Balance beads

[Vtrod]

I have always wondered how well balance beads work on a motorcycle. Seems like they would always keep the wheel balanced while weights will sometimes lose the balance.

‘Anyone had experience with them, good or bad?

 

[GTK]

Been using them for years in motorcycles. As tire tread wears down,tire goes out of balance,but with the balance beads, tire rebalances every time you start out.

 

[Vtrod]

Been using them for years in motorcycles. As tire tread wears down,tire goes out of balance,but with the balance beads, tire rebalances every time you start out.

Thanks Gerald, your response is exactly what I was hoping for!!

 

[payzac]

how many pounds

Been using them for years in motorcycles. As tire tread wears down,tire goes out of balance,but with the balance beads, tire rebalances every time you start out.

How many pounds in front wheel

How much in back 2 wheels

 

[BillR]

How many pounds in front wheel

How much in back 2 wheels

I'm using Dynabeads. 2 oz. in front tire and 4 oz. in each rear tire.

 

[tfdeputydawg]

https://www.ride-on.com/

 

[GARYD]

I went with the Centramatic wheel balancer on the front and weights on the inside on the rears - never had a problem. The rear tires usually last me 65K to 70K miles so I don't really care about snake oil remedies for the rear tires. I also read somewhere on this forum about a tire mfg. that doesn't recommend the beads in their tires.



I prefer nothing "inside" my tires but air. JMHO

 

[DOKK]

I went with the Centramatic wheel balancer on the front and weights on the inside on the rears - never had a problem. The rear tires usually last me 65K to 70K miles so I don't really care about snake oil remedies for the rear tires. I also read somewhere on this forum about a tire mfg. that doesn't recommend the beads in their tires.



I prefer nothing "inside" my tires but air. JMHO

Do you happen to remember the model number? I just checked these out and I'm interested in them. Would you happen to have a picture of them installed as well?

 

[ROAD DOG]

Do you happen to remember the model number? I just checked these out and I'm interested in them. Would you happen to have a picture of them installed as well?

I just checked them out , I think I will get some for front . Had them before on bigger truck's they worked great . I did not no they made them for harley

 

[Batman825]

I use them, they work great!

 

[GARYD]

Do you happen to remember the model number? I just checked these out and I'm interested in them. Would you happen to have a picture of them installed as well?

Unfortunately I do not. You can get all that on their website.

 

[GARYD]

I just checked them out , I think I will get some for front . Had them before on bigger truck's they worked great . I did not no they made them for harley

Only need one for the front. My dealer sold and installed it.

 

[ROAD DOG]

Only need one for the front. My dealer sold and installed it.

I see them being sold as a set of two for harley trike 2009 and up ?

 

[ultrafxr]

Centramatic wheel balancer

Here's what I found:

https://www.centramatic.com/wheel-balancer.rhtml?modelNumber=MHD200-201 this is for two balancing discs.

https://www.centramatic.com/wheel-balancer.rhtml?modelNumber=MHD200-203 this is for one balancing disc.

I saw your post Gary saying only needed one. But on the installation video on the Centramatic website they installed two on the front wheel since it had dual discs. I may contact the manufacturer and ask their recommendation.

This is a very interesting product and it has good reviews.

Thanks for posting about it Gary. I'd never heard of it until then.

UPDATE: Manufacturer referred me to Keystone Distributing who handles sales and distribution of motorcycle balancers for them. Guy there said on my 2020 TG without floating rotors I should install one on each side - so need set of two.

 

[ROAD DOG]

Here's what I found:

https://www.centramatic.com/wheel-balancer.rhtml?modelNumber=MHD200-201 this is for two balancing discs.

https://www.centramatic.com/wheel-balancer.rhtml?modelNumber=MHD200-203 this is for one balancing disc.

I saw your post Gary saying only needed one. But on the installation video on the Centramatic website they installed two on the front wheel since it had dual discs. I may contact the manufacturer and ask their recommendation.

This is a very interesting product and it has good reviews.

Thanks for posting about it Gary. I'd never heard of it until then.

UPDATE: Manufacturer referred me to Keystone Distributing who handles sales and distribution of motorcycle balancers for them. Guy there said on my 2020 TG without floating rotors I should install one on each side - so need set of two.

My 2020 has floating rotors ? I found a set of them upstairs but I think there gold wing Maybe try to drill them to fit ?

 

[ultrafxr]

My 2020 has floating rotors ? I found a set of them upstairs but I think there gold wing Maybe try to drill them to fit ?

Is your 2020 TG a CVO? Thought the regular non-CVO models did not have floating rotors but looked at mine and they do appear to be floating.

