I've changed my own m/c tires for 40 years. But as I was pulling the rear from my "new" (02) VFR, I realized: I can't statically balance the rear using the axle. CRAP!! So, for the first time EVER, I PAID to have a tire changed. I took the wheel in, and they charged $35.... not happy, but the worst part, they put in Dyna Beads? NO WEIGHTS!! They insisted they're the hot setup that constantly adjust for wear, and a $20 upgrade that they would give me FREE! Changed and balanced the front myself, and did a quick run to 100mph, and it's obvious the dyna beads aren't worth a damn! Tire looks fine as far as runout....balance is NOT okay. I don't have the cone things to statically balance it.......anyone have a hot setup for easy balancing? I tried on the bike, with the chain off, and pads spread, but just not free enough for accurate static balancing. Also, are dyna beads actually popular? Really???
You wont be able to do a static balance with the beads in the tire. They are supposed to work dynamically with the bike in motion. The beads are most popular with the heavy touring set - Goldwings and stuff.
On your tire, if you wanna static balance, the beads gotta come out.
Prior to the Harbor Freight static balance insert, no longer available, there was a PVC pipe assembly that you could insert into the rear wheel and do a balance. I don't recall the exact PVC parts but a web search may help. If not I still have the one I assembled and can post some pics and specs. Basically it duplicated the machined Harbor Freight item with a few PVC plumbing parts fit together.
I think the whole dyna beads balancing wheels is bizarre. I know some who have tried them. I've also known of tire dealers who insisted that todays 'new tech' tires don't need balancing. It's all bogus. I've changed several dozen tires over the years. Some are better than others, right out of the wrapper, but who the devil wouldn't hang a wheel assembly before install, just to be certain? Do any of those 'fat tired tourists' (read that any way you like), go fast enough on a light enough bike to notice tire imbalance? Why would any additional weights / beads orient themselves opposite the heavy portion of the tire? You just dump a prescribed amount of beads in an offer an incantation? . . . still not knowing whether the tire 'out' a 1/4 oz. or 1-1/4 oz.? Oh you say they spread throughout the circumference of the tire? And sudden stops and bumps have no effect? Did I say bizarre? Good fortune, R3~
Please don't be shy, tell us how you really feel!!
J/k
Never used the beads but I find this -your post-informative. If a store ever offers tobuse them on my bike, I will at the very least question them. Sorry I cannot help.
C
.......anyone have a hot setup for easy balancing?
I use a Marc Parnes balancer for both front and rear wheels supported between a pair of jack stands. This is a high precision unit that does a wonderful job. You can call Marc directly if you have any questions - he's very helpful. It's not cheap but IMHO worth every penny. I saved the cost of it the first time I used it. I think he still has lead weights you can buy which are getting harder to find.
No beads for me. I bought the story as well as the beads and wound up fighting a battle with my Honda shop and the dealership finally pulled them out and gave me a refund. They sent my wheels out to a COMPETITOR dealership that balanced them perfectly with regular stick on weights. Dyna Beads at 70 mph felt like I was on the rumble strips along the shoulder of the road.
I think that this system works on the same principle.
These videos allways show a stationary axle and the beads at a constant radius from the axle. Both are not the case when used outside the "laboratory" on the open road where tyres constantly deform and travel in a vertical motion.
.......anyone have a hot setup for easy balancing?
I use a Marc Parnes balancer for both front and rear wheels supported between a pair of jack stands. This is a high precision unit that does a wonderful job. You can call Marc directly if you have any questions - he's very helpful. It's not cheap but IMHO worth every penny. I saved the cost of it the first time I used it. I think he still has lead weights you can buy which are getting harder to find.
I find these threads very interesting....I have used Dynabeads & some ebay beads for the last 60k on my '94 with no ill effects at all, I change my own tires (the old fashioned way) and find them very easy to use. I regularly go well over the speed limit and have always had a nice smooth ride, smooth enough to at times have no hands on the bars while filming or changing the card on my camera. I have hours of video with the camera mounted to my left side mirror stalk that show no movement at all.
[image: Img 8218 0 copy]
Img 8218 0 copy My favorite picture check out my Video Rig....old Cannon A460 on my tripod base ziptied to the mirror!
Differing opinions are what keeps our marketplace going. I do not claim to know why they work or understand the rationale but they work for me and make tire changing/balancing easy. :blush:
thanks guys, really surprised by the number of responses!! Forgot to mention, the front that I changed, had the beads in it. Maybe it's a "local" thing? lol I'll give 'em a little time, while I consider my options. I just sold my lathe last year, or could've made an adapter, dammit!! The worst part, was finally paying to have a tire changed.....I'm still ashamed!!! :rolleyes:
Don't forget when thinking about the DynaBeads that lots of people change tires and don't balance, and they sometimes have great luck that way. IMO the DynaBeads work the same way: the luck of the draw and getting a good tire.
