Shinko 712 balance

[JimW]

I bought a new Shinko 712 rear tire yesterday (130/90-17) and had the shop mount and balance it. When I picked it up, I was surprised to see 1.5 oz. of tape weights on the rim. My last rear tire, a Cheng Shin C907, took .25 oz. . This morning I looked at the tire and noticed that the 'light-spot-dot' on the tire wasn't lined up with the valve stem. I took the wheel back to the shop and asked them to rebalance it and I watched them do it. They tried rotating the tire on the wheel, in several different positions, and it didn't get any better. I'll note that the alloy wheel is true and has no dings, dents or other damage.

So... anyone else had this happen? I'm more than a bit apprehensive about Shinko's QC after this.

[tkent02]

I bought a new Shinko 712 rear tire yesterday (130/90-17) and had the shop mount and balance it. When I picked it up, I was surprised to see 1.5 oz. of tape weights on the rim. My last rear tire, a Cheng Shin C907, took .25 oz. . This morning I looked at the tire and noticed that the 'light-spot-dot' on the tire wasn't lined up with the valve stem. I took the wheel back to the shop and asked them to rebalance it and I watched them do it. They tried rotating the tire on the wheel, in several different positions, and it didn't get any better. I'll note that the alloy wheel is true and has no dings, dents or other damage.

So... anyone else had this happen? I'm more than a bit apprehensive about Shinko's QC after this.

That's odd, Shinko is Yokohama, their car tires rarely need any weight at all, nearly perfect.

[sharpy]

Does the phrase you get what you pay for mean anything. sorry to say. Not being a smartie and some people in here probally swear by them but just being honest. when i was a tyre fitter we be admazed the amount of people get a brand new harley on the retirement pension and first set of tyres the put on where cheng shins or simular. $40,000 bike, $300 tryes. mmmmmm

[JimW]

Does the phrase you get what you pay for mean anything.

Yeah, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. The Cheng Shin was cheap and good, and I've had Dunlops and Conti's (bike), Goodyears and Firestones (car) that I've paid good money for that were crap. The Shinkos got good press here and at numerous other sites so I thought they'd be worth a try.

[Nessism]

1.5 oz is fine, and well within Suzuki's limits. Find something else to worry about.

[Rkt-Rch]

Does the phrase you get what you pay for mean anything. sorry to say. Not being a smartie and some people in here probally swear by them but just being honest. when i was a tyre fitter we be admazed the amount of people get a brand new harley on the retirement pension and first set of tyres the put on where cheng shins or simular. $40,000 bike, $300 tryes. mmmmmm

Don't alway s believe what you read as above... Iv'e had various brands of tires (tyre?) and paid $$ for them and thought I would try thee CHEAP $ed NOT cheap made Shinko's 712's front and rear mounted / balanced a a local motorcycle shop for $ 125.00 (Now they carry them in stock and told me the customers who use them like them) or less approx 2 years now and have had NO problems what so ever! Snow (yes snow) rain,dry,whatever they have been wearing great so far and for the price and the performance (old school crouch rocket) they work great.

Anyway When I do pick up my new harley this year I will splurg...Maybe
you could have had a bad one or maybe your wheel is out of balance, now that you mention it I wam going to check mine!

[Buffalo Bill]

How bout a drawing a diagram?

Does the phrase you get what you pay for mean anything. sorry to say. Not being a smartie and some people in here probally swear by them but just being honest. when i was a tyre fitter we be admazed the amount of people get a brand new harley on the retirement pension and first set of tyres the put on where cheng shins or simular. $40,000 bike, $300 tryes. mmmmmm

What kind of bike do you get for $40,000? A Chumpington Obvious I think.

[spike2112]

I put a set of Shinko Tourmaster 230's on last year. It had more weights on it than the previous tires (Shinko 721 front, Kenda Challenger rear). Have 2000 miles on them and I love them! No wobble, even at high speeds (+85?), plus the ride and handling are great. Haven't heard much about how long they'll last, but for the price, I think the 230's are a great bargain. My 2 cents.

Spike

[fishfarm]

I too have a recent set of Shinko Tourmasters with about 3k miles on them. I'm not a professional rider and don't play one on the road. The tires ride fine, go and stop as I expect, and hold the corners well within my capabilities. Why should I pay more for a "name brand" ?

[bwringer]

Agreed -- find something else to fret about. 1.5 oz isn't that big a deal, and those Shinkos are excellent tires.

FWIW, the price of the tires has little to do with it. I've seen super-expensive Metzelers take up to 3oz to balance.


But... a couple of points:

- You didn't say what kind of balancer the shop was using, but computer-controlled spin balancers are not very accurate -- they're just faster, and they have pretty blinkenlights. They can also lose calibration, especially when abused by shop monkeys. Static balancing is simple, extremely accurate, and darn near foolproof, but takes patience -- about 5-10 minutes per wheel to do right.

- The wheels themselves on older bikes are often shockingly out of balance. I usually put the bare wheel on the balancer to find the true heavy spot. Sometimes the heavy spot is pretty heavy. On modern bikes, the heavy spot is almost always the valve stem, as expected, but on vintage machinery this is rarely the case.

As with many things on vintage bikes, if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.

[JimW]

Agreed -- find something else to fret about. 1.5 oz isn't that big a deal, and those Shinkos are excellent tires.

FWIW, the price of the tires has little to do with it. I've seen super-expensive Metzelers take up to 3oz to balance.


But... a couple of points:

- You didn't say what kind of balancer the shop was using, but computer-controlled spin balancers are not very accurate -- they're just faster, and they have pretty blinkenlights. They can also lose calibration, especially when abused by shop monkeys. Static balancing is simple, extremely accurate, and darn near foolproof, but takes patience -- about 5-10 minutes per wheel to do right.

- The wheels themselves on older bikes are often shockingly out of balance. I usually put the bare wheel on the balancer to find the true heavy spot. Sometimes the heavy spot is pretty heavy. On modern bikes, the heavy spot is almost always the valve stem, as expected, but on vintage machinery this is rarely the case.

As with many things on vintage bikes, if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.

As mentioned, I watched the 2nd attempt at balancing. It was done statically, and the tech made several attempts at repositioning the tire. He then removed the tire and put the bare wheel on the balancer; the heavy spot was at the valve stem. He remounted the tire and did the final balance. The reason for my concern was that this is a brand I'm unfamiliar with, the most weight I'd seen used with any motorcycle tire I'd purchased, and I've purchased quite a few in my 40 years of riding.

The "find something else to worry/fret about" comments are kinda rude, no?

[salty_monk]

Don't be too sensitive... that's a Socal thing & most of the forum members aren't from Socal! Everyone means well

I have just got back from a 2000 mile trip in Baja using the Shinko 705's. Great Tyre, & out of three bikes wearing them including 1 GS1000, 1 KLR, 1 BMW 650, the GS took slightly more weight than the Avon's, The KLR less than the prior Dunlops & the BMW less than the prior Michelin Anakee's.

[Nessism]

I understand the concern and always try to move the tire around on the rim if it's taking too much weight. Spent the better part of an evening doing this with a Shinko 230 I mounted only to realize in the end it was the wheel that was out of balance, not the tire.

Suzuki allows something like 3 oz. per wheel so 1.5 is only half that much. No worry.