Hey kids,

So I had to replace the Dunlop 402 front tire on my Heritage. Having never replaced a tire myself, it is all new to me so bear with me.

I finally got the tire off the rim, cleaned the rim up really good and finally got the new tire on the rim. Not an easy job by any stretch of the imagination. Thanks to some Dove dish soap and a ratchet strap, I was able to successfully get both beads to set. Now with the tire properly inflated on the rim and it sitting comfortably on my balance stand, I come to the task of balancing the wheel. Oh, and I did line up the Yellow dot with the Stem. I did take off the old weights and hoping I could use them again, I cleaned them up of any sticky mess that was left behind. There were six 5 gram (I think, they have a 5 on them) weights.

So the wheel is on the balance stand and I put the stem at 3 o'clock and let go of the wheel. It rotated nearly straight up. Okay, so that's the lightest side of the wheel. So I put some duct tape on the old weights and stuck them to the rim just at 12 o'clock. I rotated the weights to 3 and let go. They rotated straight up. I had bought some quarter ounce weights, a little larger than what I have but I taped two more to the rim. Same result. I added two more and the wheel rotated to 2. I added 2 more and then it sat at 3. That is a crap load of weight to offset the wheel.

I suspect something isn't correct. I didn't take the rotor off, but that shouldn't make a difference. Could the wheel be that lopsided? I did use the Dawn dish soap and I'm wondering if some of it might have puddled up inside the tire but even after holding the wheel with the light side down for about 5 minutes, it still rotated up. So I think that eliminates the "ponding" of the dish soap in the tire.

I'm trying to avoid bringing it to a shop to balance but I may have to. Just want to get your thoughts.

Thanks a bunch guys.

Ted

 

you can balance the disk/tire as an assy.
tire in stand, spin the tire so that it rotates 5>10 revolutions and when the tire stops, place a chalk mark on the tire at the bottom.
do this a couple of times to make sure it is in the same position then add a weight at the top and repeat the process. the tire is balanced when the chalk mark stops at random spots. sometimes just a shift in the weight position is all that is needed.

 

The problem is that good lead weights are are getting harder to find so ones in steel or zinc end up potentially being a lot. If you are over 3 OZ you might want to pop the bead and rotate the tire.

 

Use Dynabeads or Ride-on, forget trying to static balance a tire with weights.

 

Is the yellow dot marking the light point of the tire or the heavy point. I've heard it should be opposite the stem. You probably don't want to break the bead again, but i would try rotating the tire 108 degrees and see if you get the same problem

 

even dynamically balanced tires, aka, beads will have issues. you may not feel it but that assy is not running true. you said tube, did you use the same tube & beads in the other tire? trouble followed?
i opt for the positive way to balance tires, good ole weights. if you mount the tire and not inflate it, spin the tire till you find the closest balance point and then inflate, you will find not much weight is need.

 

Ride-On is freaking best! I had them on my Slim. No wheels weights and it runs like a dream.

 

You are doing the static balance correctly and the yellow dot goes to the stem. My current tire has 2 oz on it opposite the valve stem to balance. Go to a tire shop and ask for a few new weights.