Red/Yellow Dots on Kenda Tire Sidewalls - Balancing

[Gcclubs]

I believe if a tire has a red or yellow dot on the side wall that dot should be aligned with the valve stem to minimize the amount of balancing required? I noticed on my 2019 Ryker the red dots on 2 of the wheels are NOT mounted anywhere close to the valve stem. The 3rd tire does not have a dot that is visable. That tire only has 4 balancing weights on the rim. The other that is on the front has 6. While the one on the back with a red dot has 16 weights - WTF? I am wondering if the tires were remounted to line up the red dot with the valve stem would that likely reduce the number of balancing weights? Would that have any impact on the ride? I understand that common thinking is that the amounts of weights should not exceed 1% of the weight of the wheel/tire. I imagine 16 1/4 weights would be far below that. It just seems odd to see that many weights. Thoughts/comments?

[JayBros]

https://www.tires-easy.com/blog/what-are-the-red-and-yellow-dots-on-my-tires/#:~:text=If%20you%20think%20you're,technician%20co rrectly%20balance%20the%20tire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTJOnxRyg3khttp://

[Peter Aawen]

Briefly, IF the red & yellow dots actually reflect what they should under the International Tire Standards (and that's not always the case, especially since some el cheapo/dodgy tire manufacturers use the red/yellow dots &/or coloured stripes for other things, just to make their tires look 'proper'... &/or simply to mess with your mind!! ) the yellow dot should be lined up with the valve stem; but if there's a red dot, red ALWAYS trumps yellow under the Standard conventions & it marks the max radial force/run-out point of the tire, so it should be lined up with the lightest point on the rim, which is usually marked on the visible edge of the rim somehow (one or two 'dimples' in the edge?!) or possibly the mark will be just over/inside the edge of the rim bead seat where you can't see it once the tire is mounted & the bead seated properly, so as to not mar the appearance of the wheel assembly.... OR, it'll be where the valve stem is mounted.

So it's not necessarily 'wrong' for a tire to have a red dot that's not aligned with the valve stem on the rim; but if you've got a whole wad of weights on the rim anywhere, there's a good chance that tire/rim (ie, the wheel assembly) hasn't been matched & mounted properly with due consideration for matching the tire to the rim to minimise the need for balancing the wheel!! And ANY wheel that has more than about 2 - 2.5oz of weights has gotta be suspect in that respect.... or the tire/rim is dodgy to start with!!

[Mikey]

Darn it Peter, I've started this day out again a little smarter than I started!!! I have been to the Aawen School Of Tire Technology!!! Thank you!!:firstplace
P.S No offence Mike

[Peter Aawen]

....
P.S No offence Mike

Glad it helped someone!

I don't think Mike would be offended Mikey, cos even if we didn't go to the very same 'School of Tire Technology', I reckon we've both attended the same classes.... sometimes repeatedly! (Probably me a bit more so on the 'repeatedly' tho.... I was a slow learner, got sent back a coupla times - much more interested in actually 'doing' stuff - not so good on studying ) - and when it comes to answering/typing, it's just that I type a little quicker than Mike, AND I've got Dragon 'Talk to Text' helping me out.... besides which, everyone should know by now that I can talk underwater with a mouth full of marbles & give anyone a long and narrow piece of my mind!

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Glad it helped someone!

I don't think Mike would be offended Mikey, cos even if we didn't go to the very same 'School of Tire Technology', I reckon we've both attended the same classes.... sometimes repeatedly! (Probably me a bit more so on the 'repeatedly' tho.... I was a slow learner, got sent back a coupla times - much more interested in actually 'doing' stuff - not so good on studying ) - and when it comes to answering/typing, it's just that I type a little quicker than Mike, AND I've got Dragon 'Talk to Text' helping me out.... besides which, everyone should know by now that I can talk underwater with a mouth full of marbles & give anyone a long and narrow piece of my mind!

