Ok DIY's, for those of you who mount your own tires, how do you balance your wheels? Do you balance your wheels? I've just mounted new tires for Barber and am having a hell of time balancing the front wheel for my R6. I'm using a very nice balancing setup by Marc Parnes, super smooth bearing deal w/cones (marcparnes.com). After messing around from 3/4 oz. to 1.5 oz, i've finally settled on 3/4 oz. and it seems ok. The rear took about the same. Now last event (last month) on an 1800 michelin i used NO weights, @ BHF track, bike sees approx 150 mph for a short period of time on the staight. With no weights everything felt fine, i turned the fastest laps i've ever done there. Also i saw a guy mount a new Dunlop tire on his 06' GSXR 750 and didn't balance his tire, no balancing equip, and it didn't seem he had any problems either. So is balancing over rated? I guess i need to watch the boys at Barber next week to see how the pros do it. thanks in advance! Kirk
I mount my own tires and ALWAYS balance. Sometimes you get lucky and it is close without adding any weight, but it is imperative to check it every time.
I too mount and balance my own tires and have a Marc Parnes balancing rod, bearing and cones that I've mad my own balancing stand for. First of all, I run Michelin Power Race on my track bike and Power 2CT's on the street bike and my girlfriend runs the Pilot Power. When I mounted the first set after buying the NoMar and the Marc Parnes, I balanced the front and rear to perfection. I've now changed several sets of tires on all three bikes and usually never have to remove the weights from the previous balance job. In other words, mount the new Michelin and check balance and it is usually spot on or close enough that I'm not going to fool with it. Trust me, if it needed to be re-balanced, I would, but it seems that Michelin just builds their tires within very strict tolerances. If you run tires that have the "paint dot" or ink mark on them, do yourself a favor and balance the wheel first without the tire on it and punchmark the heavy spot. It's not always at the spot where the valve stem is located. One you've located the heavy spot on the wheel without the tire, you now know where to put the paint dot when you mount the new tires. Makes balancing a lot easier and usually you don't have to use as many weights to get r done. Hope this helps.
well i guess it's not that big of a deal, i had them close to being balanced and they felt fine! Kirk
FYI 1/4 ounce out of balance can be felt once over 120 mph. MIchelin's attitude is a tire shouldn't need a balance mark. i.e. once the wheel is balanced you shouldn't have to change the weight again. I would at least check it. Dunlop I've needed to put as much as 2 ounces on a rear DOT race compound (yes I had the paint mark is the correct spot otherwise it was more like 3 ounces). Metzler/Pirelli I've had some of these that had localized heavy spots which averaged out over the whole tire to the point I only needed 1/8 ounce on the front and 0 to 3/4 ounce on the rear. I also made my own balancer, very similar to the Lockhart Philips Pro Balancer.
thanks for the info on tire brands, i guess thats what confused me. How one mfg could require such a difference in weight. However you must have sensitive hinder for a 1/4oz! My tires were 'close' to being balanced and i was running 150+ and everything felt great last weekend. I'll continue to achieve "perfect balance" but won't be as anal as i used to be. Kirk
Not when its on the front tire and I'm hitting 125 mph at least once every lap (that was the only time it would show, over 100). I've been told by professional mechanics (i.e. and instructor from an Automotive Educational Institution) a 1 ounce out of balance on a 15 inch car tire is enough to lift the tire off the ground at 55 mph.