Dyna Beads? Dynamite!

I had a new Metzeler Lasertec front tire installed last week in preparation for a couple of long, cross country journeys on my K75S. The new tire cured a slight high speed shimmy, but introduced a small but annoying front end hop.

I suspected a bit of tire unbalance. However, taking the bike back to my dealer for corrective rebalancing was less than convenient. He's some miles away and his service department is very busy. At least half a day would have been involved in the service.

So, I investigated the idea of "dynamic balancing" using a user-applied substance inside the tire. I found a website (www.innovativebalancing.com) advertising a product called Dyna Beads. What I read about the product was encouraging, so I ordered a one-ounce package of the miniscule ceramic beads.

They arrived today - two days after ordered - with an application kit (a little plastic bottle and a tube). The drill is simple: unscrew the valve stem core from the tire to be treated - which deflates it, of course - screw the plastic applicator tube onto the open valve stem, fill the little bottle with the ceramic Dyna Beads and very, very sl-o--o-o-owly pour the beads through the tube and into the tire. Then, re-insert the valve stem core (or, better yet, install a filtered core also sold by the vendor), and re-inflate the tire.

The results are astounding. Frankly, I thought the testimonials on the Innovative Balancing website were wildly hyperbolic, but I was wrong. The front end of my old bike is now rock solid at all speeds. The front tire feels like a racing slick and cornering is now quick and sure to an unprecedented degree. All hint of hop or wobble is gone completely. With this type of balancing, I can't believe the modest Metzeler could be bested by any other tire.

I've just ordered another pack of Dyna Beads for my rear tire and can't wait to pour them in. Wow!

wasn't this item just featured in one of the cycle magazines?

I've looked through the pile and can't find the article.

sounds like a neat product. I have a yamaha GTS 1000 w/ swingarm front suspension and it's always difficult to get the front tire balanced.

jason

I've always had a bit of a problem accepting the dynamic balancing ideas like this (which have been around almost since the inflatable tire was invented..) since it has this flaw (IMHO) - while it may balance after some number of rotations - every time you stop the rotation - it goes out of balance, and much quicker than it goes back into balance. It only has to stop for a second and all the balance medium drops to the bottom of the tire. This then results in a more out of balance tire than one with no dynamic balance stuff in it - which has to rotate a number of times (as they show in their nice PDF) in order to achieve balance again.

They even make mention on their website of it being hard to check the balance on dynamic wheel balancers that don't spin the tire long enough to achieve balance.

It would seem in any sort of urban environment - the net result would be a negative.

To the OP - I'd suggest that if your dealer can't balance your tire well enough that you don't have the front end hop - you seek a motorcycle tire dealer with better equipment, and/or better trained employees, or turn that tire in as being defective. I've never had a tire that couldn't be properly balanced given someone with some pride in their work and a decent (Snap-On makes a good dynamic spin balancer for bikes) balancer. All it takes is time, skill and the desire to do it right.

YMMV.. and probably will.

Don, you worry too much. Tire balance at any speed under 30 doesn't mean squat. I've ridden bikes with knobbies that were so unbalanced any speed above 50 was like riding the horse out front of the grocery store (remember those? That era is what you call the "pre-litigious period"! OTOH, city riding was cake.
I'm no scientist, and thank God I didn't have to stay at a holiday inn last night, but I think the speeds at which balance is critical for tire wear and motocycle handling are 50+, by which time the dynabeads would be working their magic.

I'm going to try them.

Then again, being such a tool slut, maybe I'll go with a Marc Parnes balancer with all the fixin's.

gsjay said:

I have a yamaha GTS 1000

Click to expand...

Jason

That is a way way cool bike!

I'm curious as to how these beads would balance a tire. It would seem that they would migrate to the spot farthest from the center of rotation, which unfortunatlely, is already the heavy spot. Why wouldn't they respond to centrifugal force in the conventional way?

gsjay said:

wasn't this item just featured in one of the cycle magazines?

jason

Click to expand...

They were written up in the current Owner's News.

they work

I installed new tires yesterday on my GTS 1000 and used the Dyna beads.

They get my YES vote.......

Best this front end has been in many years! Shimmy is all but gone.

I'd say if you're having issues they're worth a try.

jason

Don's got a point.

I understand Don's theory but, in practice, the results of dynamic balancing appear differently. The weight of the Dyna Beads is one ounce so the out of balance situation at low speeds is negligible -- I can't feel it at all. The weight of the individual beads is so miniscule that they begin to distribute themselves at any speed -- perhaps not evenly, but well enough. The effect at higher speeds is dramatic. The Dyna Beads seem to add a measure of stability that I haven't felt from even the most carefully balanced tires using the traditional lead weight method.

