Topic: Dyna beads evaluation

[seanbarney41]

RR, that's my whole deal...if your wheel is out of balance...why not balance it instead of resorting to some magic super bead that will also make your tires last longer than they were designed to and also make your life wonderful and magical ...

[MCRider]

I have trouble with this: "I had trouble balancing my front tire on the FJR".

Balancing a wheel is not rocket surgery. As i mentioned earlier in this thread, I static balanced wheels for my buddies TZ racers and they went faster and slower in rapid succession than our bikes will ever know, and there were never any complaints.

If you have a stand and can't balance a wheel, there's something wrong.

If you didn't notice, in the MSTA thread there were references to changing their own tires and balancing them. Many of these guys have their own tire changing equipment as they don't trust the shop rummies to do it and scratch up their wheels. When you do 20,000 miles a year on 125+ hp bikes, you go thru a lot of tires. Real enthusiasts.  Still no concensus on the beads.

The central Indiana group has a communal tire changer, and i donated the balance stand and training.

[scottly]

The old rule of thumb is that if you feel handling issues at the front end of the bike, take a close look at the rear. The stock alignment marks on the swing arm were notorious for being off. If the rear wheel is not aligned with the front, all sorts of oscillations can happen. Will dyna beads correct/mask this? I don't know. I prefer to make all things as true and statically balanced as I can, and so far, it has worked for me.   

[CoachDoc]

http://www.sporttouring.us/showthread.php/7426-Dynabeads

and what about this bit?

I had trouble balacing my front tire on the FJR...at least two tires would hop slightly above 80 mph. With 3 installs of beads I get no more hop, even at more elevated testing. This alone is proof for me.

so did he install them 3 times to fix the rim or use 3 packs to get stable at 80?

I mean no offence, but i'd try reading those papers on the physics instead just following others. I didn't bother to read anything after that last quote I'm sorry but I rapidly lost trust in the source.
[/quote]

This poster mentions elsewhere that he has used the beads for the last 3 tires he has installed, not 3 attempts at the same tire. The Landon you refer to has nothing at all negative to say. His point is that he believes a tire with no balancing at all will perform adequately. Actually if you read both pages, the other user reviews were all positive. This is also true for the far greater number of reviews you can find on the Harley Davidson Forum, the Gold Wing Facts Forum. WingStuff.com, etc.  It's not easy to find a negative review from a USER, and they are overwhelmingly outweighed by the positives. The tire store guy who is mentioned on the Sport Touring thread as recommending the beads has a large MC tire business in Atlanta. I'd value his opinion over some random mechanic, especially one who never tried them as this guy from the Atlanta store did.

[CoachDoc]

The old rule of thumb is that if you feel handling issues at the front end of the bike, take a close look at the rear. The stock alignment marks on the swing arm were notorious for being off. If the rear wheel is not aligned with the front, all sorts of oscillations can happen. Will dyna beads correct/mask this? I don't know. I prefer to make all things as true and statically balanced as I can, and so far, it has worked for me.   

Scotty, all of what you say about front end problems is right on, they can be rooted elsewhere on the bike, but I come from a backround on GoldWings  which have huge problems with cupping of the front wheels. This happens even on new bikes, so I don't think these other factors enter into the equation. The wings are also notorious for shuddering in the front end in turns. I think it has more to do with the bike's mass and geometry than anything else, and probably is even more pronounced if the front wheel is balanced less than optimally. I share the view with loads of Wing guys (check those forums) that the beads really help with these issues, and I've got more than 150,000k on the GL's to base that on.

[MCRider]

here's an intersting quote from the innovativebalancing (dynabeads) site
"We recommend Dyna Beads for "lo-pro" or low profile tires when used as a "maintenance" amount only, maintaining the weights. See the FAQ for more info.
While Dyna Beads will work as the sole balancing method 90+ percent of the time in these tires, this success rate does not meet our higher standards. The reason is that the extra tire width often results in a lateral imbalance that internal balancing media cannot correct for. "

So what's low porfile? I'd say /80 or less? My CB tires are /80 and /70. My FJR tires are /70 and /60, Hawk is </80.  As are all )that I know of) sport touring tires.

