motor bicycle Wheel balancing

[Andyinchville1]

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

[Pete]

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.

[Andyinchville1]

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

[Bikeguy Joe]

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

[Bikeguy Joe]

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

[paul]

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

[Bikeguy Joe]

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