of wheel weights.

For spoke rims, you can cut small lengths of thick wire, and coil it up around the spokes.

 

[silverramsrt]

Dyna bead work great in a bike with skinny tires, or truck tires, anything skinny. Not as well in a modern wide car tire.

+1 for the Dyna balance beads.

 

[1980GS1000E]

Not another Dynabeads thread. They don't work and everyone knows this.

 

[aznpride75]

Yet another reason I love this forum...I had the same question. I work at an auto dealer and wanted to know if we used the same machines as the Suzuki dealers and what not. Only thing I wasn't sure about is, will the rims balance out on our hunter machines? And will I be able to use our tire mount/dismount machine? Also what kinda weights do motorcycles use?

 

[tkent02]

Not another Dynabeads thread. They don't work and everyone knows this.

Except that they work very well.

 

[Wizard]

I've been hand balancing my wheels for over 20 years.
Can't beat it.
When I've had a dealer change the tires, they insisted on balancing them too.
So after, I check the balancing at home, and they have all needed more lead for a "perfect" balance. Though its only been by "a little" (9 grams or less).
But if I'm paying top dollar, it should be perfect.
I just put the axle through and suspend between 2 jack stands, on the bench. Even if your bearings and seals are a little stiff, you can still get to within 3 grams.
Each sticky back square is 7 grams or 1/4 ounce. I'll cut a square into 1/3 size for a near perfect balance.

It takes a bunch of time to do it (20 min/wheel), but you now have peace of mind Knowing its near perfect.
I had a KZ550LTD I bought off a guy where the rear wheel was actually bouncing off the ground (could see daylight) at hiway speeds. Much wasted energy, tire wear shock wear, and don't dare try a high speed sweeper.
The lack of perfection appears to be the shop's balancing machine, not the mechanic. I think the machines are beat up or that's all they can do.
I'm so anal about perfection I even take wire cutters and cut off the rubber casting nubs on the side of the tire. :-$ Hey, its on the bench and I'm taking 20min to balance each anyway,,..
I've never had a weight come off (clean surface with alcohol first).
Having an old bike means the wheels aren't that wide.
New bikes have real wide rims, so don't know if they need left/right side weighting, like a car wheel.
Usually the wheels need 2 to 4 square leads, often in 2 different places, sometimes 3.
My current Metzler Laser front (120/80-16) has 13 squares on it!:-k
Sure scares me. Must be a defective tire. But it looked OK, balanced out to zero and has performed fine. Rear has less than 2 squares. Never had a wheel that needed Zero, but have been close.
Rember to mount the yellow tire dot with the valve (used to be a Blue Dot).
If you were doing lots of high speed sweepers, would you want (to know) your wheels will stay planted?
I don't fuss too much about the back tire, but the Front Tire is Critical!
If you are racing and using sticky weights, the tech check will also insist you tape over the weights (redundancy).
When I'm at the shop doing some business, I'll ask for a strip of weights, often getting them for free. If you have to pay it'll be cheap anyway (coffee fund money).
If I'm doing front end maintenance (brakes, seals, bearings), I'll do a quick balance check at tire 1/2 life. If you've done it perfectly it'll probably still be perfect. I think I only tweaked the balance once at 1/2 life.
Considering my front wheel is only 16" it spins faster and wears more, so I keep a close eye on it.
Rich

 

[Rover]

Nice weights,Don't think my dealer will give them away though.
Coincidentally,I was cleaning up a recent wheel acquisition today and noticed OEM Suzuki weights on this wheel.Wonder if this tire was ever balanced again after it left the factory. (I never noticed these before)

I guess the restoration purists will need these.

 

[Guest]

Nice weights,Don't think my dealer will give them away though.
Coincidentally,I was cleaning up a recent wheel acquisition today and noticed OEM Suzuki weights on this wheel.Wonder if this tire was ever balanced again after it left the factory. (I never noticed these before)

I guess the restoration purists will need these.

I use this style on my gs's, have a bunch of them. I use a static style balancer, it is what is used at race tracks. Mount them with a Wikco industies changer, i'm the guy to go to locally (if you know me well enough) due to that i'll mount and balance one for a twelve pack of Schlitz...

 

[Wizard]

Cool, authentic Suzuki 20gm weight,,..
"..,,Don't think my dealer will give them away though."
Ya gotta go in with that pitiful look,,..
"I guess the restoration purists will need these."
Can only be applied while singing the official Company Song,,..
Rich

 

[Truth]

I'm assuming it's important to balance them with the rotors on. Is that correct?

 

[Wizard]

Correct Truth, even the valve caps should be ON, especially if they are the Fancy Dan Chrome heads with a lota metal (heavy) in them.
I guess you could remove the bearing seals, to let the wheel rotate easier for balancing,,.. can smear some grease there before putting them back on.
My Valve Caps are thin aluminum with a rubber seal in them, weigh almost nothing.
Plastic Caps are not allowed on a race track. The Centrifugal Force at high speed can open a valve and leak out air.
Rember to align the Yellow Dot (light weight spot of tire) with the Valve when mounting.
There are now Red Dots on some tires (Radial Run-out). Tires are not perfectly round. So now a "mark" on the Rim is too be aligned with the Red Dot. I've never seen a "mark" on the rim for this purpose, but I've not worked on new bikes.
Its unclear to me if the Red Dot is for the Low Spot or High Spot on tire.
"Red Rules" is the rule of thumb.
If Red & Yellow Dots are present, align Red Dot with Rim Mark.
If there is no "Rim Mark" then align Red Dot with Valve.
If no Red Dot, use Yellow Dot at Valve.
Use Blue Dot at Valve (older tires).

BassCliff has a tutorial on mounting tires, but misses the Dot Rules, though one photo seems to show a Red Dot at a Valve.

"a 12 pack of Shlitz",,.. wow, that's almost 3 Canadian Beers,,..

 

[tkent02]

"a 12 pack of Shlitz",,.. wow, that's almost 3 Canadian Beers,,..

Come on, Schlitz? Nobody actually drinks that crap.

 

[alke46]

I've been hand balancing my wheels for over 20 years.
Can't beat it.
When I've had a dealer change the tires, they insisted on balancing them too.
So after, I check the balancing at home, and they have all needed more lead for a "perfect" balance. Though its only been by "a little" (9 grams or less).


By "perfect" does that mean that out of 15-20 spins, your tire stops at a different spot?

 

[Wizard]

Once you're cutting those lead squares in 1/2, you're approaching the limit of gravity hand balancing. That's 3.5 grams. I rember having a record player where the needle tracked at 2 grams. Its a pretty small value, hence me putting "perfect" in quotes.
I've never tested the wheel 20 times. One spin could last minutes, making 20 spins kinda silly.:-s
Just brushing your hand along the outside of the tire will send it for 1/2 turn. Then it stops, doesn't rock back. Brush it 5 times, and if it just coasts to a random stop, your done. I've always bettered any machine balance I got back from the shop (last machine balance done in Aug/2011).
Also, when you start cutting the squares in 1/2, they get harder to stay ON the rim, with not much sticky left. So then I dab some black Silicone around it. You'll need a wood Popsicle stick to clean the goo off your rim on your next tire balance.
I'll be Mail Ordering Tires now, and buddy (STJohn) and I will take a day and we'll do both our bikes at once. He has a Bead Breaker.
Lets see here,,,. numbers,,.. ya, it'll probably take 24 Shlitz's for that job.

 

[Guest]

Come on, Schlitz? Nobody actually drinks that crap.

For me, it's more of a short term lease....