Balance Beads, ever use them?

[frankflattwin]

I've had a local motorcycle garage mount and balance my last several pairs of tires. For some unknown reason, now he doesn't have the BMW rear wheel adaptor, and so can't balance the rear wheel. I asked him if he or anyone he knows had used balance beads? He did not, but didn't have a very high opinion of them. He thought they would create friction inside the tire. And when you come to a stop, they would just fall into the bottom of the tire until you take off again. I agreed, that gravity would pull them down when you stopped.


Anyone on here use them? What are the pros and cons of using them?

 

[hoffy20]

I have had good luck with these. Started changing my own tires a few years ago. A riding buddy mentioned he was using beads, I ordered and tried them. I put 10-15,000 miles on my R1100RS per season and feel I get a smooth ride and no change in tire wear using these. YMMV.

 

[akbeemer]

Frank, Much has been written about the use of beads in other threads. I recommend you do a search for those threads. You may learn more that way, because some of the contributors are either gone or do not wish to repeat themselves.

 

[Jeff488]

I have used them for quite a few thousand miles now and like them.
They can be re-used by putting the foot portion of a ladies stocking in a vacuum cleaner hose, installing the crevice nozzle and sucking the beads out of the tire while it's still on the de-mounting stage, but with only one bead off.

 

[henzilla]

I tried that balance beam once in a gym...gravity wasn't kind


Oh...never mind...a balance BEAD thread

 

[gsaddict]

I tried that balance beam once in a gym...gravity wasn't kind


Oh...never mind...a balance BEAD thread

I know what you mean, I tried tap dancing and almost fell in the sink!!!

 

[akbeemer]

I tried that balance beam once in a gym...gravity wasn't kind


Oh...never mind...a balance BEAD thread

I think you should be over on the "What are you drinking tonight?", thread.

 

[jammess]

Balancing beads...aka snake oil. The way motorcycle tire technology has evolved you could most likely mount a tire, air it up, and go for a ride with no beads or spin balance or whatever and you wouldn't know the difference.

 

[akbeemer]

Balancing beads...aka snake oil. The way motorcycle tire technology has evolved you could most likely mount a tire, air it up, and go for a ride with no beads or spin balance or whatever and you wouldn't know the difference.

I can assure you that today's tires require balancing, sometimes using a significant amount of weight. I mount and balance a fair amount of tires for our bikes, for friends and the odd stray that wanders into my shop. On our bikes I pre-balance the wheel and still have to use .5 to1 ounce in weights in most every instance. TKC80s that are made in Korea seem to be particularly bad. I had to use 3 ounces on one tire even after balancing the wheel.

I've used the beads and I think they work well. They just do not pass the pain in the butt test. Seems there is always a mess, especially in tubeless tires. I still have some in one bike with tube tires, but will not use them again when I replace the tubes.

 

[AntonLargiader]

... And when you come to a stop, they would just fall into the bottom of the tire until you take off again. I agreed, that gravity would pull them down when you stopped.

That's correct, but how balanced do you need your tires to be when you're stopped? Dynamic balancing by its very nature happens in motion. Think of it as getting your tires re-balanced every time you ride.

Yes, for street riding with well-made tires it works. I don't use them in my shop but that's just because I think most customers expect to see weights. OTOH I get plenty of tire change bikes with beads already in them - some from dealerships - and I'm happy to re-use those beads. I will probably be using them within a few years.

 

[Paul_F]

I had them put into my R1100's tires a year ago. To me, they seem to be doing the job. The bike rides smoothly. I did read somewhere that when the bike is being ridden, and you come to a momentary stop, whether it be a stop sign or a red light, they do remain in position for that short duration. Even if they don't, it wouldn't take long to have them find their correction position once you start moving.

I had a long ride coming up last summer, with half the life left on the tires, so I had new ones installed and the shop simply moved the dyna beads into the new tires. When these tires wear out mid-summer of 2015, I'll put the 2013/14 tires back along with the same dyna beads. Apparently they are good for a couple tire changes.

