| Author | Message | ||
     Motorbike |
Does anyone actually know the correct tire mounting on our Buell wheels? I did a search on this info and found many different answers. I am about to have a new tire installed on the front of my XT. My concern is the paint dot on the tire. The private shop (Not H-D Dealer) that mounted my rear tire lined up the dot on the tire with the valve stem. I have done a little research on this since then and found the info in my brother's shop manual for his 1125R, which I believe has the same exact wheels as our Uly's, except for color and finish. His manual says to place the dot on the tire 180 degrees opposite the paint dot on the inside of the rim. I will ask the shop to use this method when they mount my front tire but I'm sure they will not believe it. I did, however, have my brother scan the page and send it to me so I can show the mechanics a hard copy of these instructions. Something tells me I will find the tire dot lined up with the valve stem when I go to pick it up.  Any thoughts on this subject? Thanks. | ||
| Froggy |
It doesn't really matter. Also, brands are not consistent, some have dots, some don't, some mark the heavy spot, some mark the light spot. The service manual tells you how to do it for the tire that came on the bike. Either way, just pop it on, balance, and enjoy. | ||
| Razz |
The dot marks the lightest part of the tire which should go next to the valve stem which is the heaviest part of the rim | ||
| Nukeblue |
I agree, it doesn't matter. from my exp the weights are balancing the rim. i've forgotten the lign up the marks and the rim almost always wants the weight in the same spot as before.. if that makes sense | ||
| Razz |
I have used Avon tires the last few changes which don't have balancing dots.I also leave the old weights on and have never needed to change the weights. | ||
| Eaglerider |
Michelins do not have the dots either. Just balance the tire and be done with it. FWIW, I use Ride-On liquid in the tire as a balance and puncture resistant insurance. | ||
| Rwcfrank |
I lined up the dot with the valve on my Uly and it took several ounces to get it balanced. IIRC there is a mark on the inside of the rim that indicates the lightest part. Check earlier posts there wa s thread about it. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142838/658694.html (Message edited by rwcfrank on July 19, 2012) | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Do not assume that the valve is the heavy spot. Next time you remove the tire, put the empty wheel on the static balancer and chances are the heavy spot is not where the valve is. Mark the heavy spot with chalk and then mount the tire with the dot next to the true heavy spot of the wheel. You'll balance with less weights. | ||
| Motorbike |
Thanks for all the replies! Since the original tire was a Pirelli and my new tire is also a Pirelli, I think I will go by the instructions in the Buell manual, which recommends placing the tire dot 180 degrees from the paint dot on the inside of the rim. Really though, I'm guessing it doesn't matter, as Froggy said. Probably only 1/4 ounce different no matter how it is installed. The shop that mounted my rear tire lined the tire dot up with the valve stem and I now have 4 small square tape weights on the rear wheel. ( Not sure how much weight each one is ) Thanks | ||
| Xbimmer |
It does make a big difference where you mount the tire (light spot) dot. Guy who mounted my 023's recently misunderstood (though I'd written it down for him...) and went ahead and put the front dot at the valve stem and the rear dot at 180 deg from. Returned both wheels to me with overly large amounts of weights, so I pointed out again to him the marks on the outside of my rims to help him along. Returned them to me corrected and now I'm riding on my New Favorite tires with weights within factory spec. Idiot who tore up my wheels mounting my last set of tires couldn't listen or read either, front wheel correct:  Rear wheel opposite of correct:  Coincidentally my blue mark on the inside of my rear wheel is 180 deg from the stem, but about 90 deg on the front. Putting the tire dot at the stem on my front wheel makes a big difference. Oh yeah don't forget to make sure they put the weights on the rotor sides of the rims. | ||
| Arcticktm |
OK, I'll bite. Why weights only on the rotor side of the rim? | ||
| Tootal |
The basic "rule of thumb" is that if you're balancing something that is narrower than it is in diameter you only need to static balance it. That basically means that the weights are not far enough away from center, due to the large diameter, to be able to induce rocking couple. (Which is a side to side imbalance) In other words, it's not enough off center to notice any difference. I like EG's idea to check the balance of the wheel and see if it matches the dot in the rim. That would be a good thing to do if you ever change out the schraeder valve that isn't exactly like the one from the factory. As far as saying it doesn't matter, that is true, it's just a matter of how many weights you want on your wheel. | ||
