Balancing Beads

[Jimsjinx]

I'm gonna try some "CounterAct" balancing beads in my new front tire for the 1500 MotorTrike. I was wondering what the skinny is on these beads. The videos make sense to me, and I hate spinning a wheel/tire and trying to balance it. I chose to do this myself, and bought a bead breaker/lever from Harbor Freight, borrowed some tire spoons, and new valve stems. I have chewed up a Dunlop in 20,000 miles, and thought I'd try the new Metzler 880's since the delaminating problem has been addressed. I was assured by Metzler that the problem has not shown up for a couple years. (unless you buy a 10 year old tire off the shelf.) Anyway, any comments are welcome, from anyone who uses tire balancing beads. CounterAct, DynaBeads, etc.. Thanks y'all, jimsjinx

[Jimsjinx]

Is this a sore subject or sumpin'? Anybody? jimsjinx

[dirtdobber]

I have used the dyna beads and glass beads that you can get from truck tire company's.
The dyna beads worked great. The glass beads were okay but the dyna beads out performed the glass beads by a big margin.
They are reusable, just drill a hole in the center of the tire and pour them out into a container.

[Gold Rush]

Just wondering if you have considered the Bridgestone BT45 or Michelin Pilot Activ alternative to regular front tire options? Many trike owner run one of these (some in reverse rotation) and get very impressive performance and mileage from them. Might be worth investigating before you buy anything.

[Jimsjinx]

I kinda wish I had bought the Pilot Activ, but I already have the Metzler in my sweaty little hands! Thanks for the input about the beads. I have been studying motorcycle and trike suspension/symetry for about 2 years now, and I am pretty sure the cupping I had with the Dunlop E-3, was caused by an out of sync pair of forks. I have Progressive springs, and a Trike shop 4.2 degree rake. I found my differential not to be centered properly, and maladjusted ladderbars soon after I bought it. If you let go of the handlebars at any speed, you were in the ditch on the right, in about 2 seconds! Anyway, a SuperBrace that I got from the forum improved the front end enough to really notice it. If a tire is heavy not only in one spot, but off to one side or the other, your forks can impart a twisting cycle that can result in cupped tires. So, I was thinking the beads would go where they were NEEDED, and smooth out this harmonic. I guess all bikes/trikes have this to some degree. What I have found out, is with a little careful setting up of the suspension, you can tune it out. We'll see. So far, after getting the back end straight, that SuperBrace was the biggest, and most noticed improvement so far. Wish me luck, and pray Metzler got that delaminating thing squared away! jimsjinx

[TNTriker]

Dyna Beads here! The new Triglide will get them at first opportunity. All three tires on the Triglide have no wheels weights on them...Good balance I suppose. They have nitrogen right now, gotta get the $15.00 out of the nitrogen before we put it in the wind!

[Chumbly]

Just had the Dyna-beads put in... I didn't have a problem before, but thought I'd give 'em a try anyway. Haven't noticed a difference yet, good or bad. As far as cupping of front tires go- it has been noticed in the past by many biker forums, and myself that alot of the cupping is caused by underinflation of the tire. My original front tire was a Dunlop, (36 PSI, as per owners ,manual recommendations)... cupped out at less than 2500 miles. Replaced with Avon tires, pressured up to 41 PSI... never a problem after that.

[Jimsjinx]

Cupping, in my case, I think, was due to a set of forks that had different rates of cycle. Once I got the forks set up right, and a Superbrace installed, The tire started to wear correctly again. I think the forks are to blame for alot of "unexplained" tire wear. Also, the wheel wieghts are on one side of the rim only. Physics say the wieghts SHOULD be in the center of the rim, or you set up a twisting cylce in the fork travel. I figured the beads would go where they were needed, so that's why I tried them. I guess I'm repeating myself, sorry. I'm just really impressed with the beads now, AND the SuperBrace. jimsjinx:woohoo:

[DeerWrangler]

I know that eveyone will have their own thoughts on this but here goes. I HAD centric balancers on my front tire and dyna beeds in the rear tires. They worked far better than anything i had previously tried. Then about 6 months ago i needed to change out tires ( all 3 due to age not wear). At that time i still use Dyna Beeds in the rear but have gone to RIDEON in the front tire... My reason to go with Rideon in the front tire is that it not only balances the tire but also acts as a sealant should the tire get holed...As i carry a tire plug kit with me on the road i can easiloy patch the rear tires as they are car tires but should you hole the front tire its pretty hard to temp patch and i dont like being 1000 miles from no where and have a flat. I was surprised how good the rideon works as i just did not think it would balance BUT it does.
The good thing about beads, rideon & the concentric balancers is that they ballance the whole thing while its on the bike and even if you pick up a stone it adjust to compensate for that rock stuck in the tread...

[Jimsjinx]

My Beady little update: I changed out my tire to a new Metzler880 front. I removed all the stick on wieghts. I then static balanced my rim alone, after a thorough cleaning up. (Was pert near balanced!) Then I mounted the tire, (I'll never gripe about what shops charge again!) and after that little job whipped my butt, I put the beads in the new front tire. Went for a test ride on the hiway, and noticed a MARKED improvement over just the new tire.( I did a test ride the night I got the tire on with no balancing.) Then I pulled the 2 rears, and they needed new valve stems, so the beads were installed. Even smoother! I was very impressed. Then, I heard a noise in the front when using the footbrake. Hmmm? New pads, new caliper pins, nice and lubed. What IS that? Get the caliper off, the pins were a breeze cause I used anti-sieze the last time I had them off, and found a couple goudges in the pads. Noticed the pads were wearing at a diagonal.?? A closer look says there must have been a little rock or sumpin jammed in there, and the left rotor is now toast! A 1/16" ridge on both sides of the rotors rims. So Balancing beads are worth the cost/trouble, and little rocks SUCK. jimsjinx