Tire Balance

[Jer]

Before my trip to the "Gathering of the Clans" I had new tires that I purchased online installed by the dealer that sold me my bike. They charged me $110 for the install and balance. Just before leaving I rode on the freeway and noticed that tires felt out of balance at higher speeds. I called and told them about it and was told that they would pull and recheck the balance, but if they checked out would charge me $40 for pulling a wheel. I didn't trust them to do this so went on the trip with the tires out of balance.

They are not terribly out of balance, just an annoying vibration. I would say that it feels like you are riding on a well graded compacted surface of two inch diameter gravel.

I have considered pulling the front wheel and taking it somewhere else to check the balance, but the problem could be in the rear tire. Would it be dangerous to run the bike in 5th gear to an indicated speed of 70 or 75 where the balance problem is most noticeable to check the balance of the rear tire.?

 

[HotRodZilla]

I don't think that would be dangerous, but it won't solve your problem unless you take the bike or wheels back to that dealer. $110 for mounting is ridiculous. Sheesh. If you can remove them yourself, take them to a Cycle Gear. They'll balance them for cheap.

 

[Geezer]

I once had a quarter ounce weight come off a wheel and only noticed it when I saw the remains of the glue on the wheel. I was on a cross country trip and I know for sure that I ran at various speeds, including well above 75 mph with no noticeable effect.

In your case I would suspect the tire rather than the balancing.

 

[Wlfman]

Why not balance them yourself. All you need is a steel rod and a pair of jackstands. I've been mounting and balancing my own tires for years this way and have never had a problem.

 

[Jer]

I don't think that would be dangerous, but it won't solve your problem unless you take the bike or wheels back to that dealer. $110 for mounting is ridiculous. Sheesh. If you can remove them yourself, take them to a Cycle Gear. They'll balance them for cheap.

AJ my thinking was that if the back tire was in balance then I would only have to remove the front to be rebalanced.

 

[Jer]

Why not balance them yourself. All you need is a steel rod and a pair of jackstands. I've been mounting and balancing my own tires for years this way and have never had a problem.

I may have to give that a try with this set, but I am not really set up to make future tire changes.

 

[Jer]

I once had a quarter ounce weight come off a wheel and only noticed it when I saw the remains of the glue on the wheel. I was on a cross country trip and I know for sure that I ran at various speeds, including well above 75 mph with no noticeable effect.
In your case I would suspect the tire rather than the balancing.

If it is the tires then I am probably screwed. I bought online because the dealer wanted over $400 for a set.

 

[HotRodZilla]

I don't think that would be dangerous, but it won't solve your problem unless you take the bike or wheels back to that dealer. $110 for mounting is ridiculous. Sheesh. If you can remove them yourself, take them to a Cycle Gear. They'll balance them for cheap.

AJ my thinking was that if the back tire was in balance then I would only have to remove the front to be rebalanced.

Oh, now I see what you were saying. FWIW, I had a wheel weight come off my front on my way home from Oregon. I could only feel it from 75-80+. However, since I was in Vegas and was running to Albuquerque, I stopped at Cycle Gear and convinced them to give me a couple weights. I stuck them on the outline of the missing weights and haven't had a problem since. That was 7 thousand miles ago.
Never had a rear weight come off, so no idea how that feels.

Personally, I'd suspect a weight before I suspected a tire. Unless you cheaped out with Kendas or Shinkos or something. I'm betting you didn't.

 

[Chuck35]

A couple bottles of ride on might do the trick.

 

[JREW]

You didn't say what kind of tires you purchased and they could be bad, but for $110 to mount and balance, I would insist the dealer fix the problem, or never do business with them again. They want to charge you more money to fix their issue, not great customer service. On the other hand, do the change and balance yourself. The change is harder, but the balance is easy.

 

[TomInPA]

Changed tires and bike runs rough. Usually the last thing changed is the sourced of a new problem, especially on a new bike.

Take the bike to the dealer and explain to them you have purchased your bike, tires and labor from them. You might be a customer worth keeping. This problem came up after THEY installed a brand new tire THEY sold and THEY installed at considerable costs. It is not unreasonable for the customer to expect this bike to run perfectly, or at least as well as before THEY changed the tires.

