RiderSite.com - Motorcycle Forums

Has anyone else seen these?

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/motorcycle.htm

and available here in the UK via

http://www.snakemotorcycles.com/Fdyna.html

Now I couldn't get an answer when I rang Snake (but the site is great for info on how the beads work) but after a lot (a lot!!) of ringing around I finally found out that Scorpion Racing are the UK importer TEL: +44 (0)1992 630 701 (ask for Roz)

For a std bike 120 front & 180/190 rear you need a 29g (1oz) & 59g (2oz) kits I spoke to Roz and including delivery, both kits and an applicator is about £10 (oh and the beads are re-usable!!)

I really fancy giving these a go. IMHO there is nothing worse (visually) than those horrible lumps of lead glued to your wheels. The referrals are all very positive both here and in the States

F9

I'm intrigued Rich. It sort of sounds a bit too good or too clever to be true, but if it does work, it is a cheap and simply brilliant idea.
I'd certainly be interested if you try it, it is not just fact that fitting weights, (on cars and bikes), is messy and ugly, it's the sticky crap you end up with when they re-balance for a new tyre and even worse with clip on weights on the edge of alloy wheels, which always go through the paint layer eventually.
Let us know if you try 'em.

HowardQ wrote:I'm intrigued Rich. It sort of sounds a bit too good or too clever to be true, but if it does work, it is a cheap and simply brilliant idea.
I'd certainly be interested if you try it, it is not just fact that fitting weights, (on cars and bikes), is messy and ugly, it's the sticky crap you end up with when they re-balance for a new tyre and even worse with clip on weights on the edge of alloy wheels, which always go through the paint layer eventually.
Let us know if you try 'em.

I have ordered some Howard, I'll let you know......although it could be May before I ride the bike of course

F9

Read the info and it seems sensible .... until you consider what might happen to all those nicely distributed beads when you hit the brakes at speed ...

I'd be interested to know whether my fears are valid .... but the idea of braking from great big speed (on a track - obviously ) to another high but lesser speed for a bend and finding your wheel balance is screwed sounds like a bit too much fun to me.

They are used extensively in off road racing, athough they claim the only reason they cannot be used on racing motorcycles is the softness of a slick compound internally. One of the AF1 forum lads uses them on his track bike and claims they are brilliant so we'll just have to see

Oh by the way...Scorpion racing quoted a tenner all in but I've just rung back to check how much they were charging me in total and it's gone up to £14.95.............I hate being ripped off!!!! I should have told them to stick it but I'm so intrigued I have to try them

F9

This is really interesting. I'm at the point where I'm about to change both tyres on the Falco (to get shot of the crappy OE Metzelers) and on the VFR in France. I've just had the rear wheel on the VFR powder coated and will be getting a new front wheel for it, and the wheels on the Falco are only 200 miles old.

So now would be the perfect time to lose those ugly, messy balance weights and preserve the finish on my new rims. I was also thinking of getting myself a full abba tyre changing and wheel balancing kit, as over a period of time it could save money and is far more convenient. Not having to buy the wheel balancer halves the cost, so that's even better.

I'm going to give these a go...

I can't see any way this can possibly balance a tyre (or any details of how it actually works) - surely centrifugal force would just evenly distribute the beads around, or am I missing something

More info here

http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/show ... p?t=149034

and the actual website shows how the system works. They don't appear to be a "fly by night" set up and their list of referrals is huge...

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/motorcycle.htm

F9

Only bit I can see on how they work is

"Dyna Beads are small ceramic spheres, high in density and perfectly smooth, that travel inside the tire to locate themselves opposite heavy points to eliminate out-of-balance motion"


So how do they "know" where the heavy point is - surely they are just flung about by centrifugal force depending on the wheel speed

click on the "How it works link on their home page

or here

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/HowItWorks.htm

F9

still think they'll just whizz round and round when you slam on the anchors .....

D-Rider wrote:still think they'll just whizz round and round when you slam on the anchors .....

But Andy... maybe this is actually a good thing. If you slam anchors and the beads all head forwards, in theory that should move the centre of gravity forwards and downwards even if only slightly. This is a good thing I think?

You know what - before I started typing I understood what I wanted to say but now I am not so sure

Syltiz wrote:

D-Rider wrote:still think they'll just whizz round and round when you slam on the anchors .....

But Andy... maybe this is actually a good thing. If you slam anchors and the beads all head forwards, in theory that should move the centre of gravity forwards and downwards even if only slightly. This is a good thing I think?

There will be inertia in the forward direction but while still at speed I think the centripital reaction will keep them on the outside of the tyre void but will continue to rotate at a faster speed than the wheel that is being braked.
I'm happy to believe these things will be fine at a steady speed but I think braking forces in particular would screw things up as far as the beads being where they need to be to balance the tyre.

There again, that's just me theorising - I've never seen these things.

Even when you slam on the anchors your wheel is still turning, as these balls are so small and dense I don't think there would be an issue the centrifugal forces exterted would still mean they did their job.

Worth bearing in mind that these come from the States. If there was the slightest doubt they could be bad news the law suites would be flying. The fact that one of the forum members on AF1 uses them on his track bikes seems to indicate they work fine even at track speeds (and braking) and to date not one user has a bad word to say about them

At the end of the day its a personal choice as to whether you buy or not (as always) of course

F9