Tired of putting it off, I ordered what I needed

[TheTussin]

My bike has been sitting in storage for long enough! I've had my tax refund for awhile and just been putting off buying what I need (well, that and eating too much fast food because I 'can afford it'), but not anymore. I just ordered a new chain, sprocket, brake pads (front and back), and tire irons to put on my new tires. *big sigh of relief* Now I just get to look forward to doing all the work. Which I actually am.

Oh! I've been considering dyna beads for balancing. Anyone have experience with them?

[romulux]

Oh! I've been considering dyna beads for balancing. Anyone have experience with them?

It's been hotly debated elsewhere whether or not dynabeads are snake oil.  I have no clue whether they are or not, but it's not worth buying from them.  Use a cheap container of 6mm plastic airsoft BBs.  Follow dynabead's guide of using 1oz front, 2oz back or whatever their suggestion is.  It will be a far cheaper experiment to do it this way.  An alternative media identical to dynabeads is ceramic or zircon milling media.  Dynabeads may in fact be re-branded ceramic milling media.  You could buy a pound of it for cheaper than 3oz of dynabeads and sell it to your friends if you think it works.

[BaltimoreGS]

What's wrong with a good old fashion stick on lead weight?

-Jessie

[bobthebiker]

What's wrong with a good old fashion stick on lead weight?

-Jessie

you didnt get the memo?  those are evil and they look awful!

[TheTussin]

What's wrong with a good old fashion stick on lead weight?

-Jessie

I have nothing wrong with stick on weights, I'm just a bit hesitant about getting a setup to do a proper static balancing. If you have a good way, please let me know. And one that doesn't involve a ladder.

Also, are airsoft pellets smooth enough? I seem to recall some i've used having seams. I could be wrong though. And where might I find ceramic milling media?

Thanks! Love this forum.

[tt_four]

How exactly do these things work? I looked up their website but can't get it work right to get to the installation page. You just put the beads inside the tire and they magically balance it when it spins?? That just sounds like such an awful idea to me.

[Pigeonroost]

I've used the dyna beads on a GL1800.  They work "almost" as well as properly set lead weights.  They do not work at slow speeds.  They may not work when accellerating or braking.  Most folks would not notice the difference between balanced and out of balanced motorcyle tires anyway.

I have not changed GS500 tires yet, wouldn't the bike's axles suspended on jackstands serve as a static balancer.  If not, do a Google on Marc Parnes balancer for a good, simple, fairly inexpensive balance kit.

prs

[black and silver twin]

I've used the dyna beads on a GL1800.  They work "almost" as well as properly set lead weights.  They do not work at slow speeds.  They may not work when accellerating or braking.  Most folks would not notice the difference between balanced and out of balanced motorcyle tires anyway.

I have not changed GS500 tires yet, wouldn't the bike's axles suspended on jackstands serve as a static balancer.  If not, do a Google on Marc Parnes balancer for a good, simple, fairly inexpensive balance kit.

prs

I noticed a huge difference in my tire when it was out of balance. I put on sport demons my self with my dads help and didnt balance it right. the first time I went over 40mph I knew something wasnt right, had a tiny vibration. so I went 60 to see if it would go away, nope got much worse. so I turned right back around and rebalanced it correctly and no more vibes.

P.S. you can get a static balancer from harborfreight for cheap, and they work great once you learn how to do it right.

[gsJack]

I mounted my own motorcycle tires for years and never balanced any of them.  I never or hardly ever went over 70-75 mph freeway speeds and never had a problem with the balance.  Gave it up about 12 years ago around age 65, thought I was gonna croak one hot August day changing the last one.   

All my bikes have had cast wheels except a CB750K that had wire spoke wheels.  The balancing lead on the cast wheels when you get a bike is mostly to balance the wheels, good quality tires rarely require much balancing.  I just left the lead on a wheel that came on it and never had a problem with balance.  Just lined up the dot on the tire with the stem.

I've carried my wheels in for mounting and balancing for the past 10-11 GS500 years and over 150k miles (lots of tires) and observed they removed the balance weights every time and then put back just about the same amount of weight in the same place that they removed before mounting.  If I ever feel up to mounting tires again I'll go without the balancing again.  Could be if they have dropped SS and Medicare by the time I'm 90 I'll be doing them myself again.   