Why would i want to add them as "Maintenance" if i have to maintain the weights?

Too goofy.

[scottly]

The old rule of thumb is that if you feel handling issues at the front end of the bike, take a close look at the rear. The stock alignment marks on the swing arm were notorious for being off. If the rear wheel is not aligned with the front, all sorts of oscillations can happen. Will dyna beads correct/mask this? I don't know. I prefer to make all things as true and statically balanced as I can, and so far, it has worked for me.   

Scotty, all of what you say about front end problems is right on, they can be rooted elsewhere on the bike, but I come from a backround on GoldWings  which have huge problems with cupping of the front wheels. This happens even on new bikes, so I don't think these other factors enter into the equation. The wings are also notorious for shuddering in the front end in turns. I think it has more to do with the bike's mass and geometry than anything else, and probably is even more pronounced if the front wheel is balanced less than optimally. I share the view with loads of Wing guys (check those forums) that the beads really help with these issues, and I've got more than 150,000k on the GL's to base that on.

Have you ever done a thorough check of your Wing's wheel alignment? Cupping of the tire is a symptom, especially if it occurs on one side of the tire more than the other. Granted, an 800 pound bike would show symptoms sooner than a 400 pound bike, regardless of whether due to balance or alignment.   

[CoachDoc]

The old rule of thumb is that if you feel handling issues at the front end of the bike, take a close look at the rear. The stock alignment marks on the swing arm were notorious for being off. If the rear wheel is not aligned with the front, all sorts of oscillations can happen. Will dyna beads correct/mask this? I don't know. I prefer to make all things as true and statically balanced as I can, and so far, it has worked for me.   

Scotty, all of what you say about front end problems is right on, they can be rooted elsewhere on the bike, but I come from a backround on GoldWings  which have huge problems with cupping of the front wheels. This happens even on new bikes, so I don't think these other factors enter into the equation. The wings are also notorious for shuddering in the front end in turns. I think it has more to do with the bike's mass and geometry than anything else, and probably is even more pronounced if the front wheel is balanced less than optimally. I share the view with loads of Wing guys (check those forums) that the beads really help with these issues, and I've got more than 150,000k on the GL's to base that on.

Have you ever done a thorough check of your Wing's wheel alignment? Cupping of the tire is a symptom, especially if it occurs on one side of the tire more than the other. Granted, an 800 pound bike would show symptoms sooner than a 400 pound bike, regardless of whether due to balance or alignment.

Scotty, this problem is so endemic to Wings there simply is no simple answer such as 'it's an alignment issue'. I trashed one 1500 in 2001 and bought a brand new one. Same cupping problems on both bikes. Both had aftermarket fork braces, aftermarket progressive shocks, and on the newer one AllBalls in the steering head. Little change with all of that. Check out this guy's blog re. this issue with his Wing and his initial skepticism about the beads, etc. You'll hear the same thing over and over again from GL guys who defy their skepticism and try the beads.

http://40on2.blogspot.com/2008/05/ceramic-snake-oil.html

[scottly]

[quote author=CoachDoc link=topic=98988.msg1106743#msg1106743 date=1322887657
Scotty, this problem is so endemic to Wings there simply is no simple answer such as 'it's an alignment issue'.
[/quote]
Perhaps the problem is more due to the Wing drive-shaft, which shifts the load from side to side on acceleration/deceleration. Our SOHC bikes, with in-line drive chain are not subjected to these side-loads. 

[CoachDoc]

[quote author=CoachDoc link=topic=98988.msg1106743#msg1106743 date=1322887657
Scotty, this problem is so endemic to Wings there simply is no simple answer such as 'it's an alignment issue'.

Perhaps the problem is more due to the Wing drive-shaft, which shifts the load from side to side on acceleration/deceleration. Our SOHC bikes, with in-line drive chain are not subjected to these side-loads.
[/quote]

Maybe, but the shuddering is usually most pronounced when coasting through a turn. Anyhow, the beads help a lot- and cupping is way diminished. You'll see similar compalints and subsequent improvement noted on the Harley boards.

[scottly]

When I start riding a Wing, or a Harley, I will re-evaluate dyna beads..

[dave500]

are they just left over hippie beads?marketed well?