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Tyres/Wheels...to balance or not to balance..


Ride & Shine

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Hi All...I'm swapping out the OEM tyres for a set of Mitas EO7+ and was wondering what your thoughts and more importantly experiences were with Tyre/Wheel balancing. I've run a liquid tyre sealant balancer in my OEM tubes which to date has worked just fine while offering some puncture protection...not tested yet and hope I never do. I'm probably going to run new tubes with the new tyres and thought to check your collective thoughts balancing (or not) while I was at it. Thanks...

Edited by Ride & Shine
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I have changed a bunch of motorcycles tires in my time, and I always balance the tires, its easy to do with just a few tools. 
However, on the T7, I'm not sure how to attach the wheel weights?  I usually use the lead bars with the sticky tape on one side, this may not be the best setup on the T7 as in rough/muddy terrain it would be fairly easy to throw these weights?   I think I saw some kind of wheel weights that hold onto the spokes, more research is needed. 

 

On my T7, one of the first wheel mods I will be doing is converting the rims to tubless.  I already have an Outex kit sitting in my pile of T7 parts to be installed.  I will balance the wheels when I'm dumping the tubes. 

 

Tazmool

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I am also going the tubeless route at some point down the road but didn't mention that in original post as this is a whole new discussion with as many opinions and experiences as wheel balancing...:-) I've been looking at the Outex system too...not sure when you're bike is arriving however I'd be really interested in following your conversion journey when you get to it.

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I will post up my findings with the Outex Kit when I install it (bike is not here yet, thats another story too) 
outex.thumb.jpg.32d907b8f607a9737ceaf0b75eddd014.jpg

The kit looks fairly straight forward, seems kind of expensive for what it is, but maybe its some kind of special ultra-durable tape or something. 
I have read that people have had very good luck using some 3m tape at a fraction of the cost too. 

 

I did find out that there are wheel weights specifically designed for spoked wheels. 

spacer.png

I'll be going that route when the time comes (tubeless conversion, subsequent tire changes etc) 

 

Tazmool

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15 minutes ago, Tazmool said:

I will post up my findings with the Outex Kit when I install it (bike is not here yet, thats another story too) 
outex.thumb.jpg.32d907b8f607a9737ceaf0b75eddd014.jpg

The kit looks fairly straight forward, seems kind of expensive for what it is, but maybe its some kind of special ultra-durable tape or something. 
I have read that people have had very good luck using some 3m tape at a fraction of the cost too. 

 

I did find out that there are wheel weights specifically designed for spoked wheels. 

spacer.png

I'll be going that route when the time comes (tubeless conversion, subsequent tire changes etc) 

 

Tazmool

if ya can, please take some pics or video and make us a tech tip? 

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Sure, will do.

It will be a while however, don't even have the bike yet 😉

Tazmool

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Ive done tubeless setups on multiple supermotos never used the outex tape cause its way over priced. Ive used butyl tape wich works good but its permanent.  And what i have used the most is gorilla tape. Works fantastic and its cheap. When I do tubeless  setup on my T7 ill have to takes some pics. 

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One tip if you don't like to balance the tiers is to put the red dot or yellow dot close to air valve.

Its ther because that you don't need sow much weights on the rim

Only a tip.

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Does nobody run nuetech tubliss?  Not DOT legal but I use them on dirt bike and dual sport.  I'll probably try them on the T7.

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35 minutes ago, Idarex said:

Does nobody run nuetech tubliss?  Not DOT legal but I use them on dirt bike and dual sport.  I'll probably try them on the T7.

I have recently fit the Tubliss kit to my T7. It requires a narrower rear rim (check the specs, I am running a 2.5" Excel rim with a deep well and it works fine). These rims are also setup as tubeless using the Outex tubeless kit, so the tire can still seal as a tubeless tire even if the Tubliss innards were damaged or didn't seal. From an offroad performance point of view, and reliability / get me home no matter what, this is the best setup that I can think of.

I did have one issue with getting them balanced, having to take a lot of weight to offset the main Tubliss valve assembly. I will disassemble and try again during the week to see if rotating the tire around a bit will improve it. 

Tubliss.thumb.jpg.73b729ee9bc42749672d5ac382a09e99.jpg

 

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On 5/23/2020 at 4:15 PM, TimeMachine said:

I have recently fit the Tubliss kit to my T7. It requires a narrower rear rim (check the specs, I am running a 2.5" Excel rim with a deep well and it works fine). These rims are also setup as tubeless using the Outex tubeless kit, so the tire can still seal as a tubeless tire even if the Tubliss innards were damaged or didn't seal. From an offroad performance point of view, and reliability / get me home no matter what, this is the best setup that I can think of.

