A quick ? on beads in the wheels.

[CMReynolds1]

I have read most of the articles about using the ceramic beads in the tires. Sooooo, I went and got some. I put 2 ounces in each tire and then reinflated. I also removed the old weights. I have an F6B (2013), will 2 ounces for each tire and the correct tire pressure be correct? Thanks for any input!

[wingman12]

Most of the bead sites tell you 2oz per tire for a motorcycle, I found out however that is not always true. I used 2oz in my new E-3 and was having issues with bouncing, took the out and had the dealer install weights, the weights were a little over 2.3 oz had to add 3 oz to take the bounce away. From what I have read the bead sites generally tell you it is not an exact science on the weight but suggest 1 oz beads to 10 lbs of tire. I have tried every site I could possible look at and nobody lists the weight of their tires. Try the 2oz and if you get a bouncing from either tire, isolate that tire and .5 oz at a time until it go away.

[virgilmobile]

This is good information..1 oz of beads for 10 lb of tire weight...I'll keep this in mind..
I have used 2 oz front and rear on my 88 for the last 2 years...It rides dead smooth from stop to 95.Maybe I got lucky on the amount I used and each tire didn't need any more...Either in beads or lead weights.I tossed them but I don't remember removing more than 2 stick on weights.
I suppose one could bump it up a bit..any excess weight in beads (I think) would be just evenly distributed inside the tire.
I'm gonna replace my front this weekend so I'll weigh the tire first and decide from there.

[CMReynolds1]

Thank you Wingman! Great info.

[wingman12]

let me know your results, I am used to putting the beads on class 8 over the road trucks and trailers and they take a lot more of the beads but they sure do improve the life of the tires and the drivers tell me that they run quieter and a lot smoother than when spun balanced. I have yet to actually remove the weights and add the 3 oz to my tires, limited time but am looking forward to my own experiment with the increase in wts. 2 oz did not do it for me.

[Dogsled]

This is the ideal time to ask this question, i've been waiting. If your bike had weights and was balanced....WHY would you do this???? You truly can't tell me you can tell the difference between a professionally ballanced tire and these beads. either the frigger shakes or it doesn't.

[virgilmobile]

Actually,due to tire wear,nicks or minor damage,wheels should be re-balanced every 3 to 5k miles or so.
With beads,its a one time deal.They constantly keep the wheel balanced.
The best part is they are reusable from tire to tire..
Over a few sets of tires,the cost of having both balanced two or three times is much more than one set of balancing beads.

[Dogsled]

Virg, thats one of the most insane things i've ever heard..........NO let me re-phrase that, that is the MOST insame thing i've ever heard......Do you own a tire balancing company?????? You got to send me some of that bud you been hittin to come up with a story like that.....

[wingman12]

dogsled, did you received my response to your question, I do not see it in these threads? I know I am not computer literate but I can push the submit button.

[virgilmobile]

Insane.???
Define it.
Not ever having to pay to have my tires "professionally balanced" again on any vehicle I own?
Sure...
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[WingAdmin]

Virg, thats one of the most insane things i've ever heard..........NO let me re-phrase that, that is the MOST insame thing i've ever heard......Do you own a tire balancing company?????? You got to send me some of that bud you been hittin to come up with a story like that.....

Sorry, but he's right. Tires as they wear naturally become unbalanced. Balanced tires last longer and are less prone to cupping or other abnormal wear. Having them 100% perfectly balanced all the time by having beads installed beats having to occasionally re-balance tires during their normal life.

[wingman12]

Wingadmin, I do not mean to get off track, but where does a reply to a posting go when a person hits submit, today I replies to Dogsled concerning the beads about the same time that Virgilmobile did and his showed up and mine did not??

[virgilmobile]

I've seen this too.
..After typing with one finger,another person may get a post in before I do...
Then when I hit submit,it looks OK till I glance back at the screen...Sheesh...It did warn me that another person has posted a reply and I might want to read at it before I hit the submit button again...It won't post a new post from you right away if somebody beat you to it.

[wingman12]

thanks, I will have to pay more attention in the future, it has happened to many time over the last couple of days and I was beginning to second guess my mental condition.

[spiralout]

I've seen this too.
..After typing with one finger,another person may get a post in before I do...
Then when I hit submit,it looks OK till I glance back at the screen...Sheesh...It did warn me that another person has posted a reply and I might want to read at it before I hit the submit button again...It won't post a new post from you right away if somebody beat you to it.

Wingadmin, I do not mean to get off track, but where does a reply to a posting go when a person hits submit, today I replies to Dogsled concerning the beads about the same time that Virgilmobile did and his showed up and mine did not??

To continue the OT: It's not only having a reply posted before you submit that causes it. It's the site or WA's server, too. Happens to me a lot. Every time I type a reply I make sure I copy it because probably 1-2 times out of 10, my post isn't going to work when I hit submit. The post is always lost when the server is acting up. I've always gotten an intermittent deal where when I click a link or open one in a new tab the page takes forever to load. It gets the header pretty quick, but there's many times that if I don't manually reload the page again, it will never stop loading. This is the same across 3 different PCs and 2 different browsers. A while back, I ran some pings and traceroutes to the site when it was doing it but I've forgotten if it was a specific hop or the destination that was having the problem.