 

[GARYD]

Here's what I found:

https://www.centramatic.com/wheel-balancer.rhtml?modelNumber=MHD200-201 this is for two balancing discs.

https://www.centramatic.com/wheel-balancer.rhtml?modelNumber=MHD200-203 this is for one balancing disc.

I saw your post Gary saying only needed one. But on the installation video on the Centramatic website they installed two on the front wheel since it had dual discs. I may contact the manufacturer and ask their recommendation.

This is a very interesting product and it has good reviews.

Thanks for posting about it Gary. I'd never heard of it until then.

UPDATE: Manufacturer referred me to Keystone Distributing who handles sales and distribution of motorcycle balancers for them. Guy there said on my 2020 TG without floating rotors I should install one on each side - so need set of two.

All I know is that my dealer only put one unit on the front wheel. He told me there is only one wheel in the front and you only need one unit per wheel. I never had a problem. If I had to buy 2 units I would say forget it, I'm not spending that kind of money just to balance one wheel. Do car/truck drivers put 2 units on each wheel? I doubt it. To me that sounds crazy, but if everyone is telling you to put 2 then go ahead and put 2. Good luck

So Keystone is saying all Harleys with dual disks in front should have 2 units, but the website says 1 per axle. What's the difference between the TG and the Road Glide or Street Glide.

I'm really curious now.

 

[ROAD DOG]

Is your 2020 TG a CVO? Thought the regular non-CVO models did not have floating rotors but looked at mine and they do appear to be floating.

No cvo you have a two piece rotor with the large rivets holding the two together ?

 

[ultrafxr]

No cvo you have a two piece rotor with the large rivets holding the two together ?

Yes. So the rotors do have some float. Maybe the guy I spoke to was referring to the calipers vs the rotor. Some bikes do have floating calipers but not any Harleys afaik. I think the balancers will work just fine on our TGs.

 

[ultrafxr]

All I know is that my dealer only put one unit on the front wheel. He told me there is only one wheel in the front and you only need one unit per wheel. I never had a problem. If I had to buy 2 units I would say forget it, I'm not spending that kind of money just to balance one wheel. Do car/truck drivers put 2 units on each wheel? I doubt it. To me that sounds crazy, but if everyone is telling you to put 2 then go ahead and put 2. Good luck

So Keystone is saying all Harleys with dual disks in front should have 2 units, but the website says 1 per axle. What's the difference between the TG and the Road Glide or Street Glide.

I'm really curious now.

I don't know and it is curious. When I called Centramatic the lady who answered said no one there could assist me with a technical question and to call the distributor. I may investigate this further as I'm beginning to have less confidence that what he told me is correct. And I think I'll check with my dealer also. Agree with you - buying two is a bit pricey. But I did find several vendors on eBay and one had a substantially lower price that does Centramatic itself. Not uncommon for manufacturers to sell at full price since thy don't want to undercut and dealers who do not want to discount.

 

[ultrafxr]

OK I got the 'definitive' word from the manufacturer - Centramatic. I went to their website and to the 'contact us' section and posed the question: 1 or 2, if 2 then why and part number. I got answers today (surprising since it is Saturday) from Jerry Robertson, Director of Technical Support. Here is what he said:

GOOD DAY

IT DEPENDS ON IF YOU HAVE ONE OR TWO ROTORS

1 ROTOR ONE BALANCER

2 ROTORS 2 BALANCERS

THESE BALANCERS BOLT TO THE CENTER HUB OF THE RIM ( 5 BOLTS)

HARLEY HAS DIFFERENT STYLES OF ROTORS

IF YOU HAVE THE STYLE OF ROTOR THAT BOLTS TO THE SPOKES OF THE RIM (5 BOLTS)

THEN IT WOULD TAKE ONE BALANCER

SEND A PICTURE OF THE ROTOR TO ME

I sent the photo and his reply was:



YOU NEED THE SET FOR A HARLEY TRIKE WITH 2 FRONT ROTORS MHD 200-201 PART NUMBER

Why 2 when Gary you only have 1? His reply:

2 rotor front balancers have different amount of weight in each balancer, different weight than a single front balancer.

This change to a single front with the open style of rotors not bolt to the center hub is a physical dimensions issue, not for a perform

issue one side of the bike to the other side are not equal dimensions for where the balancer mounts

As manufacturers are want to do perhaps they changed something over the years - product improvement, lower manufacturing costs, who knows, that they recommend 2 balancers with different amount of weight (less I would think) vs just one balancer.

So I'm satisfied that I've exhausted the information available - I know I've exhausted myself, lol, but hopefully uncovered some useful information for all who are interested.

Cheers!