The theory popping out of my little brain is that the Dyna Beads do work but not nearly as accurately as stick on weights located in the proper spot on the rim. With larger, heavier bikes like the Goldwing, the simple mass of the bike helps to quiet the shaking of a slightly out of balance tire and speeds are usually lower with the cruiser/touring crowd. I think having a slightly out of balance tire on a lighter, more nimble, sport or ST bike just magnifies the problem, especially involving higher speeds.
The water bottle with dyna beads hardly represents a spinning tire and wheel. It looked to me as though the beads distributed themselves evenly on the inside of the bottle. Someone with an advanced degree in Physics may convince me otherwise. R3~
Ive not tried the dyna beads, nor intend to, they cost 10/ $20, and that needs replacement every tire change, its not cost effective even if they actually worked, compared to just static balancing. $30 is worth someone else to change your tires IMO, I just do my own to save the $30 per tire. Or really the main reason, I change my own is also( I really dont need the labor or the satisfaction), its just needing the ability to do internal repair rather than having to replace the tire, which is very expensive, with a flat. Temporary outside fixes, just dont hold up with my riding.
Edited by spud786, 04 July 2013 - 04:17 PM.
The water bottle with dyna beads hardly represents a spinning tire and wheel. It looked to me as though the beads distributed themselves evenly on the inside of the bottle. Someone with an advanced degree in Physics may convince me otherwise. R3~
I can't wrap my head around the theory of the beads going to the light spot. It seems to me like they would do the opposite and be forced to the heavy spot.....I'm apparently wrong, but it's not like my "common sense" hasn't gotten me confused before!! :rolleyes:
The water bottle with dyna beads hardly represents a spinning tire and wheel. It looked to me as though the beads distributed themselves evenly on the inside of the bottle. Someone with an advanced degree in Physics may convince me otherwise. R3~
The beads' mass relative to the bottle would be quite high compared to an actual wheel, even though obviosly in the wheel more beads would be used. If they did distribute evenly in the bottle they would probably make it balance out by overwhelming the mass of the bottle. In a wheel that needed 1/2 ounce of weight in a particular spot to balance, the beads would all have to congregate in just that spot for it to work, as their mass would be insignificant relative to the overall wheel weight if they distributed evenly. I would be more convinced if they used the beads on an out of balance wheel, installed or adapted it to a Hunter balancer for automotive wheels and demonstrated that they work. Even at that, it seems like the beads would make a mess when removing the tire.
Yeah, I've heard that, but what bothers me is if the beads are being held in place by centripetal action, how are they going to "fall" to the lowest point? I mean look at those wheels with the people held in place when the wheel spins. They don't move and they're sure heavier than some ceramic beads. :)
I guess part of the problem is if this works so well, why haven't wheels come out with this thing built in? Seems like a ready made market, but I've never seen a single one, not even for trucks.
I purchased dyna beads in hopes of solving an aggravating out-of-balance condition with a Dunlop mounted on the front wheel of my Speed Triple a few years ago. For me the beads did not eliminate the tire's imbalance and adding more beads than recommended also seemed to make little (if any) difference. I did notice with the beads installed that each time I pulled away from a stop I could feel a "bump-bump"/imbalance initially, which would improve but not go away completely with speed. I believe this may have been caused by the beads pooling in the low spot of the tire with each stop, then re-distribute themselves around the rim as forward motion resumed. I also sensed the tire would go out of balance for a split second after each impact with bumps on the road. I'll also mention that after determining the beads were ineffective since I retained the original stick-on weights and knew where they had been mounted I re-attached the same without noting any change (for better or worse) in the wheel's out-of-balance behavior.
For those who've claimed they've only had good luck using Dyna Beads, I wonder if they can honestly say they conformed that the tires were out of balance before the beads were installed and that the out-of-balance condition improved or was eliminated after the beads were installed. When I had a local guy spoon on my vfr's last set of ires (Michelin Pilot Roads), he did not have a adapter for the rear wheel that would work with his static balancer. So, when the wheels were re-installed the front tire had been balanced but the rear had not. As far as I can tell since then that rear tire has behaved as if it was almost perfectly in-balance. Also, perhaps I've been lucky but I don't recall ever having a Michelin tire that required the addition of more than a minimal amount of weight for balancing.
B.t.w., Dyna-beads are not glass or plastic: they're ceramic.
After I purchased the Dyna beads and installation tool, I'm pretty sure I later read an article where they had been tested by the editors at Motorcycle Consumer News. I'm pretty sure that they magazine concluded the beads were not as effective as traditional balancing methods.
In any case I have learned my lesson and do not plan to use them again.
Thanks ceramic >> ..
End of thread · 31 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 21 Jun 2015
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