I did have one issue with getting them balanced, having to take a lot of weight to offset the main Tubliss valve assembly. I will disassemble and try again during the week to see if rotating the tire around a bit will improve it. 

Tubliss.thumb.jpg.73b729ee9bc42749672d5ac382a09e99.jpg

 

Any luck improving the balance?

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  • 3 months later...

I checked my front wheel for balance tonight due to a slight wobble it has on de-acceleration. Turned out I needed to add 4- 1/4 oz weights! Probably needed 1- more 1/8 oz but I don’t have anything less than 1/4 oz. I’m just hoping the bike won’t throw off the weights dues to the narrow rim compared to a street bike. I plan to get spoke weights but until then...

 

On a side note, when I removed the front wheel I noticed how heavy it is!  This is the heaviest wheel I’ve ever taken off a motorcycle including My sport bike “rear” tire/wheels! 

 

 

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I'm running the Outex system and balance beads. I find it works great. Have also run balance/puncture seal slim with mixed success. Have been running beads for about 6 years on all my tubeless bikes and other than a bit of tire wear on the inside, I've had no issues. The tire wear on the inside is just a little polishing of the inside of the tire. Not an issue as the outside wears out far sooner. Beads don't like high speed - 200km/h and above, but that's not an issue on the bikes I have now.

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I think I have Yamaha disease...

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9 hours ago, DT675 said:

I checked my front wheel for balance tonight due to a slight wobble it has on de-acceleration. Turned out I needed to add 4- 1/4 oz weights! Probably needed 1- more 1/8 oz but I don’t have anything less than 1/4 oz. I’m just hoping the bike won’t throw off the weights dues to the narrow rim compared to a street bike. I plan to get spoke weights but until then...

 

On a side note, when I removed the front wheel I noticed how heavy it is!  This is the heaviest wheel I’ve ever taken off a motorcycle including My sport bike “rear” tire/wheels! 

I cut the weights in half to fit the rim.

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On 5/21/2020 at 8:43 AM, Ride & Shine said:

Hi All...I'm swapping out the OEM tyres for a set of Mitas EO7+ and was wondering what your thoughts and more importantly experiences were with Tyre/Wheel balancing. I've run a liquid tyre sealant balancer in my OEM tubes which to date has worked just fine while offering some puncture protection...not tested yet and hope I never do. I'm probably going to run new tubes with the new tyres and thought to check your collective thoughts balancing (or not) while I was at it. Thanks...

I would recommend balancing each time you upgrade your tyres especially on the T7 simply because of its road handling capabilities. What I mean by that is you get out on the highway and it wants to get up and go. I find that even when I decide I am going to have a leisurely ride eventually I look at the Speedo and I am way above what I intended to be doing. Some of the speeds I have been doing I would hate to do on an unbalanced bike. The best weights to use are the ones that attach to the spokes. It is almost impossible to throw them.  Cheers Allen😉

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On 9/8/2020 at 8:53 AM, Limey said:

I cut the weights in half to fit the rim.

I suppose their pretty soft. What did you use to cut them? 

 

 

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4 hours ago, rattler said:

I have these on three sets of rims, including the T7, and they work great.  I use a little medium loctite on the set screws for piece of mind.

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12 hours ago, DT675 said:

I suppose their pretty soft. What did you use to cut them? 

Just use side cutters. And I can’t remember if it the wife’s BMW or my T7 one of the wheels is curved so I took a hacksaw and cut a grove through the weight so I could bend it.

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I always balance and a simple strip of stick on weights works fine never lost one in the muck. Barely can peel them off at a tire change anyway. I hate the spoke clamp on weights which the T7 came with.

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I have a North America bike, and it came with a single spoke weight on the front, pretty much opposite the valve stem. Nothing on the rear. Bike rolls smooth and stable at all speeds. I will be Outexing my wheels this winter, and having them balanced as well.

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I'm curious what experience the OP had with his Mitas EO7+ tires? Did you stay with spec size or go narrower? I have the Mitas on my KLR 650 and really like them. I've only had my T7 for a few weeks and love love love the Scorpions on the pavement, but haven't yet tested them in loose gravel and dirt. The Scorpi0n's to me look like 80/20 or 70/30 tires. When the time comes to replace these tires the Mitas E07+ might be my go to tire. How planted, compared to the Scorpion's, are the Mitas when cruising fast down a highway? On dirt I'm assuming they are better. Or are they?

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Hey YukonPete. I run E07+ F&R and they are a bit (10-15%) less stable when ripping around the corners (in BC, I try to take the sign posted speed of km/h in mph) and can just about do it, but the front gets a bit wiggly. Other than that, I can't really feel the difference. The rear is GLUED to the road.

I think I have Yamaha disease...

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