Wheel Balancing

Guys just a quick question,
I've just finished setting up my spare set of drop on wheels for the 950 with my off road tyres, 908RR front, Mitas E09 Enduro rear....just wondered before fitting what you guys do for balancing.

The standard Scorpion 50/50's that were on the bike when I got it aren't balanced and even at speed it doesn't seems an issue, so I'm guessing just get em on and go hard...is that the norm...?

Ride Safe, orange side toward the sun

Without rimlocks you really don't need to balance them particularly over 20psi.

I've never balanced mine and have no issues.

I don't run rim locks on my 950s, Never balanced the tires. Many miles with out any issues.

Just swap them on and ride. You'll have them burned off soon enough.

I recently put RideOn in all my tires, both 50/50 and dirt - works great. Really smoothed out the road vibe on my 690, the 990 is smooth as silk, and I get some puncture/blowout protection to boot.
(But if you never ride at speed on slab, why bother)

I balance all of my wheels, nothing is perfect out of the factory. Harbor Freight sells an inexpensive wheel balancer. An old desert racer gave me a tip for the weights. Use thick gage lead solder and wrap it around the spoke and nipple. Coil it around the nipple/spoke and cinch it down with pliers. It works great and never flys off. On our big heavy rims and tires, you might have to wrap two or three spokes. I only wrap it about 3" up the spoke. The closer you get to the center of the hub the less effective the weight.

I did go to the trouble of balancing my front and rear 908RRs... and the front is still trying to murder me. (headshake on hard throttle or above ~75mph)

Maybe I should pull the weight off?

Just add 2 oz of something that works like a fluid (water, oil, small pellets, Dyna Beads, etc) and you will have your tyres dinamically balanced.

Look elsewhere....like in preload setting

Especially that Mitas, it should go at least three tanks of fuel though.

Its a 908 front, thats what they do...

Thanks Team,
Appreciate the input....I've built up an Excel narrow front rim in the A 60 Series so I might get it balanced, it's got a rim lock....the rear rim is a stocker so message understood...I'll take on board the Ride-on option and look into it as well, may help on the black top

Looking forward to my first adventure off road....figure it'll be a little more of a handful than my Berg to jump and slide, but will keep you advised

Ride Safe

I use Marc Parne's static wheel balancer, it's quick and easy to balance your +$300 set of tires http://www.marcparnes.com/Universal_Motorcycle_Wheel_Balancer.htm

You can also build your own balancer using 1/2" drill rod and some bearings from mcmaster. I machined a couple spacers on the lathe for all my different wheels. Cost me maybe $20 and is very accurate

consider drilling it for a second rim lock. It's really hard to stick enough weight onto the rim to balance out a rim lock

Give them a little time to break in. They will calm down after a few hundred miles. It's a known issue, well documented on this sight.

I have the litelock? Motion Pro rimlocks.

I wrapped 1/4" rod lead weight (fishing) as mentioned above. Cept I wrapped it just once around the nipple at the rim. Then wove it around one more nipple then once around the last nipple. Then I melted the ends together with a red hot implement (while holding it all snug with pliers)

Tip, roll the lead stick weight out on a flat surface first. Then roll something over it to make it a little flat. It will hang onto the square nipple easier.


I have a HF balancer. The rod was bent but it didn't affect it's accuracy enough to matter.

I'm one to let stuff run her till she blows on my bike but when it comes to wheels, I tend to go all bmw on them. When I swap rubber I always clean the crap out of them, oil the nipples, throw them in the truing stand and measure them with a dial caliper... adjust and torque up if necessary, apply a coat of wax followed by a thick coat of spray teflon mold release. I mean, even if I'm throwing on knobs that I know I'm going to burn through I just can't help but balance them too. Helps too that I have a dynamic balancer... I OCD it to the gram!

More great input....I'm thinking the second rim lock might be a good idea...at least until a side of the road tyre change anyways....but still makes sense..Cheers

Interesting Stuff. Anyone else have experience.. Not that I don't trust you FOLKNRIDE