For those who mount their own tires

[trbig]

There have been discussions on this in the past.. and although it seems impossible, these beads apparently do work as stated. Maybe some of the people that have used them will pipe in on here.

Personally, I use a wheel balancer that uses skateboard bearings. I used to get all my tires computer balanced, but tell you the truth when I say the static balance I get from using the skateboard bearings is a smoother ride than I have EVER gotten from a computerized balance.

Tod

[Ivan]

The magic beads have been cussed and discussed here many times before. Some swear they are the best thing since the invention of the wheel. Others think they are snake oil. I am not going to post my view, as my view is easily searchable.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Hey, Tod...

Rod B. just had his new tires bead balanced on his Wing a couple of months ago, not long after we got back from Colo.

Said it worked great, and he liked it.

But I'm w/ you and static balancing.

[zx11racr]

beads

Its like posi trac rear end. It just does. joe dirt

That was the joke. The last guy asked how do these magic beads work. Ever watch the movie joe dirt? Anyhow guess ya missed it.lol

ed

[psycoreefer]

If you do a google search you can find a good description.....

Take your axle, stick it through the wheel you want to balance and support both ends with something, as close to level as you can get. When I did mine I used the arms of two folding camp chairs.

Now spin the tire, it will slow and then stop, mark the rim/tire on the "top" furthest from the ground, spin it again, mark it again, repeat 4 or 5 times.

The lightest spot is bracketed by all your marks, put your weight there. You can get stick on weights from most bike shops.

Now repeat the spinning process, if your marks are even spread all around the tire your tire is balance, if they are all ending up on the same side then add a little weight. Keep doing this untill all the marks your making are randomly all around the tire.

[jjwaller]

I mount and balance my tires. That said, a few years ago I picked up some of the beads and used them on an XJ650 and a XS750(which I still have). I think I paid like $24 for 6oz(2-2oz and 2-1oz) which did both bikes tires.
On the 650 there was no vibration at all up just over 100mph. On the 750, It has a bit of engine vibration already being a triple but no steering or frame vibration to 110mph. It just turned 3kmi since I rebuilt it and put the tires on and they show no wear.

I have since balanced all my tires with weights on an XJ650 Turbo and both XS1100's.

$24.00????? For what, $2.00 (or less) worth of weights?
For an excellent method of home balancing, see post #20 in this thread.
Pellets, BB's, Etc. Snake Oil!

[psycoreefer]

I don't claim to have come up with the method, I'm just a cheap bastard with lots of time on my hands......supposedly its how the racers still do it, and I have to say I think I got it a lot closer then the shop that did it last with one of those fancy machines. Cost me 2.00 for sticky weights and I have more then half of them left for next time.

[jjwaller]

Exactly Psycho! And Tod too. (Can't leave him out)
Works fine!!!!

[81xsproject]

I tried the stupid beads... it's a crock. You wanna balance a wheel, get the balancing kits off ebay with the rod, centering cones, and bearings.

[Poprock]

I got a wheel balancer off eBay. It was made for use with a bike stand like the sports bikes use. two pairs of 2 precision bearings in a bracket on a shaft that fits in the bike stand. It came with a hardened shaft and 2 aluminum cones. I made a wood bracket that fits under a work bench. Same process as described above. Cost $30 and works real well.

[Geezer]

I got a wheel balancer off eBay. It was made for use with a bike stand like the sports bikes use. two pairs of 2 precision bearings in a bracket on a shaft that fits in the bike stand. It came with a hardened shaft and 2 aluminum cones. I made a wood bracket that fits under a work bench. Same process as described above. Cost $30 and works real well.

Harbor Freight now has something like this. I don't do enough tires for it to pay off for me and I usually just pay the 15 bucks for a spin balance at the nearest bike shop.

On the other hand I'd love to have another wheel truing stand again. I'd love to get back into lacing and truing spoke wheels... Back when I was turning wrenches every mechanic was expected to be proficient in this now it's considered a dying art...

Geezer

[rpgoerlich]

$24.00????? For what, $2.00 (or less) worth of weights?
For an excellent method of home balancing, see post #20 in this thread.
Pellets, BB's, Etc. Snake Oil!

Yep, and at that time $24 was a far cry from the $100 to have them balanced at the stealership... and it worked.

But, if you noticed the last line in my post:

I have since balanced all my tires with weights on an XJ650 Turbo and both XS1100's.

I now have the equipment to balance them.

[b.walker5]

Ain't no way that will balance a tire. It will dampen vibration. All the material (no matter what it is) you put in a tire will find the furtherest point from the axis.

Exactly why it does work. An out of balance rotating mass has a centre of gravity that does not match the centre of rotation. The area of highest mass, i.e. the heavy spot is closest (NOT FURTHEREST) to the centre of gravity. (thats why the heavy spot falls to the bottom when static balancing) This makes the lightest point furthest from the centre of gravity and centrifugal force forces the beads to this point. As the mass builds, the centre of gravity moves closer to the centre of rotation and the vibrations of the oscilating mass are eliminated. Once the centre of gravity matches the centre of rotation you have a rotating mass without oscilation. Centrifigal force, and the laws of physics, allows any remaining beads to evenly distribute round the rest of the rotating mass.

The whole purpose of balancing is to remove oscilation from a rotating mass is it not? i.e. dampen vibration.

Theres nothing new in this, Newton had it figured out around the same time he was throwing bricks and feathers of the tower of Pisa.

[Ivan]

Exactly why it does work. An out of balance rotating mass has a centre of gravity that does not match the centre of rotation. The area of highest mass, i.e. the heavy spot is closest (NOT FURTHEREST) to the centre of gravity.

No,

Centrifugal force acts more on the heavy side of the wheel, pulling the heavier side farther from the center of rotation, not closer to.

If these kinds of gimmicks actually worked, places like Hunter, Coats, Corgi, and such wouldn't be in business. Not only because they wouldn't sell balancers, but the piezo electric devices used to measure the imbalance would be absolutely worthless, and not be able to sense an imbalance.

Most people who believe these beads work are thinking that the wheel seeks to spin in a stable fasion. There is a point that a rotating mass will spin fairly stable with the heavy side closer to the center of rotation. this will make the whole system balance, but in practice, the wheel will not seek to spin at this point. The misunderstanding comes from assuming the wheel can have a center of rotation other than that of the axle. The center of rotation is fixed at the axle, the heavy side pulls away from that, causing flex in the system which translates to the vibration that we feel. The only way to balance a wheel is to match the center of mass to the center of rotation.

[rockhoundtx]

Dyna Beads for Balancing

One of the guys on the rig told me about these little beads. Uses them in all his cycles. Swore by them. So I tryed them. Amazing these really work. Similar to the centramatic used on Big Rigs.
I think I got them from Jake's in Utah. Here is the dyna bead link:
http://www.innovativebalancing.com/motorcycle.htm