RonKZ650 wrote: Lots of guys swear the beads work. The logic just does not compute. A tire spins 750-800 times per mile. Does anyone really believe beads can sense when the tire due to forces from light and heavy can actually move around in a spinning tire at these rpms and actually balance it? I don't believe it. I've read quite a bit about them, and the explanation that makes most sense is they don't actually move around and balance the tire. What they do is evenly distribute in the tire. They have to by all logic. So they evenly distribute and that 2oz to 3oz in effect masks the imbalance to the point it isn't noticeable. I'll take this as the way they "work", but to me not something I care to use.
To do a decent balance you need a better setup than using the wheel bearings in the wheel. There are several balancers out there. I got the Marc Parnes balancer and it works great. For years and years I never even bothered to balance and never had a problem, but nice to know you did a job correctly.
The theory behind the beads is good and you can build a little device yourself to prove that the concept works. Whether that works in a tire (have you looked at the inside of a tubeless tire? See all those ridges they mold in?) and with the dynamic loads of a motorcycle is another question. I wouldn't even bother trying them myself.
As to not being able to balance on the bearings... If the bearings are good, then you absolutely can! Like I said, you have to be patient. Vibrating the apparatus helps speed things up. Maybe it won't be good enough for 300MPH, but it's good enough for the street.
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