Dyna Beads = Wasted Money

[jblue1555]

Back in the day , a spin balancer was a motor that spun your wheel,tire, drum or rotor on the car. you mounted a cover with a shaft coming out of the center with three rings on it. As the motor spun the tire you held one of the rings to move weights inside the cover closer together or farther apart the third ring moved the weights around the cover at the same time. Dyna beads do the same thing, they balance tire, rim, brake rotors. My riding buddy can tell you what mileage he has got out of every tire on every bike since he started riding. He went to the local GWRRA reginal rally and met a couple riding an 1800 with no cupping on the front tire. He found out they were running the $250 dollar balance rings. He thought Dyna Beads were voodoo, now he is going to try them. He had less miles than the tires on the other bike and has had his balanced twice to reduce the cupping. This is his second set of dunlop e3s.

[zagger]

While some cupping could be caused by an out of balance wheel, I think that most of it is caused by the way the "islands" of rubber on the tire deflect and wear. If you rub a pencil with an eraser along the top of a table while pushing down against the table, you see the eraser deflect and the most eraser wear happens on the leading edge. Each island of rubber (the areas surrounded by grooves) on the tire works the same way and wears the same way. My bikes have tires which are worn down in "cups" that you can see from 10 feet away. I hate that but I don't believe that balancing will help. Balancing helps keep the center of mass at the axle and minimizes the shaking.

 

My most recent experiment with beads is the most interesting. Last winter I built a custom front suspension for my venture chopper. Riding it this summer, the front wheel would literally bounce right off the road when I hit about 65 mph. Most unpleasant! Slower was ok, faster was ok. I thought that the damping and spring constant of the front suspension was the problem and I wrestled with those ideas. This last weekend I put beads in the front wheel and found that the bouncing was caused by an out of balance tire (professionally balanced when the tire was installed). Apparently, the frequency of the wheel vibration at 65mph matched the resonant frequency of the front forks and all hell broke loose. With the beads it runs nice and quiet regardless of the speed.

 

Pictures of my new front end:

[coy55boy]

Gotta add my .02 worth. I ran across a mention of dyna beads someplace and was very interested though somewhat skeptical. I mean, if the claims were true, why wasn't EVERYONE using them? They've been out long enough. But, I had never even heard of them.

 

So, being a skeptic and a long time believer of "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is", I started searching the web for user reviews. I gotta say, I was pretty blown away by the number of people that swear by these little beads. That, plus it seemed that the only detractors were people that had never tried them.

 

Now, I just got a new bike (well, new to me) that had recently gotten new tires. When I got the bike, there was a single 1 oz. stick on weight (HATE them thangs) on the rear wheel. But, the front tire really bugged me. It had a 1 oz. sticky weight on the right and another one on the left (but, it was barely hangin on) and it also had a 1 oz. clip on as well. It just seemed to me that somebody did a piss poor job of balancing that tire.

 

So, I said "What the hell". I ordered some dyna beads and when they arrived, I happily removed all the ugly weights and installed the beads. Today was the first chance I had to test 'em out. I did both city and highway driving with speeds up 85 (indicated) and didn't have any problems. I'm no scientist nor a suspension expert, I'm just sayin' they worked for me.

 

BONUS! Now I don't have to try and clean around them dang things anymore. Nice smooth rims...

 

[Hummingbird]

I'm too lazy to go thru and count the pros and cons in this thread but at a glance it seems that the beads WORK

 

Now I find that to be amazing since a reputable source has done irrefutable testing and PROVEN them to be useless !!

 

I can't believe that a USER would know more about a product than a one time tester or even someone that hasn't bothered to try them.

 

Go Figure !!

[Sylvester]

Back on page one of this post (January) I said I would be trying the beads when I installed new tires. I have 9,000 miles on the tires now and have NO vibrations or other problems from the use of dyna beads.

 

END OF MY SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS!

 

PS: I will use them in the future.

 

[Eck]

I had the dyna beads installed in my new GW sneakers, but I can not hear them roll around when I spin the tire..?

 

You would think one would be able to hear the beads rolling around...?

 

 

As for regular weights on a bike tire...

After the tire wears down some, say 3,500 miles on it or so,,,the tire is no longer in true balance, and I am certain that most everyone here reading this, who has weights on their tires, NEVER takes the wheel off to have it rebalanced during any part of the wear period of the tire that is mounted on it...I would think only those who may happen to have a tire changer would do this...

 

So, what do you think??

Edited October 31, 2010 by Eck

[Guest scarylarry]

I had the dyna beads installed in my new GW sneakers, but I can not hear them roll around when I spin the tire..?

 

You would think one would be able to hear the beads rolling around...?

 

 

As for regular weights on a bike tire...

