An indy mechanic I know justified his lack of a wheel balancer by saying bagger rear wheels really don't need balanced. Could this be true? Anyone have vibration problems from not balancing their rear wheel after putting on a new tire?

 

Go somewhere else. Ever rear tire change I get a balance and the spokes tuned/checked. I have felt the improvement in the ride when it needed it.

 

Dump that clown. There isn't a tire on the road that doesn't need to be balanced. Some may need no weight,but they all should be checked.

 

So, what does he do for front wheels?
A balancer for bike wheels isn't an expensive piece of equipment.

 

I say not true. I would be very surprised if the rear wheel assembly did not need balanced. I change and balance my tires and can say in both tire replacements on my 09 FLHT a *lot* of weight was needed to balance the rear. On the first replacement around 9,500 miles I was mounting a factory Dunlop replacement and it was so far out I quit after adding 8 of the large 15 gram weights! This was, for me, a record for a motorcycle tire being out of balance! Fortunately I just tape the weights to see what's needed first, so I took the weights off, removed the tire off the wheel, and balanced just the wheel/pulley assembly by itself to find the heavy spot. It wasn't at the valve but that's not unusual, what was unusual was just the wheel/pulley alone was over 3 ounces out of balance. I re-mounted the tire aligning the lightest part of the tire with the known heaviest point of the wheel and still ended up having to add just over 3 ounces of weights.
To put this in perspective, on my other bikes including the Dyna, it's rare when more than one ounce is called for. Nevertheless I balance them to within 3 grams (about 1/10 ounce)

 

I did notice that when I got my Michelin Commander II was mounted it only needed .5 oz , I thought that was strange, because he took almost 3oz off the wheel , but it was a dunlop tire before.

 

I use the danna beads in both front and rear tires. Now I am a true believer in them. My opionion is they are the cats meow!!!!

 

each tire has it's own balance, as does each wheel.

a great balancer will take the time to mount the heaviest point of the tire at the lightest part of the wheel ( usually where the valve goes).

the tires are marked for balance with a spot of yellow paint.

On my old Cadillacs, the specs are to balance the tire, wheel AND brake drum together to ensure the smoothest ride.


an out-of balance tire will oscillate and skip on the road surface, it is not only a comfort issue but traction control is compromised


OP, if you feel like running into town;

The Wheel Shop on McDowell and 18th street is pretty good and Moto Tire on Cave Creek at Sweetwater ( S of Stubbs) is doing good work at good prices.

Although MUCH to my surprise Arrowhead was running a sale last time I was shopping and they came in at the best price ( Arrowhead/Chandler and Tucson are the same group)


Mike

 

Rip the weights off your wheels and get some dyna beads.

 

Have you tried them?