OoPEZoO Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Its much easier than I thought. After my little fiasco of not being able to find anyone that would mount/balance tires that I didn't buy from them........I got irritated and decided that I will just do it myself from now on. I did find a shop locally that was willing to mount the tires for me, but they could not balance the rear wheel. They said that they didn't have the adapters to make it fit their rig. Oh well, at least they were honest, and they only charged me for balancing the front wheel. I bought one of Marc Parnes wheel balancers last week, and received it in the mail this morning. I installed the balancer on the front wheel (just to see how close the shop got it), and set it on a pair of jack stands. After tinkering around a little with some weights, I figured they had done a pretty nice job. I did add one 1/4oz weight that I felt helped make it stop less predictable. Then I installed it on the rear wheel. This one was easy. It dropped one part of the wheel right to the bottom. I ended up adding 1.5oz of weight to the rear to get it balanced. A+ for Marc Parnes, and his wheel balancer By the time I wear these tires out, I plan to have my own tire changing rig set up so I can do the whole thing start to finish. Link to comment
Huzband Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 I love the smell of napalm in the mor.... Oops. Wrong thread. Yeah, I love my MP balancer, too. I get my tires from a local dealer, & let them do the mounting. I actually enjoy balancing them. Plus, then I know it's done right. Link to comment
russell_bynum Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Just my $0.02...I don't bother with balancing. I've mounted dozens of motorcycle tires on my RT, Lisa's RS, the Tuono, FZR, and my CBR600RR. I figure...if I don't have any problems up to 160mph on the track bike, then it's fine. Link to comment
Huzband Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 I don't bother with balancing...if I don't have any problems up to 160mph on the track bike, then it's fine. Hmmm, how those fillings working out for ya, Russell? Link to comment
RFW Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Its much easier than I thought. Yup. Really pretty simple. I made my own balancer, and all you need is a bit of patience to end up with a way better job than getting it doen professionally. .....and the MONEY you save! Link to comment
Chugger Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 A few months ago I put on new tires And didn't balance them. (Somewhere I heard that it's not needed.) Last week I balanced the tires. Before it was like riding a lawn mover now it's like a Cadillac. Link to comment
Bob Palin Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Just my $0.02...I don't bother with balancing. I've mounted dozens of motorcycle tires on my RT, Lisa's RS, the Tuono, FZR, and my CBR600RR. I figure...if I don't have any problems up to 160mph on the track bike, then it's fine. Me either most of the time, once you've marked the heavy spot on the rim and then lined it up with the light spot on the tyre I find it is always too close to bother about, so I stopped bothering. Sometimes I throw one on the balancer just to check but it's always very close. Link to comment
russell_bynum Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 I don't bother with balancing...if I don't have any problems up to 160mph on the track bike, then it's fine. Hmmm, how those fillings working out for ya, Russell? No fillings, so nothing to rattle loose. Seriously, though. After I mounted my first tire, I realized I forgot to order the Mark Parnes balancer. I put the wheel back on the bike just because I don't like it sitting there with only one wheel. Then I figured...let's take it for a ride and see just how bad it is when you don't balance the tire. I couldn't detect any abnormal vibration at any speed. I've since done the same thing on many different makes/models of tires, on all of our bikes, including the track bikes. Never had a problem. It is strange because I notice right away when a wheel weight has fallen off one of the car wheels. I'm not sure why this is different. Link to comment
E30TECH Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 once you've marked the heavy spot on the rim and then lined it up with the light spot on the tyre I find it is always too close to bother about, so I stopped bothering. Avon doesn't mark their tires with light/heavy spots. The last set of Michelin's I helped someone install didn't have the marks either. Link to comment
OoPEZoO Posted June 7, 2007 Author Share Posted June 7, 2007 once you've marked the heavy spot on the rim and then lined it up with the light spot on the tyre I find it is always too close to bother about, so I stopped bothering. Avon doesn't mark their tires with light/heavy spots. The last set of Michelin's I helped someone install didn't have the marks either. Now I feel better. I was looking all over my new Avons for that damn dot. I figured I was just missing it or something. Either way, I did 120 miles on them today for my commute and they feel great. One thing is funny though.......I have seen comments about this in another thread. The rear tire has scuff marks all most all the way to the edge of the tire (and I was really taking it easy). The front tire only has scuff marks on maybe the middle 1/3 of the tire. The front tire on my Z6's would wear all the way to the edges. I'm interested to see what they look like once I start riding them a little harder Link to comment
Davis Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 The Z6's have a much rounder profile. The Avon fronts are more triangular. The difference in profile has the Avon falling into a curve with much less effort. It also means that by the time you start running on the edge of the front tread you are about to drag the pegs. Link to comment
OoPEZoO Posted June 8, 2007 Author Share Posted June 8, 2007 The Z6's have a much rounder profile. The Avon fronts are more triangular. The difference in profile has the Avon falling into a curve with much less effort. It also means that by the time you start running on the edge of the front tread you are about to drag the pegs. We'll find out tonight (as long as the nasty old thunderstorms stay away). I have a nice twisty route picked out for the ride home tonight. Link to comment
russell_bynum Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 once you've marked the heavy spot on the rim and then lined it up with the light spot on the tyre I find it is always too close to bother about, so I stopped bothering. I've got a set of self-mounted Azaro's on the Tuono that I didn't balance, and they're fine. I forget how I lined it up (or if I just stuck the tire on there and called it a day), but it's fine. I think I use the little barcode label on the Michelin's and line that up with the valve stem. Works fine. Avon doesn't mark their tires with light/heavy spots. The last set of Michelin's I helped someone install didn't have the marks either. Link to comment
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