motor bicycle Wheel balancing

HI All,

Never really thought about wheel balance until I was looking at one of my bikes (engine free indoor bike) and noticed it had one of those large spoke mounted reflectors in the wheel.

Just out of curiosity I took off that reflector and weighed it....Turns out it weighed nearly 3 ounces!.....And since it was located fairly close to the rim itself I thought that was a fairly heavy wight to be so far off center.....In an attempt to partially offset some of the weight of the reflector, I did take the trouble to remount it opposite of the valve stem (every bit helps huh?)..While I have not yet personally taken the time to see how far off balance the wheel is (I will when it warms up a little since all my motorized bikes live outside in the shed Brrrr)....I was wondering if any of you out there actually too the time to balance your wheels/tires?.....In thinking about it I will probably do so
shortly because as we approach top speeds of 35+ MPH it may become important (I'll probably use stick on automotive balance weights).

What do you think?

Andrew

Balancing will reduce vibration at speeds over 28mph in my experience.

However, I build my own wheels to be true to + or - .005" total run out and use quality tires with reflective stripes so no heavy reflectors are used. Balance has not been an issue. I use Slime tubes f&r and on the rear a Mr. Tuffy tire liner. My top speed is 30mph.

Mounting the reflector about halfway between rim and hub makes a real improvement. Adding another oppisite also helps. Presta valve stems are lighter than Shrader type.

HI Pete,

Good idea about getting another reflector to balance out the original one.....Since it is an older bike I'll have to look for a similar one or heck I may pop for 4 new ones!....Supposed to be about 40 tomorrow so I may come out of hibernation and balance all the bikes.

Andrew

I always balance my wheels by wrapping the spokes near the rim with solder. I made a balancing table for the wheels.

Oh yeah, you can buy stick on lead weights at the sporting good store (used for golf clubs I guess).

another thing to put on the list that needs to be done. a lot of times things are overlooked when trying to get the best performance out of you motorized bicycle

How about putting zip ties at all spoke crosses?
Works nicely to "firm up" the wheels.