Not really Falco related...

Message

rick · #1 Post by **rick** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:11 pm

but anyone used these guys:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/STW-Motorcycle-po ... 483aeac170

I'm looking into buying tyres cheap on eBay and possibly fitting them myself...

I'm happy breaking beads (have various tools... including my 15 stone frame

) and am buying some rim protectors, levers and some sticky-back weights... just need a balancer and I already have paddock stands.

Seems like a good idea?

D-Rider · #2 Post by **D-Rider** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:18 pm

Seems like a good device - though you could always forget the rim balance weights and go for the beads inside the tyres that Mangocrazy has tried. He says they work and they are certainly an easier option to use.

rick · #3 Post by **rick** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:21 pm

beads inside tyres? sounds like an interesting solution

D-Rider · #4 Post by **D-Rider** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:28 pm

Just found the threads - first one is a debate about whether they might work - in the second one, Mango reports experience:

https://www.ridersite.com/viewtopic.ph ... ight=beads

https://www.ridersite.com/viewtopic.ph ... ight=beads

.... and apparently it's not the dyna-beads he went for but Easy Balance which "appears more like baking powder"

#5 Post by **mangocrazy** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:48 pm

Yes.

My Falco has been running around for the last 2-3000 miles with no balance weights and EasyBalance in the tyres. No problems at all. In that time we've done a trip through France 2-up and loaded with luggage and the bike behaved impeccably.

Having seen this stuff was what finally convinced me to start fitting my own tyres again. I bought an Abba bead-breaker, Buzetti tyre levers (top kit), and press-ganged my Black and Decker workbench into use as a tyre-mounting platform.

In fact this week I've bought a set of Dunlop Sportsmarts ready to fit on my Oz rims for the coming season - £226.14 delivered from BCT Motorcycles (120/70 and 190/55 ZR17s). I've heard tales that tyre prices are set to rise quite steeply in a few months time...

I find that a 100g packet of EasyBalance will treat one set of tyres - 66g in the rear and 33g in the front. This is with the caveat that your rims don't normally need excessive amounts of balance weights. If they do, more will probably be needed.

Oh yes - incompatible with tyre gloop, unfortunately.

rick · #6 Post by **rick** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:52 pm

I'm definitely going to give this a go... I won't bother ordering that balancing kit now :)

did you weigh it or just split approx. into thirds?

#7 Post by **mangocrazy** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:54 pm

We actually have a little set of scales for the kitchen that weigh down to a gram, so I nicked that while SWMBO wasn't looking...

I imagine you could probably do it by eye and not be too far out, though.

Oh yes - BCT are cheaper if you buy via their website rather than eBay...

rick · #8 Post by **rick** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:55 pm

thanks for the info... where did you buy your easy balance from?

#9 Post by **mangocrazy** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 10:59 pm

These folks:

http://www.tyre-equipment.co.uk/acatalo ... pound.html

rick · #10 Post by **rick** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:06 pm

great thanks for that... do you just get a bag or the tub as well? I may get the 300g bag... the tub would be useful!

#11 Post by **mangocrazy** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:13 pm

I bought a couple of bags, I seem to recall (think I've still got one unopened). If you're planning on doing a few tyres, then the tub would make more sense I suspect (it's not like the stuff will go off, now is it?)

Let us know how you go on.

D-Rider · #12 Post by **D-Rider** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:20 pm

Now what would be really cool is some stuff you could put in the tyres that would sort out the balancing and also seal the punctures like Nooj's gloop does.

Just a thought Nooj, but I guess it doesn't do that anyway as a side effect? (or if it does, I wonder whether the manufacturer even knows as it isn't something they would have been trying to achieve)

rick · #13 Post by **rick** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:25 pm

i was about to ask about nooj's puncturesafe... have already provisionally ordered some and i don't think this easy balance is compatible lol

Nooj · #14 Post by **Nooj** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:33 pm

Nope, you can't use both together. Given that beads or powdered granules of a regular shape will act like a fluid, I reckon tyre sealant may do a similar job. However, it may not, so I wouldn't want to try it just in case. I'll ask Puncturesafe's tech department on Monday.

D-Rider · #15 Post by **D-Rider** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:47 pm

Nooj wrote:I'll ask Puncturesafe's tech department on Monday.

Might be worth asking them to do some test work if they don't categorically know the answer.
The thing to do would be to deliberately fit balance weights in the wrong place to upset the balance, add puncture safe and test ... increasing the degree of unbalance bit by bit to see what it can cope with.

Safer if they can do this on a rig (for which one of those dynamic balancing machines may fit the bill).

Would be good for them if it actually did work as this would be another significant benefit of their product.