While I think the threat to charge you if they don't find a mistake, I think there is a near 100% chance the tires are mis-balanced or out of round.

 

[Mihalis fjr]

Perhaps it is not out of balance,but perhaps it hasn't sit properly on the rim..Happened to me and the dealer uninstall the tyre from the rim,reinstall it again and the problem solved..Have a thought.

 

[Top_Speed1]

Some dealers only balance the front wheel and not the rear. Another thing you can check.

 

[RPrice]

Brings back memories of taking my FJR to a local (Southern UT) moto shop for tire changes/balances. I finally noticed that the tire weights never changed positions on the wheel after tire changes. Also, they charged $70 to mount/balance. This prompted me to buy a No Mar changer and balancer, figuring I could pay for it fairly quickly considering how fast the Feejer "eats" tires. After I mounted/balanced my first set, I was shocked/amazed at how much smoother the FJR was at speed!!

I've never lost a stick on weight, but before application, I thoroughly clean the rim with brake cleaner, and use a small tack hammer to apply plenty of pressure after sticking the weight on the rim.

So far, so good.

 

[infrared]

I have considered pulling the front wheel and taking it somewhere else to check the balance, but the problem could be in the rear tire. Would it be dangerous to run the bike in 5th gear to an indicated speed of 70 or 75 where the balance problem is most noticeable to check the balance of the rear tire.?

Jer,

I have done this test with lesser bikes, with the bike on the centerstand. I parked the bike near a concrete wall, and then pivoted the bike to face straight at the wall, handlebars straight, and with the front tire touching the wall. I kept one hand on the bike seat, to feel for any vibration. My rear wheel was well balanced, and everything was smooth, as if the bike was not even running. I used the tachometer to run the rear wheel up a little past freeway speeds, in top gear. I kept the testing time short, and did not blip the throttle; I was not going looking for trouble. I have not tried this operation with my FJR so I do not know if the bike's computer or ABS would get confused and maybe complain in some way.

 

[Pterodactyl]

Get three friends to go in with you and buy a tire changer and balancing set-up. Will cost each of you about what you just paid the dealer. You know who often gets stuck changing tires at a dealership? The new kid who dreams of becoming a mechanic someday.

The fact that you bought online makes it less likely the dealer is going to work friendly with you on this issue as you've already learned. Probably best to bite the bullet and have them balanced at another shop. If you take the wheels off and on it shouldn't cost much. If it is not the balance, then your assessment of you being screwed is dead on.

 

[mcatrophy]

I have considered pulling the front wheel and taking it somewhere else to check the balance, but the problem could be in the rear tire. Would it be dangerous to run the bike in 5th gear to an indicated speed of 70 or 75 where the balance problem is most noticeable to check the balance of the rear tire.?

Jer,

I have done this test with lesser bikes, with the bike on the centerstand. I parked the bike near a concrete wall, and then pivoted the bike to face straight at the wall, handlebars straight, and with the front tire touching the wall. I kept one hand on the bike seat, to feel for any vibration. My rear wheel was well balanced, and everything was smooth, as if the bike was not even running. I used the tachometer to run the rear wheel up a little past freeway speeds, in top gear. I kept the testing time short, and did not blip the throttle; I was not going looking for trouble. I have not tried this operation with my FJR so I do not know if the bike's computer or ABS would get confused and maybe complain in some way.

ABS light will come on, but no issue, will be normal after ignition turned off and on.

 

[Top_Speed1]

I wish they would mark the tires (use to, some still do I guess but not my last PR2s anyways) on the light or heavy side. With TPM sensors on the valve stem side, you could automatically place the heavier side of the tire 180 away.

So as RPrice says "this prompted me to do my own tires"... me too! I went with this Derek Weaver combo for my man cave/garage: (I'm thinking it was $2100 for both units del'd)

 

[PhilJet09]

Balancing a tire is easy and free, if you have a small amount of ability (really small). I built this with materials I had laying around. It uses the axle right off the bike. Easy breezy.