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Tire balancing- front...rear...both

Omega Man

Omega Man

Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat
Staff member
In conversation with a friend of mine, we were discussing tire balancing. I have never really noticed much difference on a bike when a properly mounted quality tire was replaced- balanced or not. I had a shop mount and balance the Tourance on the front of the F800GS and when I did the rear myself just skipped the balancing (haedenau) sp.
I guess if I was at a shop, I’d have it done “cuz I wuz there” but beyond that :dunno Seems like the front would be the most important. Tire quality has improved so much, I haven’t seem a “bad” tire in a while.
:ear
OM
 
You are probably safe in not balancing a rear tire these days, but there are still some stinkers out there. I had a friend's rear Tourance take 4.5 ounces not so long ago. I deflated and rotated the tire three times and it made little difference. I always balance both tires. It does not take long and I can take a close look at the wheel while it is on the balancer. I sometimes give a wheel a good cleaning too. I suggest that if you plan on skipping balancing that you balance the wheel without a tire mounted. You will then at least start the process with things in balance.
 
While you may not feel the difference, you may find an uneven wear pattern if you don't balance the tire.

My experience tells me that every tire/wheel combination needs balancing. Your Mileage May Vary (pun intended) :D.
 
The tires may be better, but my balancing is due to the tire pressure sensor which requires some weight to bring my wheel back to normal. The difference, to me, is readily apparent. The bike is a 2013 R1200R.

Doug
 
BC1100S said:
While you may not feel the difference, you may find an uneven wear pattern if you don't balance the tire.

My experience tells me that every tire/wheel combination needs balancing. Your Mileage May Vary (pun intended) :D.
Click to expand...

Never found tread wear to be “consistent” on tires without a monitoring/adjusting air pressure (s)......again, with the front. The rears seem pretty stable.
OM
 
I lean towards balancing both.
I'm thinking that the TPM's might add some mass and throw things off a bit.
Last year I got stuck out in the boonies with a destroyed front tire. The dealer had a front but no rear, so I had it replaced.
I really didn't need a new rear but he was a nice guy and didn't charge me for a tow and I ordered the rear from him. So when the tire came in, I rode down there.
He is not a BMW dealer so didn't have the adapter for the rear wheel. So he used Dyna-beads. They seem to work great for me. No vibration or abnormal wear at all.

Joe
 
For an R1200 BMW specifies an imbalance of no more than 5 grams for the front tire and no more than 45 grams for the rear tire.
 
vcheng said:
For an R1200 BMW specifies an imbalance of no more than 5 grams for the front tire and no more than 45 grams for the rear tire.
Click to expand...

My experience tells me that if you balance a wheel without tire mounted, particularly one with a TPMS sensor installed, you will rarely need to add more than 45 grams (approximately 1.5 ounces) of weight to balance the wheel tire combination. If the same procedure is followed for a front wheel and tire, then I think it is more likely that it will take more than 5 grams (0.18 ounces) to balance the wheel/tire combo.

But there is always the odd tire that will take much more weight to balance, so i balance them all.
 
Last edited:
akbeemer said:
My experience tells me that if you balance a wheel without tire mounted, particularly one with a TPMS sensor installed, you will rarely need to add more than 45 grams (approximately 1.5 ounces) of weight to balance the wheel tire combination. If the same procedure is followed for a front wheel and tire, then I think it is more likely that it will take more than 5 grams (1.8 ounces) to balance the wheel/tire combo.

But there is always the odd tire that will take much more weight to balance, so i balance them all.
Click to expand...

I balance all tires too, and it depends on the tire. Some makes, and types, particularly offroad chunkies, can take large amounts of weights to meet the specified limits for balancing. I can definitely feel the differences between balanced and unbalanced tires, but perhaps it is so because I do not have much padding on my posterior?
 
It only makes sense to balance just the wheel and look at the weights you will save from then on every time you mount a new tire. I also think you get a better balance using this method.
 
For those of you that subscribe to balancing the wheel, do you ever check to see if the wheel runs “true”?
OM
 
jammess said:
It only makes sense to balance just the wheel and look at the weights you will save from then on every time you mount a new tire. I also think you get a better balance using this method.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. One could put the heavy spot on the tire opposite the heavy spot on the wheel and use less weight to produce the final balance. The only "better" balance is by the end result, bringing down the imbalance to as low as possible. Anything less than 3 grams is pretty good on the road well into the triple digits.

Omega Man said:
For those of you that subscribe to balancing the wheel, do you ever check to see if the wheel runs “true”?
OM
Click to expand...

Of course. Checking out-of-round and lateral runout is part of a good balancing job.
 
vcheng said:
Not necessarily. One could put the heavy spot on the tire opposite the heavy spot on the wheel and use less weight to produce the final balance. The only "better" balance is by the end result, bringing down the imbalance to as low as possible. Anything less than 3 grams is pretty good on the road well into the triple digits.
Click to expand...

I use Michelin tires and they don't mark the heavy spot, if there even is one of any consequence.

About the only way you're going to know where the actual true heavy spot on the wheel is is to check the wheel balance without a tire installed. You can't go by the location of the valve stem.
 
jammess said:
About the only way you're going to know where the actual true heavy spot on the wheel is is to check the wheel balance without a tire installed.
Click to expand...

However, the point is to balance the wheel and tire assembly. What are those of us who don't use Michelin tires supposed to do? :D
 
jammess said:
I use Michelin tires and they don't mark the heavy spot, if there even is one of any consequence.

About the only way you're going to know where the actual true heavy spot on the wheel is is to check the wheel balance without a tire installed. You can't go by the location of the valve stem.
Click to expand...

One could add internal patch balancing to the tire itself, balance the wheel alone, and then calculate the best rotational position of the tire on the wheel to minimize weights and runouts, if one wanted to. Ain't nobody got time fer dat! I'd just put the tire on the wheel, balance to below 3 grams, and call it good, but that is just me. :D
 
Tires

Omega Man said:
For those of you that subscribe to balancing the wheel, do you ever check to see if the wheel runs “true”?
OM
Click to expand...

I do my own tire changes, balance all my tires, and I always check run-out when it's on my balance stand. It's just a matter of course, and checked every time.
 
I have a motorcycle repair shop that changes my tires for me. I generally replace tires with the same model tire. He marks the new tire with a paint pen and puts the new tire on in the same relative spot as the old tire. I balance them at home on a Marc Parnes balancer and I rarely have to make much of an adjustment to the weights. My Oilhead uses Michelin PR3 tires and my Airhead have been using Michelin Pilot Activ.
 
Last edited:
Since the bikes come from the factory with both wheels balanced, I do the same when replacing the tires. I too use a Marc Parnes balancer and it has proven to be quite accurate over the years..YMMV
 
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