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Do you need to balance a new tire?
- Thread starter ruthie
- Start date
Slowpoke387
New member
My gut says yes but this is our first Spyder and we havent gotten that far yet lol. Logic says that if there are weights on the wheel when you remove it already then the answer is yes. I think i would balance it regardless. Just to rule out having to take everything apart twice.
Chupaca
New member
Oh yeah....
Whenever you remove a tire and re install or install a new one it needs to be balanced. There are many ways with balancing beads, liquids, wieghts and lamont is selling a balancing ring where you need not balance the wheel itself. There are colored circles on the side of most quality tires that should be lined up with the valve stem area to make the need for wieghts mininal if any...:thumbup:
Whenever you remove a tire and re install or install a new one it needs to be balanced. There are many ways with balancing beads, liquids, wieghts and lamont is selling a balancing ring where you need not balance the wheel itself. There are colored circles on the side of most quality tires that should be lined up with the valve stem area to make the need for wieghts mininal if any...:thumbup:
BLUEKNIGHT911
Sadly Passed Oct 2024 - RIP
REAR TIRE BALANCE - ??????
NO.....My last three rear tires were not balanced and I have not found any difference between balancing and not ...except the Money :roflblack: ....... Mike
If it's a Kenda, ABSOLUTELY - if you can! :shocked:
But if it's a real tire, then maybe yeah, it IS preferable, simply because it's best to match any imbalances in the rim to avoid compounding any imbalance in the tire; but like Mike says/infers above, most well made tires will be very close to balanced anyway, & if they aren't close to exact, they will have a yellow &/or red paint dot on the sidewall that should be aligned with the valve stem to best match their static balance.
But dynamic balancing will usually benefit any tire/rim combination, some a little, some a whole lot; Kendas, probably not much you can do anyway, you often can't balance something that's inherently unstable in the first place - still, balancing can make what would otherwise be 'good' absobloodylutely smooth as duck......
pps: err, as smooth as silk! :thumbup:
But if it's a real tire, then maybe yeah, it IS preferable, simply because it's best to match any imbalances in the rim to avoid compounding any imbalance in the tire; but like Mike says/infers above, most well made tires will be very close to balanced anyway, & if they aren't close to exact, they will have a yellow &/or red paint dot on the sidewall that should be aligned with the valve stem to best match their static balance.
But dynamic balancing will usually benefit any tire/rim combination, some a little, some a whole lot; Kendas, probably not much you can do anyway, you often can't balance something that's inherently unstable in the first place - still, balancing can make what would otherwise be 'good' absobloodylutely smooth as duck......
pps: err, as smooth as silk! :thumbup:
Last edited:
BLUEKNIGHT911
Sadly Passed Oct 2024 - RIP
BALANCING TIRES
The fronts MUST be balanced ..... I have found that the rear doesn't , my guess is the axel is supported on both ends and this prevents any resonance to occur..... my last three rear tires were not balanced and I can't tell any difference ... Mike :thumbup:
IGETAROUND
Active member
Do you need to balance a new tire
well my vote is for not balancing; I just mounted my 3rd rear tire and I put on a new set of front tires 15000 miles previously. None have been balanced and my mirrors have a clear reflections. I ride most every day, I just rolled over 40000 miles and my bike gives me a nice smooth ride, and my tires wear evenly. Don't know what else one could ask for
Al in Kazoo
well my vote is for not balancing; I just mounted my 3rd rear tire and I put on a new set of front tires 15000 miles previously. None have been balanced and my mirrors have a clear reflections. I ride most every day, I just rolled over 40000 miles and my bike gives me a nice smooth ride, and my tires wear evenly. Don't know what else one could ask for
Al in Kazoo
Motorcycledave
Active member
IN A WORD...
YES !!!
There is a post here I made about 10 days ago about this very thing,
I was in the tire and wheel business for over 20 year until I sold and retired from that business
I KNOW TIRES, the odds of finding a new tire that does not need to be balanced are about the
same as winning the lotto.
When you balance a tire you are not just balancing the tire you are balancing the tire AND the wheel.
If you are having it balanced on the vehicle then you are balancing the entire assembly, Tire, Wheel,
Brakes, and all...
so yes get them balanced, it will not only make you happy with a smooth ride but it will make your tires
happy because they will last longer.
Ride Safe
Dave
YES !!!
There is a post here I made about 10 days ago about this very thing,
I was in the tire and wheel business for over 20 year until I sold and retired from that business
I KNOW TIRES, the odds of finding a new tire that does not need to be balanced are about the
same as winning the lotto.