After the tire wears down some, say 3,500 miles on it or so,,,the tire is no longer in true balance, and I am certain that most everyone here reading this, who has weights on their tires, NEVER takes the wheel off to have it rebalanced during any part of the wear period of the tire that is mounted on it...I would think only those who may happen to have a tire changer would do this...

 

So, what do you think??

 

Good point we do balance our car tires eevry 5k, or atleast I do but you have a good point, I might try it on my next set...Question I have does it damage the rim with all that rolling around on the inside?

[eazyduzzit]

I don't have an opinion, but I do tend to believe what I can see. I sell truck parts at a KW dealership, and we sell Centramatic products. I've gotten feedback from some of my customers that they dramatically improve tire life.

Centramatic Wheel balancer is a bolt on ring with weights that works on the same principal as Dyna Beads.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skY6qvzpNXI&feature=related]YouTube - How Centramatic Balancers Work[/ame]

[1joeranger]

Got up early this morning, got my coffee and sat down to catch up on reading some of the new posts here. Read every thread on this one and laughed so hard that I woke my girlfriend up several times and had to explain to her what was so hilarious! Thank You all for for the entertainment!!

 

Wish I could leave it alone but so love adding to the pot! Can we get some threads here involving politics? Also I think some religious debate would enhance this brew! Finally lets not be chauvinistic, we need some female input as well!!

[Hummingbird]

Got up early this morning, got my coffee and sat down to catch up on reading some of the new posts here. Read every thread on this one and laughed so hard that I woke my girlfriend up several times and had to explain to her what was so hilarious! Thank You all for for the entertainment!!

 

Wish I could leave it alone but so love adding to the pot! Can we get some threads here involving politics? Also I think some religious debate would enhance this brew! Finally lets not be chauvinistic, we need some female input as well!!

 

 

I think having a female view on this would be GREAT !! Do you know of one that has not tried the Dyna Beads but still insists that they don't work ??

[latchkey]

use the beads and they work great.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

 

Want to support yourself in retirement? Produce another stupid movie like Avatar. I could wish I had come up with that one.

 

 

I have never seen this movie because I declined to spend money to see blue fairies flying on blue dragons. Seems too much like a Smurf Cartoon.

 

Thats all I saw of the pre-release teasers that were showing on TV at the time.

 

Glad to know that someone else thinks it was a waste of money....Having not seen it but forming an opinion anyway seems to be appropriate here.

 

 

[Condor]

I have never seen this movie because I declined to spend money to see blue fairies flying on blue dragons. Seems too much like a Smurf Cartoon.

 

Thats all I saw of the pre-release teasers that were showing on TV at the time.

 

Glad to know that someone else thinks it was a waste of money....Having not seen it but forming an opinion anyway seems to be appropriate here.

 

 

 

Loved the movie.... Less filling...taste's great!!..... :rotf:

[kj5ix]

Good point we do balance our car tires eevry 5k, or atleast I do but you have a good point, I might try it on my next set...Question I have does it damage the rim with all that rolling around on the inside?

 

Not at all,,,,, I just changed the front tire on the GW and scooped the beads out and put in the new tire when I mounted it. I did more damage to the ream with the tools. The beads really don't touch the rim they stay on the tire side.. I even forgot to put the dot int right place by the stem and there isn't any viberation....

[dynodon]

I now have a thousand or more miles on my 04 Wing since installing the beads. I left on the wheel balance weights. Tires now have 6000 miles on them, and I can't say for sure that the beads are making the bike ride smoother, but it for sure isn't riding any worse.

 

When I change the tires I will inspect to see the condition of the tire inside. I don't believe the beads will tear up the inside of the tire or create any "dust" but I will know for sure when I change the tires. So far zero problems with the valve stems.

 

For a few bucks it was worth experimenting with.

[LilBeaver]

...

 

...For a few bucks it was worth experimenting with.

 

Had a date like that once...

 

Oh wait, this is a family site.

Edited November 1, 2010 by LilBeaver

[Kirby]

I changed a friend of mine's front tire the other day on his wing which we had done last fall. He had 13,000 miles on that tire and we had put dynabeads in it. I had read on here that there was someone questioning that maybe the dynabeads would eat up the inside of the tire or rim or turn to dust. Well, let me assure you all that the dynabeads were still the same size(I checked them with dial calipers) as new ones that we put back in when I changed the tire. The old tire showed no kind of wear on the inside from the beads. I took my hand vacuum and collected them and will use them again at a later date in another tire. He's a believer in them and so am I.