Don is right, though. The tire mechanic should have done a better job. The reason I did not return for a correction was one of convenience. My dealer is some miles away through obscenely congested Washington, DC area traffic. The trip during business hours can be arduous unless a back route is taken. A back route, while somewhat bucolic and pleasant, adds too much time during working hours. Once at the dealer, one must wait, and wait, and wait for service. These mechanics are good -- very good -- and demand is great, so they're booked for weeks in advance. Even "squeezing in" a regular customer like me can take a couple of hours or more. So, I opted for the online ordering, home delivery, DIY approach.

Going to the dealer will be fine after I retire

Changed my rear tire last week, removed the old balance weights and added one once of beads...no issues up through 80 mph

"...no issues up through 80 mph"

Yeah, THEN what happens?

like to hear more about these beads

crgrbrts said:

"...no issues up through 80 mph"

Yeah, THEN what happens?

Click to expand...

SMOOOOTH...

Where's the physics?

I'm really tempted by the Dynabeads but don't understand the logic and can't find the explanation on the website. How is it that these beads congregate near the light side of the tire? How is wheel balance really effected by these beads...or by anything else of this type loose in the tires?

hcmiller52 said:

I'm really tempted by the Dynabeads but don't understand the logic and can't find the explanation on the website. How is it that these beads congregate near the light side of the tire? How is wheel balance really effected by these beads...or by anything else of this type loose in the tires?

Click to expand...

If you go to their website I recall there being an explanation of how it works. The only place anywhere near me that will change a tire that I bought elsewhere charged me $40 and messed up my newly refinished wheel a little doing it. After that experience I bought a tire changing rig from Harbor Freight and will be balancing with Dyna Beads the next time I need a new tire.

hcmiller52 said:

... How is it that these beads congregate near the light side of the tire? How is wheel balance really effected by these beads...or by anything else of this type loose in the tires?

Click to expand...

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

My simple understanding of centrifical force and vertical imbalance:

Centrifical force spreads the beads equally in the tire until the heavy part of the tire tries to pull the tire up (bounce) as it passes the 12 oclock tire position. The upward motion (inertia) forces the balance median in an equal and opposite direction.

Link says the same thing with diagrams.

cayuse60 said:

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

My simple understanding of centrifical force and vertical imbalance:

Centrifical force spreads the beads equally in the tire until the heavy part of the tire tries to pull the tire up (bounce) as it passes the 12 oclock tire position. The upward motion (inertia) forces the balance median in an equal and opposite direction.

Link says the same thing with diagrams.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the link, Tim. It wasn't so obvious on their site. I certainly can't say that their explanation is intuitive but I guess they have proved it out through testing. Who am I to say? For the very low price, it's well worth a try. The whole impetus for me is to stop paying $450 every time I need a new set of tires on a bike. I ride 20K miles per year and own four bikes, so I could save a bundle by mounting my own tires. I have the Harbor Frieght changer but I see balancing as a different matter and would prefer a solution like Dynabeads.

Curt

Boy, these suckers are small! I was expecting something just short of BB size. But I can see how the smaller size and more in number is a plus. I won't be testing them for a little bit until I need a tire change, but I am looking forward to it. I not only bought the DBS-BP1 kit, but I also purchased the DBS-20 20 ounce bag. If I'm going to have a shipping charge, I make it worth my while. I figure I will have enough to balance my tires for many years. Now I just need someone to buy me a NoMar tire changer for Christmas........

It's interesting, I mentioned the Dyna beads to a local auto mechanic and he has used something similar in his autos for years. He said I will like them, so I am anxious to try them.

Has anybody tried these and not liked them?

The #2 pencil gives you an idea of the size.

Dyna Beads -- amuse your friends -- delight your dentist. Sprinkle a few on a stranger's cupcake or chocolate ice cream and watch what happens! It's more fun than a joy buzzer or a whoopee cushion.

(Just in case any personal injury lawyers are lurking, I'm kidding, of course).

Dyna Bead treatment tamed even my new Brazilian Metzelers.

I am on my second set of tires with the magic beads. (I am also responsible for the review of them that appeared in the Owners News earlier this year.) I cannot fully explain how they work, but I can tell you that they do.
11k plus miles on them in two sets of tires. Have "accidently" tested them at speeds of 100 or so on my 2004 Rockster. The bike is smooth at 20 or 80 mph.
It is funny how reluctant my shop is to try them (Grand Rapids BMW). I put my first set in my tires and then asked them to install the beads when I changed tires a few months later. The shop boss told me he had been given some at a trade show, but had yet to try them in anything. To my knowledge they still have not put their sample set to use.
Try them, you will like them.
Shoot, do what I did with the first set - I marked where my wheel weights were so I could put them back on if the beads failed me.
There are some interesting arguments about using weights, especially for dual sporters - how can static weight correct for a rock wedged in your tire or a big glob of mud? The beads can react to and correct things that happen on the fly. Also, there is the theory that you wheel/tire weight balancing needs can change over the life of the tire - the beads are not static and can therefore adjust to the changes.
Oh well, change is hard. As I recall the medical establishment gave Mr Lister a ration of doo-doo when he suggested washing ones hands between cutting on a corpse and delivering a baby.