When you balance a tire you are not just balancing the tire you are balancing the tire AND the wheel.
If you are having it balanced on the vehicle then you are balancing the entire assembly, Tire, Wheel,
Brakes, and all...
so yes get them balanced, it will not only make you happy with a smooth ride but it will make your tires
happy because they will last longer.
Ride Safe
Dave
rudym
New member
Bob Denman
New member
Get it balanced: that will NEVER hurt you. :thumbup:
KX5062
Active member
My last rear tire was a General Altimax and when balanced it took a ton of weights to get it balanced. Whether or not I would have felt anything I don't know, but I do know it would have adversely affected the ride, safety and life span of the tire if it wasn't balanced. I'm now running a Cooper CS5 and it took very little weight, so balancing wouldn't have been as critical.
PMK
Active member
My tire balancer is able to balance the Spyder front tires, but a rear.
I balanced both fronts on the fine setting, so within 1/10 oz I beleive. No shakes from the Kendas yet.
The rear Yokohama s.Drive got one bottle of Ride On. I did check the rear tire static balance by using two jackstands and the axle. Crude but would show a heavy spot. No heavy spots were noted, so the Ride On was used. If the tire had a heavy spot, I may have had it balanced.
I balanced both fronts on the fine setting, so within 1/10 oz I beleive. No shakes from the Kendas yet.
The rear Yokohama s.Drive got one bottle of Ride On. I did check the rear tire static balance by using two jackstands and the axle. Crude but would show a heavy spot. No heavy spots were noted, so the Ride On was used. If the tire had a heavy spot, I may have had it balanced.
AeroPilot
Member
Do the best you can
Have put on 6 Kumhos on the rear of assorted RT's and while I haven't found anyone with a machine to spin balance the rear wheel with hub, I use a axle type static balancer from Harbor Freight. I usually end up with about 4 quarter ounce weights after hand spinning and marking the tire over the course of an hour sitting on a crate in the garage. The fronts get spin balanced at Discount Tire where I usually buy the tires, but maybe its time to get some of Lamonster's Centramatic dynamic balancers and spend my time Ryding. :clap:
Have put on 6 Kumhos on the rear of assorted RT's and while I haven't found anyone with a machine to spin balance the rear wheel with hub, I use a axle type static balancer from Harbor Freight. I usually end up with about 4 quarter ounce weights after hand spinning and marking the tire over the course of an hour sitting on a crate in the garage. The fronts get spin balanced at Discount Tire where I usually buy the tires, but maybe its time to get some of Lamonster's Centramatic dynamic balancers and spend my time Ryding. :clap:
Lew L
Well-known member
Zero weioghts
General Altimax rear tire here and no balancing weights:clap:. The tech at Michaels Power Sports rotated the tire on the rim and got to run true and smooth with no weights. I was pleasantly surprised when they would mount a tire I brought in.
Front tires were terriblenojoke when purchased( 2014 RTS). They changed the tires and rims out from a floor model ( they said) and all runs smooth now:clap:
Kaos
General Altimax rear tire here and no balancing weights:clap:. The tech at Michaels Power Sports rotated the tire on the rim and got to run true and smooth with no weights. I was pleasantly surprised when they would mount a tire I brought in.
Front tires were terriblenojoke when purchased( 2014 RTS). They changed the tires and rims out from a floor model ( they said) and all runs smooth now:clap:
Kaos
Hey Yu
Member
Good Enough
I one time in my riding life I owned an H-D which needed a new rear tire. I took it to the dealer where the Service Manager told me 'we don't balance rear tires as it is not necessary'. I said 'if that is so, why did it come from the factory with a balanced rear wheel?' They balanced mine because I insisted. They found out how unbalanced it was. Point is, it comes from the factory balanced and what is good enough for them is good enough for me.
I one time in my riding life I owned an H-D which needed a new rear tire. I took it to the dealer where the Service Manager told me 'we don't balance rear tires as it is not necessary'. I said 'if that is so, why did it come from the factory with a balanced rear wheel?' They balanced mine because I insisted. They found out how unbalanced it was. Point is, it comes from the factory balanced and what is good enough for them is good enough for me.
DGoebel
Well-known member
I followed BlueKnight911's advice on rear, no problems. I got Centramatic balancers for the fronts from Lamonster (TricLED carries them too) and won't balance any more wheel/tires on my Spyders, the ride is smooth as silk. And no wheel weights makes wheel cleaning that much easier....
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