[Hummingbird]

I changed a friend of mine's front tire the other day on his wing which we had done last fall. He had 13,000 miles on that tire and we had put dynabeads in it. I had read on here that there was someone questioning that maybe the dynabeads would eat up the inside of the tire or rim or turn to dust. Well, let me assure you all that the dynabeads were still the same size(I checked them with dial calipers) as new ones that we put back in when I changed the tire. The old tire showed no kind of wear on the inside from the beads. I took my hand vacuum and collected them and will use them again at a later date in another tire. He's a believer in them and so am I.

 

yeah but - but - they don't work, it's been stated - they don't work

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bikenut]

Hummingbird

Please show us your facts that they do not work.I have been running them for over a year and have 15000 miles on my tires front and rear E3 and they are holding up much better with the use of the beads then being balanced the old way.

It is easy and cost alot less because they can be re-used so show us your facts that they do not work .I like them and will continue to use them unless you have some good facts.

Bikenut:stirthepot:

[Condor]

Hummingbird

Please show us your facts that they do not work.I have been running them for over a year and have 15000 miles on my tires front and rear E3 and they are holding up much better with the use of the beads then being balanced the old way.

It is easy and cost alot less because they can be re-used so show us your facts that they do not work .I like them and will continue to use them unless you have some good facts.

Bikenut:stirthepot:

 

I think the post might have been in jest......

[Guest]

Just noticed this thread and I thought i'd add my 2 cents here. I dont use dynabeads in my bike. I used to run Ride-On and while its a good product, it will eventually build up a hard to remove crust inside the rim. Had to use a scotchbrite wheel on a drill along with acetone to clean it up.

Now, back to the Dynabeads: I drive an 18 wheeler and our shop started using Dynabeads several months ago instead of doing a basic tire balance. After mounting new front tires on my tractor I noticed a slight shimmy from the front end at 56-60 mph. After a few days it became a violent shimmy. Shop told me there was nothing mechanically wrong with the front end but they mounted another set of front tires and the issue went away. Wel, after a few weeks the shimmy came back ever so slightly. Once again it increased over the weeks and soon became dangerous to drive. I spoke to the shop supervisor and recommended that they at least do a basic tire balance and then add the dynabeads. He swore up and down that the dynabeads dont need any other type of balance and that basically ended the conversation. Off the record there, the mechanics agree with me. Now on the third set in 6 months and the shimmy is back slightly. So, based on what I have experienced, at least on the heavy equipment side, I am not impressed with dynabeads. Regular wheel balancing worked fine in our trucks for over 30 years. Now balancing is an issue....you do the math.

 

Although at around 165 mph my rear tire does tend to shimmy a bit on the bike.....

[saddlebum]

 

Can't see any reason why a fluid wouldn't work except that water/antifreeze is much less dense than the beads and therefore 2 oz would take up more space inside the tire. Certainly would be easier to get into the valve stem! But there is also air inside the tire - giving problems when the water dries up and leaves just humid air inside the tire. Maybe mercury is the answer. A little messy at tire change time - but that is not my problem.

zag

Ask and you shall recieve. Here is a link to a liquid tire balancing product. We have used it in a fleet of transport trucks I once managed unfortunatly A year after we started using it the company went under so I was not able to make an honest judgement of the product. However I did get some positve feed back from the drivers.

 

http://www.deltatiresealant.com/tire_balancers.php

 

 

On Another note dunlop does not recomend any type of dry (dust or bead ) or liguid tire balance material installed in a motorcycle tire and will void tire waranty if used. see link below

 

http://www.dunlopmotorcycle.com/infocenter_tiretips.asp?id=16#tip

Edited December 6, 2010 by saddlebum

[Yammer Dan]

Although at around 165 mph my rear tire does tend to shimmy a bit on the bike.....

 

Shift it out of 3rd!! Oh nevermind its a 2nd Gen!!!!

 

Going to be a long winter. Snow coming down!!

 

 

 

I balance mine with two cinder blocks, axel and stick-on weights. Never had a problem. But I'm probally wrong. I don't care!!! It works for me!! After reading this I'm going to buy some beads to fine tune with!!! Might feel a little better about 130 mph.

Edited December 6, 2010 by Yammer Dan

[Zane]

I saw a claim in Dunlops website that the warranty would be voided on their tires with the use of any product like that. Anyone else?

[Sylvester]

I saw a claim in Dunlops website that the warranty would be voided on their tires with the use of any product like that. Anyone else?

 

Why would I care? I love the dyna beads and have them in Dunlop tires. They run very smooth, I have no weights glued to my wheels and they are reusable. There are lots of negatives on this subject but the overall feeling is that they work and they work great. I and my good friend have them in six motorcycles from Ventures (2) to Indians to Harleys and Triumphs and a Virago. We love them! Speak all you want to about how worthless they are but that won't make a difference. Try them for yourself. My local Yamaha dealer is using them instead of weight balancing and they have no problems with them.