| Motorbike |
Well I finally got around to getting the new Pirelli Angel front tire mounted and balanced on my XT. I took the new tire and rim into a local independent shop, along with instructions copied out of a Buell Service manual explaining the correct positioning of the balance dots on the tire. I even highlighted the sentence about placing the dots on the tire 180 degrees opposite of the paint dot on the inside of the rim. I discussed this with the owner of the shop and he agreed to do exactly as instructed, even though they normally line the dots up with the valve stem. Guess what. I stopped back to pick up the tire and the owner told me the paint dot in the rim was about 4 inches from the valve stem. I then noticed that the tire dots were lined up with the rim dot, not 180 degrees opposite as I asked them to do! What the he!! do I have to do to get anybody to understand?!  With the tire positioned as they did, it took 3 quarter oz. weights to balance out. After arguing with the shop owner for 10 minutes  , he finally gave in with a look of disgust, grabbed the wheel and had his mechanic deflate the tire, break the bead, rotate it 180 degrees and re-balance. This time, it balanced out perfectly with only 1 quarter oz. weight. The moral of the story is this: When you install a new tire on your XB rims, line the tire balance dots 180 degrees from the paint dot inside the rim. It does balance out with less weight if done this way. Proven fact. I think I will buy my own tire tools and do this myself next time. I really don't think I could do any worse than they did. Besides, they always manage to put a small ding in the edge of my rim, as if the were prying on it with a square shanked screwdriver. The problem is, there are only three shops locally and one is a Harley Dealer that hates Buells and another only deals in the Hondayamakawasukis and don't like Harleys or Buells. | ||
| Buewulf |
Some good spoons and a homemade bead breaker and you can do it, no problem. You'll probably manage to ding your wheel just like they did. If you spend on a good machine (I just can't justify the price personally), the job becomes a snap. I hate changing tires, and for the $20 it costs me here to have a tire mounted, I'll tolerate a few extra wheel weights and misalignment of dots. I know where you are coming from though. I usually take on way more vehicular and home improvement maintenance and repair than I care to due to the low quality of labor you tend to get these days. Doesn't seem to matter whether you pay premium or dirt-cheap prices for the services either - you get crap in return. | ||
| Motorbike |
I wish I could get this done for $20 but the shops here charge around $35 to mount and balance if I bring the wheel to them. Plus, I bought the tire from the same shop that mounted it and paid $143 for the tire alone. There has to be a better way. | ||
| Buewulf |
Here is a youtube video showing how to do it, and it just so happens to be a Buell wheel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYa9EEG3rOM That is the $60 solution anyway. Less if you make your own bead breaker or buy a cheaper one. Otherwise you can get a Nomar or something similar. The Nomar motorcycle specific one is around $500 I think, and it seems to work pretty well. Not well enough for me to invest in over some good spoons and rim protectors, but it is pretty nifty nonetheless. There are other brands out there including one from Harbor Freight, but the Nomar is the only one I have ever met in person. You may want to get a good balance station, too, unless you are a believer in Dynabeads. | ||
| Motorfish |
This looks pretty effective, and cheap. Click on: Pictures, How to build your own tire changer. http://www.no-scufftiretool.com/ | ||
| Nukeblue |
changing a buell (xb) front tire is cake. the rear on the other hand can be a real pain in the a$$ due to the almost non-existant drop center in the rim. my nomar with me and another set of hands helping struggles to hold the rim from spinning. just sayin.... i'd hate to try one with spoons or whatever | ||
| Skifastbadly |
I've done about five rear tires on the Buell, and Nuke's right it can be a PITA. On the other hand I just called the shop and they want forty bucks/tire to change em. Discounted to 30 if I buy the tires from them, but then they're much more expensive than online. So I'll do it again with the tire irons, cursing my choice again. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Speaking of tires, I'm looking at Motorcycle Superstore and their prices for the Scorp Trails are 169 for the rear and 132 for the front, with free shipping. Seems like a hell of a price, should I be concerned? | ||
| Froggy |
Simple, don't use your hands, use tie down straps or similar rope to strap the spokes to the arms of the machine. | ||
| Luftkoph |
just don't use yamalube tire mount lube it has something in it that makes the paint soft on buell wheels. | ||
| Nukeblue |
froggy, damn good idea! |