To Peter & Mikey, thanks for the shout-out ...... because typing is not my forte', if someone has answered correctly, I tend to keep my fingers off the board. If I can add something I think is relevant I usually do. .... Mike

[Gcclubs]

Briefly, IF the red & yellow dots actually reflect what they should under the International Tire Standards (and that's not always the case, especially since some el cheapo/dodgy tire manufacturers use the red/yellow dots &/or coloured stripes for other things, just to make their tires look 'proper'... &/or simply to mess with your mind!! ) the yellow dot should be lined up with the valve stem; but if there's a red dot, red ALWAYS trumps yellow under the Standard conventions & it marks the max radial force/run-out point of the tire, so it should be lined up with the lightest point on the rim, which is usually marked on the visible edge of the rim somehow (one or two 'dimples' in the edge?!) or possibly the mark will be just over/inside the edge of the rim bead seat where you can't see it once the tire is mounted & the bead seated properly, so as to not mar the appearance of the wheel assembly.... OR, it'll be where the valve stem is mounted.

So it's not necessarily 'wrong' for a tire to have a red dot that's not aligned with the valve stem on the rim; but if you've got a whole wad of weights on the rim anywhere, there's a good chance that tire/rim (ie, the wheel assembly) hasn't been matched & mounted properly with due consideration for matching the tire to the rim to minimise the need for balancing the wheel!! And ANY wheel that has more than about 2 - 2.5oz of weights has gotta be suspect in that respect.... or the tire/rim is dodgy to start with!!

Thank you. Does anyone happen to know if the Ryker rims have the mark denoting the lightest point on the rim?

[Peter Aawen]

Not all rims will have them Gcclubs - some rims come off their manufacturing/production line already well balanced, most don't, but it's usually only the 'more expensive' stuff that gets much more than a rudimentary 'balance & true' check before it leaves the plant. So even IF one or more of your rims does actually have those marks, it is most likely that they were put on the rims by a concientious & skilled wheel balancer some time AFTER the vehicle left the Rim, Wheel assy, &/or BRP manufacturing plant!!

Sure, on some high end, swish, expensive, & classy vehicles; maybe possibly even on some 'not quite so high end', swish, expensive, & classy vehicles, the rims & tires MIGHT be 'properly balanced' by matching things like that at wheel assembly stage; and the whole wheel assy may even be 'trued' as well as possibly even being aligned &/or 'on-vehicle' spun balanced before the vehicle ever leaves the assembly line/manufacturing plant.... But that certainly doesn't appear to be the case with our Spyders & Rykers, or there wouldn't be ANY of the wheel balance &/or 'really not great' tire issues that seem to plague so many of the brand new Spyder & Ryker machines that we purchase!!

That said, I really don't know if BRP actually does any of their own 'wheel assembly' &/or balancing - like many other vehicle manufacturers, they may purchase the 'already assembled' & supposedly balanced rims & tires from an intermediary or get them delivered direct from one or the other of their supplier/manufacturers thru a contractual arrangement that sees the final wheel assemblies delivered to BRP all ready to fit on a Spyder/Ryker and roll..... there's a whole raft of ways the 'supposedly balanced' wheel assemblies could end up at BRP just in time to be fitted to the next Spyder/Ryker to roll off their assembly line!!

Regardless, seeing the number of wheel, rim, &/or tire issues that we do which occur on brand new machines, it's pretty unlikely that our Spyder/Ryker rims will have those marks on them before you ryde your brand new machine off the showroom floor.... Sorry!

So here's hoping you find one of those increasingly rare concientious & skilled tire tech/wheel balancers!

[Gcclubs]

I will check if I can spot an obvious mark on the rims but suspect that there are none and even if there are it could be inside where I couldn't see if. It would be interesting to know what BRP does or does not do, i.e. do they but the rims with tires mounted and balanced with weights or is this done at the BRP factory. My guess is if it is done at the factory by BRP that they mount the tire without any thought to the tire markings and then balance it once mounted with the weights required.