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Post by kelvincasper on Jan 9, 2008 15:27:08 GMT -5
Has anyone used successful used the Mini Wheel Balancer Kit from Harbor Freight to balance a scooter Tire. Marcparnes.com sells a Dynamic balancer for 105 Ouch(Of which i really don't care to pay)! He says The one sold a Harbor Freight is No good because it use the bubble balanceing. He said you might as well not balance a tire at all if you use the bubble balancer. Is ther any truth to this??? What do you guys and gals use? Any suggestions!!
Kelvin
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Post by earlwb on Jan 9, 2008 17:28:41 GMT -5
I didn't bother to balance my wheels yet. It wasn't causing me any problems per se. I used the Harbor Frieght portable tire changer to good effect though. I plan on fabricating a wheel balancer, using the classic two vertical arm method and some ball bearings for the axle to rotate on. I just haven't gotten around to doing it yet. In my long running thread here: scootdawg.proboards59.com/index.cgi?board=talk&action=display&thread=1172950551&page=4I discuss my tire changing experiences. I remember as a teenager changing jillions of tires at a gas station I worked at for a while. Of course they had the fancy pnuematic tire changing machine along with a fancy dynamic balancer machine too. the bubble balacing tool at Harbor Freight has a problem on scooter and motorcycle wheels as we use a axle through the wheel hub and automobile and trailer tires bolt onto the brake drums or axles instead. So you can't get the wheel to sit on the balancer properly. this guy here www.clarity.net/~adam/tire-changing.htmlhas a nice simple wheel balancer setup with two 4x4's on a piece of plywood. I plan on making something similar, but I want to use angle iron instead and put in a couple of ball bearings on both sides for the axle or pipe to rotate on during the balancing process. One problem is nowadays getting little 1/4 ounce lead weights that you can stick on is getting harder. I was going to see if I could buy some from the Harley dealer sometime, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I was thinking about buying a spare rear axle and use it for balancing the rear wheel. One can get a cheap bubble leveler from harbor freight so one can cut off and glue on the bubble tubes to use to level the unit. |
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Post by stewntexas on Jan 9, 2008 18:25:58 GMT -5
Perform a Google search for "Balance Beads".
Work great, eliminated the hassle of trying to get smaller size tires balanced due to the lack of equipment.
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Post by scooterollie on Jan 9, 2008 19:44:25 GMT -5
Years ago, the bubble method was widely used. With higher cruising speeds, special tire/wheel configurations and more sophisticated and sensitive suspensions, the bubble method just won't do for cars. I believe, especially for 50 and 150 scoots, it may still be enough. I also suspect we have tires and wheels that are out of round on many of our Chinese scoots. I used the balance beads on two of my previous scoots with somewhat positive results - reduction but not elimination of problem. My present scoot does not have any noticeable vibration all the way up to 60 - as fast as I have gone on it so far.
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Post by kelvincasper on Jan 9, 2008 21:53:24 GMT -5
Hi Earlwb:
I have ordered a metal galvnized funnel of which is cone shape. I am going to remove the bulble top put this over the blancer. Then i am going to use my Heat gun to create a mold for the bubble top remove it and make a fitting to fit over the tip of the funnel which will go through the center of a scooter tire. Then i will slide the bubble top on try to balance the tire. I spoke to a friend who suggested this as a clever modification.
Kelvin
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Post by earlwb on Jan 9, 2008 22:03:35 GMT -5
Cool, that sure sounds like a plan to me for sure.
Post some pics of it when you get it going.
We'd all love to see it.
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Post by kelvincasper on Jan 10, 2008 19:39:21 GMT -5
Earlwb: I will post some pictures as soon as i get it set up and tested.
Kelvin
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Post by natefromogden on Jan 11, 2008 0:15:51 GMT -5
My local ATV/dirt bike shop balanced my scoot wheels, 10 bucks each. Seemed like a good deal.
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Post by 12string on Jan 11, 2008 10:41:24 GMT -5
I just put a new tire on my scoot. I took it to my local auto repair shop, they were able to mount and balance it with no problems. They told me that there tire machine can go down to 12" rims. (Honda used to have 12" rims on some of there earlier model cars) They told me that they could do 10" rims too. It's not worth me messing with for the cost that the shop can do it for. ($10.00)
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MikeB
Junior Dawg
Die to Ride (and not vice versa)!
Posts: 11
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Post by MikeB on Jan 15, 2008 10:46:09 GMT -5
I used the Dynabeads balancing beads with good results.
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Post by leo on Jan 15, 2008 13:35:02 GMT -5
What do you guys and gals use? Any suggestions!! Kelvin the wheels and tires on my 250cc are already balanced enough to ride at 65mph. my 50cc doesn't go fast enough to worry about. |
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