 

[GARYD]

I don't know and it is curious. When I called Centramatic the lady who answered said no one there could assist me with a technical question and to call the distributor. I may investigate this further as I'm beginning to have less confidence that what he told me is correct. And I think I'll check with my dealer also. Agree with you - buying two is a bit pricey. But I did find several vendors on eBay and one had a substantially lower price that does Centramatic itself. Not uncommon for manufacturers to sell at full price since thy don't want to undercut and dealers who do not want to discount.

That's really strange that the OEM has no idea on how their product works/installs....very strange. At least it's a great product.

I would be interested to hear from anyone that has put 2 balancers on the same wheel......and why. What's the thinking??

My company is the same way. I quote MSRP on everything and then refer the customer to a dealer. I'm not going to piss off a dealer for a few bucks = that's bad business. Most dealers give some kind of discount.

Update after reading ultrafxr's post

I still don't agree = there's only one tire on the front not two. JMHO

Why didn't he say all tourers (or bikes with 2 rotors) not just the trike needs 2 balancers? Why single out the trike??

My dealer says hogwash on 2 so I'll go with him. The only time he's been wrong was back in the early 80's when he said syn oil would destroy my engine.

 

[ultrafxr]

That's really strange that the OEM has no idea on how their product works/installs....very strange. At least it's a great product.

I would be interested to hear from anyone that has put 2 balancers on the same wheel......and why. What's the thinking??

My company is the same way. I quote MSRP on everything and then refer the customer to a dealer. I'm not going to piss off a dealer for a few bucks = that's bad business. Most dealers give some kind of discount.

Update after reading ultrafxr's post

I still don't agree = there's only one tire on the front not two. JMHO

Why didn't he say all tourers (or bikes with 2 rotors) not just the trike needs 2 balancers? Why single out the trike??

My dealer says hogwash on 2 so I'll go with him. The only time he's been wrong was back in the early 80's when he said syn oil would destroy my engine.

Gary, I think that is what he is saying - two balancers if you have two rotors. Looking at his website he shows different kits. The very first one is 3 balancers - 2 front, 1 rear. Unfortunately the description doesn't say much except for 2000 model year forward but in looking at the options it seem to me that is the idea. There are kits with 1 front and 1 rear which I think are for Harleys with just one front rotor. Not saying your dealer is wrong only that this is what I was told and what I learned. So I guess it's up to us to decide which way to go. The eBay vendor I mentioned, wingstuff, has the balancers with about a 15% discount. Again thanks much for posting about this. In all my years of riding and reading on various forums this was new to me. Great find.

BTW I'm thinking your dealer is Wildfire H-D in Villa Park. The installation video Centramatic posted for Harleys was done at and by a tech at Wild Fire. Was up there in early 2000s when we did the national H.O.G. Route 66 Posse Ride as St. Charles was the gathering spot for the start of the ride. Visited Wildfire a couple times the and was very impressed with the dealership. They used to discount for mail orders back then - don't know about now.

 

[GARYD]

Gary, I think that is what he is saying - two balancers if you have two rotors. Looking at his website he shows different kits. The very first one is 3 balancers - 2 front, 1 rear. Unfortunately the description doesn't say much except for 2000 model year forward but in looking at the options it seem to me that is the idea. There are kits with 1 front and 1 rear which I think are for Harleys with just one front rotor. Not saying your dealer is wrong only that this is what I was told and what I learned. So I guess it's up to us to decide which way to go. The eBay vendor I mentioned, wingstuff, has the balancers with about a 15% discount. Again thanks much for posting about this. In all my years of riding and reading on various forums this was new to me. Great find.

BTW I'm thinking your dealer is Wildfire H-D in Villa Park. The installation video Centramatic posted for Harleys was done at and by a tech at Wild Fire. Was up there in early 2000s when we did the national H.O.G. Route 66 Posse Ride as St. Charles was the gathering spot for the start of the ride. Visited Wildfire a couple times the and was very impressed with the dealership. They used to discount for mail orders back then - don't know about now.

Yep, that was Wild Fire. Know them very well. That's the HOG chapter dealer I belong to. And the tech in the video is a friend of mine - we all call him "Boone"

He found the problem with my CB that no one else could fix ..... and FIXED it.

You'll never convince me to put 2 balances on one wheel but if that's what you want to do that's fine with me. I think it's a way for them to make xtra money.

Good luck and stay safe.

 

[Fearless]

Not sure of these balancers but I have seen these sort of rings on CMV Front axles before I really can't say one way or the other. Could these make a huge difference ? Fred

 

[PosseRider]

hmmmmm 2 big ugly things for almost $200. vs a $5 bag of beads that work ( used for several yrs now ) I will stick with the beads. New tire & beads tomorrow. New American Elite Tire, new All- Balls bearings & beads ,just a tad more ,w/bearings installed.