How much weight is too much - R 1250 GS wheels?

[Twisties]

Both bikes came with 120 g of weights on the rear wheel... seems a lot.  I just changed tires on my rear and it took 134 g to balance.  

[dirtrider]

11 hours ago, Twisties said:

Both bikes came with 120 g of weights on the rear wheel... seems a lot.  I just changed tires on my rear and it took 134 g to balance.  

Morning  Twisties

 

That is a very large amount. 

 

I don't have the data for the 1250 but in the past the rear wheel has been a max of 80g (split evenly with no more than 40g on each side. 

[Twisties]

Yeah, it seems large.  The 2021 bike is on it's oem original set of tires with 120 g.  I assume it came that way from the factory or dealer set up?  The 2020 bike has had all of it's prior tires changes at a dealer.  IDK  Both bikes are in warranty.  I guess i should call the dealer and ask.

[Bernie]

You could rotate the tire 180 degrees and rebalance. I know it is a hassle, but if the out of balance is caused by the tire, it should require less weights. Or balance the rim with no tire, to find out if the rim is the problem.

Something else to be careful about is the center adapter for the rear wheel.. Not all BMW rear wheels have the same size bore, Marc Parnes informed me that the WetHead bikes had a slightly larger bore than the HexHead bikes. So you may have to get a new adapter for your balancer.

[MikeB60]

Just checked the weights on my 2019 GS with spoked wheels . 45 grams in the front and 60 grams at the rear. Balanced using a Parnes set up. Just realized after reading @Bernie post that I've been using the adapter for my K1600 on the my 2016 and 2019 GS.  It's a little larger than the other adapter i have for the hexhead and camhead.  Also, I have a spare rear spoked wheel that I picked up used that has the factory weight and that is 60 grams as well.  

[Twisties]

Interesting, @Bernie.  The old adapter seems to fit properly.  The Dunlop Trailmax Missions are marked with a balance dot.  Per Dunlop, the dot is to be mounted at the valve stem, which is also the location of the tpm.  Ours are correctly located, as specified.  

 

Well, I'm assuming these weights that were on the wheels when I got them are 30 g.  They are marked "30."  Maybe I'll peel one back off and weigh it.  They don't really look big enough to be 30 g.  

 

In any event, Sharon's rear took the four original 30's plus six 7 g weights, for 162 g total, if the oem 30's are 30 g. 

 

I'm not a fan of pre-balancing the wheels.  

 

My assumption since both bikes came with 4 of these "30" weights, and Sharon's was on it's oem tires and mine had been dealer mounted, are that this is normal for this wheel, the spoked one.

 

We'll go back out and double check the adapter is fitting snug.

[Bernie]

Well a lot GS riders don’t balance their wheels, since they don’t think they will ride that fast.

NoSocks doesn’t balance the wheels on his K1600GTL, since the vibration reminds him at 90 mph to slow down.

 

[Twisties]

Ok, regarding the Marc Parnes rear wheel adapter:  It fits snug on the rear wheel with no discernable play.  Marc lists only one part number for all R 1200/1250 bikes.  Marc is out riding, so we can't ask him, but I see no issue here.

 

Regarding the weights labeled "30, "  They weigh 15 g on my balance.  On my bike there are two are 30s, and two are unmarked but appear the same size as the 30s, so that's 4 x 15 that were there to begin with, plus the 14 g I added.  74 g total.  Seems much more reasonable.

 

On Sharon's bike some of the rear wheel weights are labeled 30, and some are labeled 25.  I didn't pull any off to weigh the 25s.  They look like the same size as the 30s.  Weird.  Worst case then for her is 102 g.  Might be a little less if the 25s weigh less.  Still seems to be a lot weight...  

 

On her front wheel there are currently 0 (with the old tire, I haven't started the fronts yet) and on mine there were two weights.  The markings weren't very clear, I think they say 20.  They weigh 12 g each.  

[Bernie]

I think 2 of the 3 new BMW RT’s I bought had no weights on their wheels when new. 

 

[dirtrider]

49 minutes ago, Twisties said:

 

 

Regarding the weights labeled "30, "  They weigh 15 g on my balance.  On my bike there are two are 30s, and two are unmarked but appear the same size as the 30s, so that's 4 x 15 that were there to begin with, plus the 14 g I added.  74 g total.  Seems much more reasonable.

 

 

Afternoon   Twisties

 

The 30g are usually 2 piece with only one of the 2 pieces marked 30. (2-15g sections hooked together marked with one 30g marking)

[Twisties]

1 hour ago, dirtrider said:

Afternoon   Twisties

 

The 30g are usually 2 piece with only one of the 2 pieces marked 30. (2-15g sections hooked together marked with one 30g marking)

Ahhhh!!!  That's it!  

[szurszewski]

6 hours ago, dirtrider said:

Afternoon   Twisties

 

The 30g are usually 2 piece with only one of the 2 pieces marked 30. (2-15g sections hooked together marked with one 30g marking)

Can’t see that leading to any confusion. 

[MikeB60]

45 minutes ago, szurszewski said:

Can’t see that leading to any confusion. 

German engineering. Go figure...

[Rougarou]

I haven't balanced a rear BMW wheel since 2010.  The shop I had taken my wheels to for changes didn't have the adaptor for rear BMW wheels and since I've been doing changes, I haven't done a rear wheel (RT, HP4, GSA).  The fronts were done, just not the rears......and I don't know nuthin' 'bout no vibration issues.  Jus sayin'