[BaltimoreGS]

If you have a decent vice you just need a sturdy metal rod clamped in horizontally.  Put the wheel on the rod and give it a light spin.  Mark where it stops at the bottom.  Spin again and see if it stops at the same place.  If so, that is your heavy spot.  Add a 1/4 ounce of weight to the opposite side from the heavy spot.  Spin again and see what happens.  Keep adding weight until the wheel stops at random positions, then it is balanced. 

-Jessie

[TheTussin]

Saw the tool on Harbor Freights website, 60 bucks. Called my local dealership, 5 bucks a tire. I think I'll just have them do it this time, we'll see what happens next.

My sprocket was on backorder not available until 3/12/10. This was from BikeBandit. Was a 15T for 33 bucks. Can someone recommend elsewhere I can get one? Possibly with free shipping?

[gsJack]

http://www.chaparral-racing.com/Chaparral/product_family.asp?family_id=16780&mscssid=F623206B86184832B68DD9A7FD4FA2D2&Gift=False&GiftID=

http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/product_catalog/Product.jsp;jsessionid=EW14HYX0DAY5HLA0WTKSM4VMDK0NCIV0?store=&skuId=8098514&mmy=

$15-16 either place plus ship.  Still much less than BB.

[DoD#i]

Did you even try your local dealer? I found that mine had front sprockets for the same price as mail-order, except paying sales tax was way cheaper (and a lot faster) than paying shipping.

[MXFun86]

I read an article on beads and pads and all that stuff in a Jeep mag the other day on the toilet.  For that application it was awesome cause you would not believe how much trouble it is to get my 42' Swampers balanced.  Takes some special machine and is really pricey but well worth it to be able to do 70mph without throwing tires off (done that).  But for a motorcycle it doesn't seem worthwhile unless its a cosmetic thing in my opinion.  Just the trouble of having to find a place with one of those magic voodoo machines... there weren't any in MI at the time.  AND they said you had to rebalance regularly.  That may just be a car thing.  Dunno.  Theres my .01 and a half cents.

[Pigeonroost]

All my bikes have had cast wheels except a CB750K that had wire spoke wheels.  The balancing lead on the cast wheels when you get a bike is mostly to balance the wheels, good quality tires rarely require much balancing.  I just left the lead on a wheel that came on it and never had a problem with balance.  Just lined up the dot on the tire with the stem.  

Jack;  With the wheels balanced before hand and the "dots" mated, I have seem modern radial cruiser and touring tires; Metzeler, Bridgestone, Dunlop, and Avon to take as much as much as 2oz to balance.  That does not make me happy.  Typically, they do fall under 1/2oz.

prs

[ohgood]

What's wrong with a good old fashion stick on lead weight?

-Jessie

I have nothing wrong with stick on weights, I'm just a bit hesitant about getting a setup to do a proper static balancing. If you have a good way, please let me know. And one that doesn't involve a ladder.

Also, are airsoft pellets smooth enough? I seem to recall some i've used having seams. I could be wrong though. And where might I find ceramic milling media?

Thanks! Love this forum.

things needed:

( 3 ) 2x4's, about a foot in length each
( 1  ) gs500 front/rear axle - that you already have if you have a bike that can be ridden
( 6 ) stick on lead wheel weights
( 5 ) minutes of patience


hammer the 2x4's into what will resemble a "U" on your garage floor. insert the axle to the wheel, with tire mounted, and turn the wheel so the valve stem is at the top, or really wherever you like.

give the wheel a very, very gentle spin. maybe enough to rotate it 1 - 1 1/2 times, and wait for it to show you the heavy spot (down). mark the opposite with chalk 180 degrees.

spin it 5-6 more times, and note the heavy spot.

attach one stick on weight at the marked spot.

repeat the easy spin process, noting the heavy spot.

add more (one at a time !) weights until the wheel will NOT stop in the same place consistantly.

doone. ride. enjoy.

your gs doesn't propogate at earth shattering speeds, so this method is just fine.

weights are available on ebay for basicly shipping cost. more expensive DOES NOT MEAN better

good luck.

postscript- if your wheel bearings are toast, you'll obviousely need to replace htem first.

[TheTussin]

DoD, I don't have a local Suzi dealer. But no I didn't check my Honda or Yamaha Dealer.

I ordered a JT front from BB, was 20 bucks, not bad. Didn't know about those other sites, I'll keep them in mind in the future, thanks.

ohgood: That's so simple I don't know why I didn't think of it. I assume I'll either need to drill holes or at least carve notches in the top of them though.