I had been using the least expensive tire-wheel balancer that I can imagine. I bought a couple of V-blocks for < $10 from Harbor Freight or Northern Tools,
I don't remember which and set them on a couple of spaced-apart plastic storage boxes that my wife bought and were sitting in my garage. Here's some
pictures of the set-up.
As you can see from the pictures I am relying on the bike's axle and bearings to balance this tire-wheel. This type of static balancer works fine when the bearings are nice and loose. Seven of the eight bearings in my two front and rear wheels are nice and loose, but one of them is a little tight. Consequently, it takes several ounces of balance weight attached to the rim to get the wheel that has that tight bearing to spin "freely". That's not near good enough.
Back in March of 2004, Motorcycle Consumer News published in article on "DIY Wheel Balance". Some pictures of that type of static balancer are shown below.
As these pictures show the bike's axle is still used with this balancer, but the wheel's bearings have been rendered irrelavant because the wheel will move due to imbalance forward or backwards as the axle rolls on the 1/8" wide by 1" tall by 1' long pieces of level aluminum rails at the top of each side of the balancing stand. This balancer is said to be very sensitive to imbalance, that moving a 1/4 oz. weight on the rim a 1/2" makes a big difference. To be fair I have not tried this type of balance, but what worries me about it is that you must make sure you level the aluminum bars/rails perfectly and put that balancer in the same spot every time so that the aluminum strips are always level. Otherwise, balanced or not, the wheel will always roll in one direction.
At this year's International Motorcycle Show in Atlanta I saw No-Mar's Static Wheel Balancer. It looked simple and like I could make one myself for under $25, but in the interest of time and the fact that I had a wheel that needed balancing immediately I decided to buy theirs for $99. Some pictures of No-Mars Static Wheel Balancer are below.
No-Mar's balancer does not rely on the bike's axle or bearing. They supply a smaller axle and cones to snug-up and center that axle. They also have their own bearings which are very loose. No-Mar claims their balancer is good to ±2 gm which is ± 1/14th of an ounce. I have only used the No-Mar balancer once so far, but I really like it. It is sturdy and sensitive. I would highly recommend it, or for anyone to make one in the same style if they were so inclined.
http://www.nomartirechanger.com/06Balancer.html
As you can see from the pictures I am relying on the bike's axle and bearings to balance this tire-wheel. This type of static balancer works fine when the bearings are nice and loose. Seven of the eight bearings in my two front and rear wheels are nice and loose, but one of them is a little tight. Consequently, it takes several ounces of balance weight attached to the rim to get the wheel that has that tight bearing to spin "freely". That's not near good enough.
Back in March of 2004, Motorcycle Consumer News published in article on "DIY Wheel Balance". Some pictures of that type of static balancer are shown below.
As these pictures show the bike's axle is still used with this balancer, but the wheel's bearings have been rendered irrelavant because the wheel will move due to imbalance forward or backwards as the axle rolls on the 1/8" wide by 1" tall by 1' long pieces of level aluminum rails at the top of each side of the balancing stand. This balancer is said to be very sensitive to imbalance, that moving a 1/4 oz. weight on the rim a 1/2" makes a big difference. To be fair I have not tried this type of balance, but what worries me about it is that you must make sure you level the aluminum bars/rails perfectly and put that balancer in the same spot every time so that the aluminum strips are always level. Otherwise, balanced or not, the wheel will always roll in one direction.
At this year's International Motorcycle Show in Atlanta I saw No-Mar's Static Wheel Balancer. It looked simple and like I could make one myself for under $25, but in the interest of time and the fact that I had a wheel that needed balancing immediately I decided to buy theirs for $99. Some pictures of No-Mars Static Wheel Balancer are below.
No-Mar's balancer does not rely on the bike's axle or bearing. They supply a smaller axle and cones to snug-up and center that axle. They also have their own bearings which are very loose. No-Mar claims their balancer is good to ±2 gm which is ± 1/14th of an ounce. I have only used the No-Mar balancer once so far, but I really like it. It is sturdy and sensitive. I would highly recommend it, or for anyone to make one in the same style if they were so inclined.
http://www.nomartirechanger.com/06Balancer.html
