wheel balance

[Random13]

Hi guys,
As bike owners, how often should I do wheel balance and what are the signs which shows an unbalanced wheel ?

I normally take it for a wheel balance if it is vibrating around 40-50 miles as with cars which has never happened to my bike. is that the right approach ?

Would you simply take the tyre to a dealer ( bike) to balance it ?

Thanks

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Unbalanced wheel will vibrate at particular speeds.
The wheel on my 250 is slightly out of balance but only starts vibrating about 80mph.

You can balance them yourself but it won't be as accurate compared to the machines the tyre fitters use. Whip the wheels off to save yourself some money.
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[pdg]

If you ever have the opportunity try this...

Put wheel on balancing machine, fit weights where it tells you to = wheel balanced. Take the wheel off the machine. Now, put the wheel back on the same machine and press the button - if it still says the wheel is balanced I'll post you 2 new English pence. (I demonstrated this a few times when I used to fit tyres for a living...)





I don't bother balancing wheels/tyres any more.

[Nobby the Bastard]

....whereas I've seen a wheel balanced according to the machine and them hve the machine to say it's balanced (down to the tolerance of the available weights) afterwards several times.

Maybe the balancing machine needed 'balancing'...
____________________
trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[pdg]

If you balance the wheel, then get the machine to spin it again without removing it then it'll carry on saying it's balanced.

If you're really that bothered about keeping your wheels balanced, you really should get them done at least every 0.1mm of tread wear. After losing that much rubber it's going to be 'out' again.

[Nobby the Bastard]

[pdg]

[Nobby the Bastard]

I don't see your argument about .1 mil in that case.

You (correctly) say that un-even wear can't be corrected by balancing due to the wheel no longer round

The smallest balancing weight is 5g.

How much does, for example, 0.1m worn off the circumference of a 3-4 inch strip of a tyre weight?

How much does a tyre valve weigh?

What is the variation in weight of tyre valves?

How perfect is the metal of the wheels created (either cast or spoke/rim). I have cast wheels and any imperfection in their casting, especially near the rim, will unbalance the wheel)
____________________
trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[moonzoomer]

wheels rarely go out of balance unless damaged, it is the tyre that needs balancing.

[G]

Only time I've had a proper issue with it was when I fitted a tubeless system to my KTM.
Put the balance out by about 100g.
It was fine for off road or slower stuff, but above about 55 started to be a bit noticeable.

[Nobby the Bastard]

[pdg]

My point about rebalancing every 0.1mm of tread wear was mildly veiled sarcasm, but I don't know which smiley to use for that.

The smallest balance weight may well be 5g, but you can cut them y'know.

Whenever I have mentioned 'wheel' in reference to balancing, I was of course using that word as shorthand for 'wheel, tyre and valve/tube assembly'

I know exactly what difference balancing can make thanks, I don't need to fanny about spinning a bare wheel. I also know exactly what effect an imbalance can make to a spinning assembly.

Usually, fitting a tyre with the coloured blob next to the valve will give you a sufficiently well balanced assembly to need no further intervention.


Hence the sarcasm bit - if your paranoia about balancing extends to getting it reassessed during the life of the tyre, then you might just as well get it done every time you go out.

[misscrabstick]

I recently had 3 tyres fitted to various loose wheels by my local bike shop, he has been in business for 40 years and we discussed balancing, he was of the opinion that providing the wheel has no lumps out of it and the tyre is fitted with the dot by the valve then no further balancing is generally required, having ridden both my bikes with the new tyres fitted at some high speeds, I can't detect any issues.