Front Wheel balancing.

[Weg]

It was photo-shoot time today (for insurance agreed valuation) after fitting new tyres all round.
The guy at the tyre depot fitted the rear for me but was unable to balance it without the right mandrel.
Never had a problem with rear wheel balance anyway.
Fitted and balanced the fronts myself.
First, remove grease seal, wash bearings in white spirit, rinse and blow dry.
Clean outer races in the hub, assemble with the lightest of wd40 spray so there is no resistance.
Slacken the wheel nut back a bit. (Don't fit the brake calliper)
Now spin the wheel and slow it down to let it stop on it's own.
Put a marker at the top, add stick on weights (using blue-tack temporarily) at the inner top of the rim until the wheel will stop in any position when rotated.
Once there is no return rotation after stop, stick the weights on permanently.
Now assemble up with grease properly.
Works for me!

[EricStarmer]

After replacing the Guzzi rear wheel on my Triking with one from Alan that takes a car tire, I essentially did the same thing to balance it (I would have taken it to a tire dealer to have it balanced , but didn't due to Covid restrictions/concerns ) I mounted the new wheel, and now , at around 60 mph I get a definite vibration in the rear end (of both the car and me). Will probably dismount it and take it to a tire dealer in the next couple of months to get it dynamically balanced, as I'm not sure static balancing is good enough, unless you're lucky.

[frederick]

I was able to fit a car tire on the stock Guzzi Norge rear rim, but since my local auto shop didnt have a small enough mandril i had it mounted and dynamically balanced by a motorcycle shop who specializes in big touring bike’s and familiar with putting car tires on the rear of harkeys,hondas, etc.

Fronts were mounted and spin blanced by the same place, but the only weights they had were big lead squares stuck to the rim. Didnt matter in back being unseeable, but were an eyesore on the gorgeous lace fronts.

My solution was an old school harley racer’s tip to wind the spokes with equivalent weight of heavy solder wrapped around the spoke, splitting the coil if the weight landed between nipples They’re on for good but just to be sure i put a drop of super glue at the “top” so no chance of them sliding around.

[EricStarmer]

Ordered some Ride-On tire sealant/balancer for my rear wheel, then I won't have to take the wheel off to get it balanced - we'll see how that works out,

[frederick]

interested to hear your results...especially as punctures in a difficult to access solo rear tubeless tire could be a concern for some.

lot's of pros and cons on that particular product: https://www.motorcycleforum.com/threads ... ed.229740/

[EricStarmer]

What I find strange is the guy who did the test comes to the conclusion that the Ride-on didn't work even though he says he experienced no vibration. He blames it's "not working" on a slight difference in tire wear over 5500 miles - a totally irrelevant measurement which could easily be due to slight differences in batches of rubber, etc. His test sounds good , but he comes to completely wrong conclusions. I'm going to build a miniature LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory) and mount it under my seat to measure gravitational waves caused by any unbalance in the tire before and after I add the Ride-On - a true scientific experiment
Watch this space....

[Weg]

WoW.
We wait with baited breath.
I did squirt some tyre goo in the rear tyre which did seem to stand me in good stead for 10,000mls.
It must have done the balance thingey without me knowing about the science.

[EricStarmer]

I have read that not all tire sealers/balancers are created equal, and that Ride-On is good and you should stay away from Slime. Ride-On is also made in a number of different formulas, and one shouldn't put Ride-On made for motorcycle tires, say, into a car tire (or vice-versa).

[steveO]

Hi
I've been using Ride-On in both cars and bikes for some 15 years:

Triking rear tyre
Plymouth Prowler all wheels - no spare
Polaris Slingshot all wheels - no spare

I used to use in my harleys that were tubless.

I don't use in MG Convert as has tubes, same with Triking front wheels. I carry a spare tube
I don't use it in inner tubes but I believe there is a variant that can be.

It does balance the wheels well BUT if the vehicle has stood for a few days it sinks to the bottom and is terrible for say the first mile until it distributes and then great.

There are different versions for motorcycles and cars.

The down sides are:
It only seals the tyre tread it wont seal leaking rims or spokes as it flings to the inside of the tread.
A friend got a puncture and did not know until he spotted the orange.

A lot of our driving/riding is in remote areas (western Canada, Montana etc.) with hours to get a tow truck if you can get a cell signal. Not an issue so much in the UK.

All considered I would not travel without it in the tyres.

Steve in Calgary