My K will be needing new tires before the end of the summer and I'll have a set of beads put in that bike's tires . Although the beads cost more than weights, that price is reduced when one considers that they are good for two sets of tires.

 

[MotorradMike]

I use them.
They work very well.

Look around and you'll find some lunatic fringe dissertations on both sides of whether or not they work. The physics is counter-intuitive and takes some effort to get your head around.

Look here for a demo video.

And here for a strobe stop action video.

Cons:
Don't put them in your race bike, violent changes in tire rotation speed keep them from settling.

You need to be careful with mounting lube, excess will mix in with the beads and cause clumping.

Don't try to verify their effectivity with a dynamic balancer, the rigid axle doesn't allow them to collect opposite the heavy spot.

They can get stuck in your filler valve and cause a leak or worse - I always check pressure with the stem at the bottom.
Filtered valve cores are available to prevent this problem.

There have been reports of TPMS damage.

 

[6322]

I purchased my first set at the national in Gillette a couple summers ago and have used them in at least twenty tires since. I currently have them in seven of my tires, both tube and tubeless. In both applications they work great, no complaint in how they function. I've had them at up to 140 mph with everything smooth as silk. For more than thirty years I used a jig to static balance tires. This worked fine but the beads eliminate what can be a time consuming process and they adjust as the tire wears. They go into tubeless tires easily during the mounting process but can be a pain putting them in a tube. Some tubes will not allow you to install them. Also there are a number of sources (including Grainger's), but the Dyna Beads have worked best for me.

 

[BC1100S]

Personally, I use synthetic oil.

 

[saddleman]

I replace over 100 tires a year & use both beads & weights. They both work equally as well. I leave it up to the customer. It is much quicker for me to use the beads than to remove the weights & clean the glue off of the rim. Every tire change I do includes cleaning the rim to like new condition if possible. I have also seen just a tire need 3 oz. or more to balance. At speeds at over 80 mph I can tell the difference when I have removed 1/4 oz of weight.

 

[jammess]

Earlier I referred to the beads as snake oil and I'll stand by that. I do my own tires and use a static balancer. I gave balance beads a try 4 or 5 years ago and I couldn't see any improvement. When I change tires I use a liberal amount of rim lubricant and I always wondered how this lubricant effected the balance beads as in do the beads get stuck in the lubricant? About the only thing I liked about balance beads was having clean rims without weights. Oh, and when static balancing I always take my time and do it right. Have been known to spend a half hour on one wheel. On my bikes (R1100RSL, R1150RT, R100RT) I see between 9K and 10K miles per tire set. Balance beads represent wishful thinking, imo.

You have maybe heard about people with cancer using magnets to cure their cancer and then when the cancer miraculously goes away they swear it was the magnets that cured them. Well, maybe they never really had cancer to begin with. Anyway, using magnets to cure cancer is kind of like using magic beads to cure a tire/wheel imbalance, again imo. Has anybody ever taken a tire/wheel combo with beads installed and run it up on a spin balancer with no weights attached? Seems somewhere i read about this test being performed and with not so good results. Then balancing weights were attached and the wheel came into correct balance. Snake oil it is and always shall be.

 

[MotorradMike]

Has anybody ever taken a tire/wheel combo with beads installed and run it up on a spin balancer with no weights attached? Seems somewhere i read about this test being performed and with not so good results.

It's been done far too many times.
The dynamic balancer reports identical weight/position requirements with or without beads installed.

Reason:
The dynamic balancer shaft is 'fixed' which forces the wheel/tire assembly to rotate around the axle center, rather than around its center of mass.

 

[mervingry]

beads create wear particles that can affect tire pressure

A common complaint about the beads is that their constant rolling around inside the tire wears the rubber, creating micro rubber particles (and possibly other dust partcles from the surface of the beads themselves). These paricles can adversely affect the seal of the air valve, and cause air leakage.

 

[akbeemer]

This is starting to sound like a debate at a meeting of the Flat Earth Society........

 

[BC1100S]

This is starting to sound like a debate at a meeting of the Flat Earth Society........

Why is a society needed to support something so obvious?