Anybody ever use this stuff?

[mixongw]

I don't testing on a balancing machine would be conclusive, since the axle is held rigid, unlike the axle on a bike, truck, etc. I'm not sure, but I think the beads need at least a little movement of the axle to get them distributed. I could be wrong about that, but I wouldn't think that the balancing machine would be accepted by many as a real-world test. Only by those who agree with the results, naturally.

I'll be installing them on my bike, if I can ever get that rear tire to seat...

After installing the beads in my truck tires, I had the tire store check the balance on a spin balancer. It showed the tire needed 2 oz. of lead. He put on the weight and spun it up. Now the machine showed it needed another 2 oz. in another location. This could have been repeated again and again until the tire and wheel weighed about 10 lbs. more! The reason this happens is that the spin balancer never goes very fast so the beads never have a chance to get distributed. I have had the beads in all my vehicles for several years. They work and they work well. Inovative Balancing used to have a video that showed a wheel that had weights that could be rotated around the wheel to simulate an out-of-balance tire. It also had a clear circular tube filled partially with steel balls to simulate the beads. You could see the balls redistribute themselves and balance the wheel. That video is what sold me on the beads.

 

[almarconi]

I'm getting ready to order some for my bike. For about $15 they are worth a try.

 

[TheCafeKid]

Just an update from Dogma since he didnt post one...

At the BC rally i overheard him talking about using these in his bike...he said they work fabulously, and he hasnt had any problem out of them. Im considering trying them out for myself when i go to put new tires on my GS1000.

 

[man8woman]

When did balancing a tire become such a chore that you would need such a product? Peel the back off stick on rim and presto finished!

 

[MacGyver]

I know this has been covered in other threads, but I thought I would add my experience here.

Dyna-Beads and Slime do work for tire balancing. They work best after the tires have been balanced with traditional weights, primarily because there is only so much they can do. A cheap knobby tire such as I have on my KLR now, required a large amount of lead weight to get into an initial balance state. The Slime I have in there now maintains the balance regardless of what stones get stuck in the tires.

I have Dyna-Beads in my V-Strom. I bought it with 8000 km on the factory tires and asked the dealership I bought it from to balance the wheels before I picked it up. For some reason they don't re-balance, only upon initial install. Hmmmm. I did notice the wheels out of balance on the 250 km ride home. After an application of Dyna-Beads, the ride is smooth.

The science is solid but the caveat is that the wheel needs to move on a fixed/smooth surface for it to work, not a fixed axle - as in a balancing machine. In a balancing machine, the beads/Slime would pool and not re-distribute themselves as required, every test would be different.

Next time I have a tire changed I will ask for some extra weights and purposely put the tire out of balance, install beads, test, and report. Right now I have no weights in my garage.

Until then, I am a supporter and I love my smooth wheels.

 

[Dogma]

Just an update from Dogma since he didnt post one...

At the BC rally i overheard him talking about using these in his bike...he said they work fabulously, and he hasnt had any problem out of them. Im considering trying them out for myself when i go to put new tires on my GS1000.

Forgot about this thread. The subject line is too easy to skip over (non-specific subject don't get much attention from me). Thanks for reporting in for me, Josh.

How fast did we come out of BC? Anyhow, smooth as glass through any legal speeds.

I installed recommended quantities, and took the lead weights off. I don't know how heavy the weights were, and they're gone now.

There have been two events that made me wonder though, both involving local interstates. Coming back from the first hotel scouting trip with RageZro on I275E, I thought I picked up some vibration. I was thinking that maybe the horrible pavement had displaced some of the beads, and the wheels were spinning too fast for them to move back into place. Another time, I launched down an on-ramp onto I75N, and noticed a similar vibration. My thought that time was that since I was basically doing a drag race launch, the beads may not have had time to spread around. In both instances, the oscillation went away after a mile or so. I can't be sure that in either case it wasn't bad pavement.

So far I like the beads, especially since it made balancing the new tires a brain-dead non-issue. For cost and time spent, it might be a wash vs. regular balancing. However, the beads continually adjust, and can't fall / be knocked off.

 

[tkent02]

Just bought a bunch of the Dynabeads, put some in the GS 750/1000 projectile and in the BMW. Got enough left to do several other bikes...
The GS has the tires that were on it when I bought it, Bridgestone Spitfires in great shape, there are lead weights on the wheels but I don't know who put them on or when, it has always been shaky at speeds around 50 or so. Today, after adding the beads it is as if the roads are made of glass, it rides smooth as silk, no shaking, no weirdness at all up to a pretty highly illegal speed attained on the freeway.

Haven't ridden the BMW since adding the beads, but it was always perfectly smooth, being a BMW with Avon tires and all. Just put them in to help the tires last longer.