Balancing beads

[1980GS1000E]

Check out this demonstration.

This has been debunked before. The wheel is attached to the bike at the hub and is restricted somewhat in movement while the bottle full of stuff is not.

 

[tkent02]

They don't work? Then I wonder why they make my dirt bike with one old school heavy ass rim lock on each wheel quit shaking?

 

[1980GS1000E]

Sand would probably work. Until it cakes or wears the tube from the inside out. I didn't mean to imply that the beads wouldn't work in the proper conditions. There are foreseeable conditions where they simply won't work as well as a properly static balanced wheel and tire assembly. Use them, I won't try to convince you otherwise.

 

[Guest]

Noticed an ad for this in one of the bike magazines.


Counteract Ready-Balance tubes already have the balancing beads in them. Currently available in a limited number of sizes.
http://www.counteractbalancing.com/products/ready-balance/



They also have a calculator for figuring out how much you should add if you are not using one of these tubes.
http://www.counteractbalancing.com/applications/



The calculator includes this note: ?Thin front tires with tubes and spoke rims that call for 1oz, please use 2oz.?
Does anyone know why they recommend this?

 

[posplayr]

I'm running tubeless on my 1100E. The front does bleed down a bit but never below 28-29psi and I top it up once every 7-10 days. The rear is solid and I top it up maybe 3 times in a summer.


Mark

Probably leaking because your rims have oxidized and small leaks pass through at the bead of the rim. I had and 81 GS750EX that was going flat fast (about the same time as yours) and broke the tires off the rims, wire wheels the centers, applied a bit of silicone spray and re assembled. Leaks gone.

I got a lot of grief for the silicone spray on the inside of the rims but it never seemed to give a problem. A generous lubing with tire sealant would also probably protect the tires. If you are anal, spray paint them.

 

[posplayr]

They don't work? Then I wonder why they make my dirt bike with one old school heavy ass rim lock on each wheel quit shaking?

I use them on my oversized van tires.

 

[Guest]

Probably leaking because your rims have oxidized and small leaks pass through at the bead of the rim. I had and 81 GS750EX that was going flat fast (about the same time as yours) and broke the tires off the rims, wire wheels the centers, applied a bit of silicone spray and re assembled. Leaks gone.

I got a lot of grief for the silicone spray on the inside of the rims but it never seemed to give a problem. A generous lubing with tire sealant would also probably protect the tires. If you are anal, spray paint them.

Interesting, that's a thought. They certainly weren't visibly oxidized or I would have cleaned it up before installing the new tires. I will have a look next time I change the front tire and maybe give it a scrubbing. When you say silicone spray are you talking about silicone lube or something else?


Mark

 

[posplayr]

Interesting, that's a thought. They certainly weren't visibly oxidized or I would have cleaned it up before installing the new tires. I will have a look next time I change the front tire and maybe give it a scrubbing. When you say silicone spray are you talking about silicone lube or something else?


Mark

Anything that would stop oxidation.

This works well on anything including exhaust. Use to protect your forks.

https://www.amazon.com/S100-16300A-Corrosion-Protectant-Aerosol/dp/B000WK4ELE

 

[GS450L]

None of the tire manufacturers approve them, pretty much sums it up for me.......

 

[Guest]

They don't work? Then I wonder why they make my dirt bike with one old school heavy ass rim lock on each wheel quit shaking?

The calculator recommended either 1 or 2 oz for the tires I tried. How much did you add for dirt bike with rim locks?

 

[1980GS1000E]

At least as much as the rim lock weighs, but a dirt bike normally doesn't travel at highway speeds much, anyway.

 

[Dogma]

I've used them, and they do definitely work. They were a bit fiddly to install, maybe not worse than balancing, and probably made a mess when those tires came off. They cost a little more than weights. Whatever. What I didn't like about them is that a large bump at freeway speeds could upset the beads while the wheel is spinning too fast for them to redistribute themselves (centrifugal force). So I had to slow down quite a bit until the wheel stopped hopping. So I've decided I don't like them on a vehicle where that can happen.

 

[Guest]

I've used them, and they do definitely work. They were a bit fiddly to install, maybe not worse than balancing, and probably made a mess when those tires came off. They cost a little more than weights. Whatever. What I didn't like about them is that a large bump at freeway speeds could upset the beads while the wheel is spinning too fast for them to redistribute themselves (centrifugal force). So I had to slow down quite a bit until the wheel stopped hopping. So I've decided I don't like them on a vehicle where that can happen.

Interesting. I was considering using them. Did a bit of online research & there barely was any mention of this. Big rig guys seem to big fans of the beads.


