Wheel Balancing

[Peanuts]

Just had some new tyres fitted and when I asked about balancing I was told that they balance the tyres and the wheels are also already balanced. Is this true have they stopped balancing wheels and tyres on Bikes

 

[theoneandonly]

i always balance after fitting tyres front and back , never heard of the wheels being balanced seperately ? when you do the tyres the whole assembly is then balanced . next set of tyres ...do it again , tyres are all different ,

 

[Greenman14]

The tyre shop that I have used for years always balances the wheel and tyre. Tyres are not perfectly balanced, and neither are wheels; every time I have a new tyre the balance weights are a different weight and in a different position. Just the same as all the car tyres I have ever had fitted.

 

[ghiribizzo]

Peanuts - I'd put money on the possibility that the place you got your tyres fitted don't have tools to balance the wheels on your bike...
It's not one of those very, very rare BMW's without bearings and a huge hole in the rear wheel hub by any chance, is it..?

 

[Bobbin-Man]

Because the single sided rear wheel is similar to a car wheel the whole assembly with the new tyre can be balanced on a modern electronic balancing machine just like a car wheel. This is normal and SHOULD be done when a new tyre is fitted. For the front wheel it is necessary to insert a spindle and use a simple balancing frame, ie. do it by hand. Again this should normally be done by the person supplying and fitting the tyres.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Just for an opposite opinion, I haven't balanced wheels and tyres for years unless the wheel has been damaged. if the tyre has been mounted with the ink dot in the right place everything should be balanced without touching them.

 

[Kris]

Just had some new tyres fitted and when I asked about balancing I was told that they balance the tyres and the wheels are also already balanced. Is this true have they stopped balancing wheels and tyres on Bikes

It has to be balanced other wise from vibration you need to re tighten most nuts more often. Unless you ride 60 mph and less.

 

[Beemerman59]

Having just changed tyres on my K bike, I have now lost the really bad vibration I had at 80-85mph. It was enough to make the SatNav unreadable and I could actually see the front forks vibrating. When I took the front wheel off I put it on the static balancer I have and it was well out of balance even with all the wheel weights still in position. I remembered that when I changed last time I hadn't bothered to balance it I hadn't really noticed it at lower speeds - it only showed itself recently on higher speed motorway rides which I don't normally do.

I balanced the new tyres this time and the bike is transformed at those speeds now - the SatNav (which is handlebar mounted on this bike) is stable and there's much less vibration through the bars. I will continue to balance mine in the future. The only tyre I can't balance though is the rear on the GS as I can't find an adapter big enough to get it on the balancer.

 

[Roymondo]

If you never exceed 70mph, you will probably get away without additional balancing. But the faster you go, the more vibration you will get.

Ideally you should check the wheel alone (no tyre fitted, but with valve etc in place) for balance and mark the heaviest point on the rim. This is typically where the valve is, but this is by no means always the case. Then fit the tyre so the painted mark (which marks the tyre's lightest balance point) coincides with the heavy mark on the rim. This should ensure that the whole assembly has the best possible starting point for balancing.

Then again, I understand that some manufacturers no longer put the coloured dots on the tyres - presumably because modern manufacturing techniques mean the tyre is pretty much balanced from the factory?

 

[fringe]

Then again, I understand that some manufacturers no longer put the coloured dots on the tyres - presumably because modern manufacturing techniques mean the tyre is pretty much balanced from the factory?

Most michelins no longer have the dot and are supposedly in perfect balance as there's no heavy spot. I've always found when balancing it is close enough to the same point as the wheel on its own, as when a Michelin tyre is fitted.