[redial]

One of the advantages of living where the sun gets up before Europe, Africa, and the Americas, when we are awake, you are just going to bed, or should be asleep. This means less congestion for us, as you people have already done your posting. Good weather, good Internet, good beer, good beaches, good fishing, great motorcycling - what else do you need?

[wingman12]

Thanks Spiralout, I know I am only so so on the computer, but this is elementary stuff and it was not working for me all the time. I am relieved to know it is not me but the system.

to my friend Redial in the land down under, I can only think of two things you might have left out, good friends and a good women. both are hard to find.

[Dogsled]

So how often do you have your car tires rebalanced? Is there a measurment someone has taken to show tires benefit from 2/3ooo mile rebalance. I am not contesting tire wear changes things.....but enough to be foolish enough to rebalance a tire.....no way.....to get extra life out of a tire, where's the proof ?????
I don't deny rebalancing everyday is beneficial......but who's gonna do that???? I been ridin for a long long time, balance once, wear out and put new tires on.
How many people on this aite have done this and say "better wear/ better handling? None, you know why? because the wear is so miniscule and the difference is so unnoticable it's not worth even thinking about.

I'd like to see the abrasive wear these beads do to the inside of the tire closer to the belting and have stats to say if there's any danger there. Beads are a fluke and won't even be on the market in a few years........Too trandy and to much history in the past to prove you don't need them with no history in the past few saying they benefit.

Hogwash

[Viking]

Yeah, they said the same thing about synthetic oils too.

I did not believe them, and now I am glad I did not know everything. I am still using synthetic oil, and balance beads also.

[Dogsled]

Yeah and I run regular oil with no problems on my 97.....so what's the point..... Oh, you pay alot more for the same out come.

[CMReynolds1]

Man o Man, did we ever get off topic! Not a problem, just funny!

[Wilcoy02]

I used the sticky weights on my wheels and could get about 15,000 miles on tires.
Switched to beads 3 sets of tires ago. This tire change I got 23,702 miles out of the tire.
With the weights I had a very small vibration in the bike. After switching to beads I have no vibration.

These beads will be around a long time.
This all started when truckers put golf balls in their tires to balance them. Now with today's technology they made these tiny little beads so we can put them in out tires if we so shall choose to do so.

[Earl43P]

I'd like to see the abrasive wear these beads do to the inside of the tire closer to the belting and have stats to say if there's any danger there. Beads are a fluke and won't even be on the market in a few years........Too trandy and to much history in the past to prove you don't need them with no history in the past few saying they benefit.

Hogwash

I can answer that.
I use Airsoft ceramic pellets in all my tires now, the .12 gram variety which is the heaviest I have found. ~$5 for a pound of them. I put 3 oz. in each tire. There is no visible wear on the interior casing of any of the tires I have removed *Kenda Kruz, ME880, & Avon Cobra. I go through "a few" tires, just my commute adds up to 28,500 miles a year.

I truly believe that rear tire wear is dependent upon how much you downshift to decelerate. I hold the clutch in and flick down through the gears, but typically coast holding the clutch in to virtually all stops, using only the brakes. Guess it doesn't much matter any more, two of my three are double-darkside now. I know for a fact that I got over18,000 miles on my last rear ME880 on the 82 GL1100 though, with those beads for balance.

[HawkeyeGL1200]

I rode for years without balancing tires. Yeah, I'm the insane one... I lined up the little dot with the valve stem and rode off into the sunset.. I use 2 ounces (or so) of balancing beads in the front and about the same in the rear. I don't weigh them. I scoop them with a measuring cup (I'd have to go look at the size). I bought beads in bulk and scoop out what looks right and pour it into the tire before I roll the second bead into the rim (carefully)... I still line up the little dot with the valve stem and don't look back.

Tire wear can be attributed to many factors. Balance, riding conditions, riding style, motorcycle condition (shocks, springs, type of frame)... how much weight the tires must carry, inflation pressure... alignment... you get the point.

If the guy (or gal) who balances your tires balances them to run 55 mph, but you rarely ride at 55 mph, how effective is all the effort put into making sure your tires are balanced?

I spend more time speeding up and slowing down than I do running one constant speed. So, I've always felt that having my tires balanced was nice but not really all that necessary.

I know you all think I'm insane already, so I just thought I'd confirm what you already believe.

By the way, I think synthetic oil is pretty cool too. I just don't switch to synthetic on engines that have high miles on them when I get them.

[captaindan]

I'm not an expert on tire balancing but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. When I bought my 06 it had a slow speed wobble. The tires had some cupping and yes they were balanced with exterior weights. I felt I would be replacing the tires very soon. I decided to try the beads. The front end wobble went away, the tires lasted for several thousand more miles, and even the cupping of the tires decreased. My other thought has always been, did the guy balancing your tire have a clue what he was doing? Do your own testing, gather your own results, and then make your decision. I don't take a lot of stock in opinions if you've never tried them.