| Author | Message | ||
     Ohbuellman |
I liked the Pirelli Corsa III OEM tires that came on the R (really sticky, gripped well on leans, OK in H2O), but was a bit disappointed with how they held up. They had fairly significant wear and a major flattening of the crown (which resulted in fairly disconcerting snap overs on leans) after only 3k miles. So, I decided to try a Michelin Pilot Power 2CT on the rear (which I got from sportbiketrackgear.com). My question is this. The Pirelli had 3 weight squares for balance. When I put the Michelin on, I needed almost 16 weights (4 oz) to get the wheel to balance (!). I assume this is some minor manufacturing defect. But, is it indicative a larger problem that I need to worry about? Safe to ride? Anybody had any experience with this? Thanks. | ||
| Walt |
I've run into this when the tire balance marks were not lined up with the valve stem on the wheel. Check that first. Pirelli uses two red dots. Typically the front requires no weight, and the rear varies from .5 to 1.5 oz. This what I've experienced. | ||
| Hdwrenchtx |
4 oz is excessive. try spinning the tire 180 or even 90 degrees from the valve stem see if that helps | ||
| Fresnobuell |
LINE up the colored dot(s) with the valve stem--we had a brain fart (ok too many beers) on my buddy's Gixxer rear and had the dot opposite the valve stem and it took 8 weights to balance (IIRC.) 16 weights seems excessive even if you have the tire dot screwed up. | ||
| Spectrum |
On Buell rims you should not line up the dots on the valve stem. Buell wheels have a dot with a number painted on the inside of the wheel. This marks the heavy spot on the wheel. Line up the dots on the tire on the opposite side of the wheel from the painted dot. Also Michelin tires do not have reference dots. Instead there is a bar-code on the tire lip that is used as the heavy spot reference. So for Michelin tires line up the bar-code opposite the painted dot on the wheel. | ||
| Bobbuell1961 |
Spectrum,+1 | ||
| Fresnobuell |
I believe the dot is the light spot of the tire. It would make sense that the dot would be lined up a) the valve stem or b) a predetermined heavy spot as Spectrum alluded to. Personally, I just go for the dot and valve stem match. It's the easiest and seems to work fine with Buell rims. I currently have zero weights on the front and the last rear tire, I had half a weight. | ||
| Spectrum |
I'm pretty sure the dot on the tire and the rim mark the heavy spot. Could be the opposite though. Doesn't really matter as the Buell Service Manual tells you to mount them 180° out from each other. Which means both dots reference either the light or heavy spot on each. I will verify what the dot on the rim references the next time I change tires. This will be easy to do, just by putting the wheel on the balancer less the tire. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
I remember reading about the marked rim in the service manual as well. IIRC when I tried that method once, it took the most weights ever to balance the tire. So, I went back to the time tested match-the-dot-to-the-valve-stem method and typically I can get the rear to balance normally with no more than 1.5 weights and the front .5 weight. I would be curious to do a test on the rim-only to see if the mark is the heavy or light spot. It would be easy for the service manual to get something like that opposite. I am happy and it's always a source of minor irritation for my IL4 buds that take way more weights. | ||
| Spectrum |
Using the method in the service manual, I rarely have to put any weight on the front wheel. One or two if any on the rear. | ||
| Steeleagle |
From the Pirelli website: "Some Pirelli tyres have a red dot on the side wail. This indicates the lightest point, and should be positioned next to the valve." Naturally the assumption is that the valve location is the heaviest part of the wheel. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Well Spectrum, the mark on the rim must be the light part then. | ||
| Hogdoctorjr |
Who follows manual tells u 2.7 qt of oil mine takes 3.3 | ||
| Fresnobuell |
The manual (esp. early edition) had plenty of errors. I *think* my indicated rear "heavy spot" was at one of the spokes closest to the valve stem. | ||
| Xl1200r |
I put 2CTs on my CR and didn't line them up, and front took a little more weight - I think 7 1/4 oz. squares. 16 is a lot - spin the tire 180 degrees and try it again. Or you can try the line-everything-up method mentioned above. My guess is you just happened to mount it as bad as you possibly could. | ||
| Dirty_john |
All new tyres come with a mark that is meant to line up with the valve I believe. In this way the heaviest known section of the tyre is opposite the valve. At least that is what we have been told here in the UK by Pirelli tyre fitters at the track. Suggest you refer to the manufacturers website. I have followed this advise for 35 years and have only small balance weights on the wheels, over here we also put duct tape over the weights due to the adhesive on the weights letting go, an old trick from the track from years ago. On a different subject I have started using Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa track tyres on the 1125R and they even work in the wet much to my surprise - the bike has never felt better. (Message edited by Dirty_john on December 02, 2009) (Message edited by Dirty_john on December 02, 2009) (Message edited by Dirty_john on December 02, 2009) | ||
| Fmaxwell |
@Dirty_John I wish that the companies making the weights would come up with some better adhesives. Maybe something that stuck tenaciously until the right rim-friendly solvent was applied. I have my own No-Mar tire changer and a static balance fixture that I constructed, and I change tires for friends and coworkers (always for free). I have dealt with a lot of weights that did not adhere well. Cleaning is very important and I know better than to use carb cleaner, mineral spirits, or other solvents that leave an oily, or soapy, residue. Freon TF solvent is a pretty good choice. | ||
| Dirty_john |
yep over here in the UK wheel weights have a tendancy to come flying off, must be something to do with the lousy weather we have for 9 months of the year, you can always tell a high mileage rider over here by looking at his bikes wheels, at least for those of us to bother having their wheel balanced, it is surprising to see how many bikes haven't got balance weights fitted. | ||
| Fmaxwell |
Being an old guy and a dirt bike rider, it really makes me appreciate spokes as a place to hang wheel balance weights. When it comes to affixing balance weights, you can't do much worse than cast wheels with a wrinkle, or even non-glossy, finish. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
As a test, my friend peeled off the 8 weights he had on his rear tire prior to a tire change. During a 90 MPH drive down the highway, he could not tell any difference. I am sure the front might be difference however. | ||
| Byron |
If you want a better wheel weight, although they will cost you, go to your local BMW dealer. The BMW weights us a 3M adhesive and when you peel the weight off the tape usually comes off as well. If it sticks to the rim you can still peel it off easier than the white junk on generic 1/4 oz. weights. They come in 5 gm increments. Here is the neat part. When you take off the weights save them. Go to your local auto parts store and pick up a roll of body side molding tape. Clean the back of the weight off and then place it on the new tape and trim to size. You now have a weight that can be reused as long as you want. You could try doing this with the generic 1/4 oz. weights but good luck trying to get the tape off of them. |