The first out-of-balance resonance is 35-40 mph and then the next one would be 70-80 mph. So if you hit a pothole at 60 mph, you are saying it makes the balance worse until you slow down to 35-40?


What brand/type of beads were you using? Was there a freeway speed where this problem started, as in ok at 55 put bad at 65?

 

[Dogma]

Interesting. I was considering using them. Did a bit of online research & there barely was any mention of this. Big rig guys seem to big fans of the beads.


The first out-of-balance resonance is 35-40 mph and then the next one would be 70-80 mph. So if you hit a pothole at 60 mph, you are saying it makes the balance worse until you slow down to 35-40?


What brand/type of beads were you using? Was there a freeway speed where this problem started, as in ok at 55 put bad at 65?

Uh, lemme see.. I used DynaBeads. On that section of I-275, I was probably doing something like 70-75 mph. It only happened a couple times out of all the trips I took on that bike at similar speeds or higher. It takes a bump that makes you say "OW!" I don't know where the resonances are, and they would change from bike to bike anyway. I don't remember clearly anymore how much I had to slow down, but I think I needed an off-ramp to do it. So, probably less than 60, maybe a lot less.

The big trucks would probably never have this problem, since the OD of those tires is so much larger. Centrifugal force is inverse linear with radius, so I wouldn't expect the same problem to manifest for them until somewhere well over 100 mph, at which point rubber heating probably takes over as the big problem (the beads stick to hot rubber, so don't do track speeds with them). Tires are a big expense for trucks, so I can see how they would like a self balancing tire for maximum life purposes.

 

[Guest]

Uh, lemme see.. I used DynaBeads. On that section of I-275, I was probably doing something like 70-75 mph. It only happened a couple times out of all the trips I took on that bike at similar speeds or higher. It takes a bump that makes you say "OW!" I don't know where the resonances are, and they would change from bike to bike anyway. I don't remember clearly anymore how much I had to slow down, but I think I needed an off-ramp to do it. So, probably less than 60, maybe a lot less.

The big trucks would probably never have this problem, since the OD of those tires is so much larger. Centrifugal force is inverse linear with radius, so I wouldn't expect the same problem to manifest for them until somewhere well over 100 mph, at which point rubber heating probably takes over as the big problem (the beads stick to hot rubber, so don't do track speeds with them). Tires are a big expense for trucks, so I can see how they would like a self balancing tire for maximum life purposes.

I was thinking along the same lines. The hot ticket on big rigs with those big wheels. But more of an issue as wheels get smaller.


I ordered the Counteract balancing beads & will give them a try on a little GT380 cafe build in the next week or so.

 

[Guest]

Found this video that demonstrates the use of a vibrating engraver to load the balancing beads into the tire. I tried it using a super cheap vibrating engraver without the point installed, and it worked reasonably quickly.

 

[aclaytonb]

I use them and they work fine as long as you go slow and dont pile them up in the funnel/hose/whatever. My 8yr old daughter put them in the front tire pretty much by herself. They went into the tube, however, not straight into the tire.

Pushed the 550 over 90mph with no vibration issues. 1oz in front, 2oz in back. I forget the brand but they were abt $15 on ebay. Dont usually get a lot of slab time so I cant comment on touring use.

 

[Sandy]

Good idea but unfortunately the nearest bike wrecker is a 4 1/2 hour drive away. I've got a few of each type as well as some stickons kicking around but the new sealed wheel bearings have a little too much stiction to do a good job of static balancing right now anyway so I'll give the beads a try. I've read they don't necessarily work that great at super high speeds but that shouldn't be a problem on a stodgy old 1000. LOL.

Well I gave the tire beads a good test a couple of days ago and as far as I'm concerned it was a big fail. Everything felt pretty good at reasonable cruising speeds but was out of balance at higher speeds. The front started vibrating at around 90mph and kept getting worse until I reach about 125mph and backed off. Before everybody jumps on my case about checking this and checking that the wheel bearings are quite new, wheel was just respoked and is now truer than when I took it off, the new tire (BT45) has no run out and being a quality tire shouldn't need a lot of weight but I still used the recommended 2ozs of beads. Because of the front vibrating I'm not really too sure what the rear was doing. Oh well, it was just an experiment.

 

[Guest]

Just curious question for this morning?


Is there any rough relationship between the amount of conventional wheel weights used & the amount of balancing beads to use?
The Suzuki weights that attach to spokes are available in 20 & 30G sizes (.71 & 1.06 oz). If you took off a 30G weight, what amount of balancing beads would you need to add?

 

[chuck hahn]

1 ounce for front typically and 2 for back.