Where's the light spot on PR2's?

[Willie]

Am getting ready to spoon on some new PR2's and I don't see any dots on the sidewalls for telling where the light spot is. I was going to try to get away with not balancing, but am leary about that if I can't at least start close. Does Michelin think these things are perfectly balanced now? Anyone know why no dots? Thanks

[smiller]

Some manufacturers mark them, some don't. Avon doesn't either, for example.

 

Personally I'd take the extra ten minutes and balance them.

[T__]

Willie, unless things heave changed there is no match mounting mark on the PR2 tires.. At least that was the response I got back from Michelin engineering last fall..

 

New tires are pretty darn close these days & in my experience it’s been the wheels that mostly need balancing not the tires.. I haven’t done so on my BMW as I ride it for long distances at pretty high speeds but on my other bikes I just balance the wheel without the tire on it then just mount the tires without balancing the assembly afterwards.. Been doing that for quite a while & I don’t seem to have any excess wheel disturbance or abnormal tire wear..

 

Twisty

 

 

[Redbrick]

Wheels not tires out of balance usually?......I thought so, and pulled the weights off the rear wheel (1200RT) and cleaned the stick-em off before giving the wheel over to have new tire mounted.....Marked where the old weight was and kept them......After mounting and balancing by the shop found that they had replaced the same amount of weight in the same place I had removed it....These were PR2's...Only one instance so can't really draw any firm conclusions but at least in this case it seems that the wheel is what needed balancing and the tire was well balanced...We'll see....

[randy]

I mount and balance my own tires. I use a No mar set up with Marc parnes balancing system. In most cases the first time you bring your rim over for a tire change, we take off the old tire, remove all the weights, clean the rim and we balance the rim without a tire. So for example the rim by intself, with stem and cap is 2 weights out of balance.

 

We mark the heavy spot and light spot on the inside of the rim. I find 90% (i.e. 9 out of 10) after mounting the new tire, the necessary weights are 2 at the rim light spot. It seems today's tires are very "balanced".

 

 

 

[smiller]

We mark the heavy spot and light spot on the inside of the rim. I find 90% (i.e. 9 out of 10) after mounting the new tire, the necessary weights are 2 at the rim light spot. It seems today's tires are very "balanced".

That would jive with my experience (although I'd say it's more like 7-8 out of 10 instead of 9 out of 10.) Which is why I balance them.

[Alan D]

According to the dealer at Crazy Cycles on RT 28 in NC, you look for the barcode sticker on the tire and place that spot at the valve stem when installing Pilot Roads.

By the way, these folks were great when we needed to replace a tire on the road during the Johnson City Rally. Very fair pricing, fast service and an interesting place to visit.

[T__]

Alan, that has been the scuttle butt for a long time on the PR2 tiers & the reason I called Michelin to begin with.. Michelin says those are just bar codes & in no way denote the heavy or light spot..

 

Twisty

 

[flars]

"..Michelin says those are just bar codes & in no way denote the heavy or light spot..."

Actually, the bar code is what makes the tire heavy. You should always scrape the bar code sticker off in order to properly balance the tire/wheel assembly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DavidEBSmith]

I lined up the bar code with the valve stem so I wouldn't just be putting the tire on in a random orientation . . .

[T__]

I lined up the bar code with the valve stem so I wouldn't just be putting the tire on in a random orientation . . .

 

 

David, I don’t know.. According to the Michelin engineer I talked to that bar code is put on at random as the tire is processed & it isn’t lined up with anything in particular on the tire such as any feature or light or heavy spot.. SO, it sounds like when you use that bar code for your installation that is about as random as any other method..

 

Twisty

 

[jakfrost]

I'm on my second set of PR2's and there is no light spot mark, and as far as I can tell...no light spot, period.

 

I have the Marc Parnes balancing tools and go thru the exercise every time, but that is more to address my OCD than to correct any inherent imbalance, ( except in my head :-) ). And also since I HAVE the Marc Parnes stuff I might as well use it...

 

Jim

[smiller]

I check them for balance every time. It's true that the majority of the time I find the balance to be very close (assuming the wheel is already in good balance) and probably not in any desperate need of attention, but maybe 2 out of 10 times it could use some touch-up, and maybe one out of ten there's enough of an imbalance that it really should be corrected. So, yes, definitely a minority of the time that it's required but a tire/wheel assembly just as definitely will need balancing on occasion. Given this, what's the rationale for not doing it? To save ten minutes? To save the one-time cost of a hundred bucks (or less) for a balancer? I don't get it, why go to all the trouble of a tire change and do a partial job..?

[Willie]

Can you balance a wheel using just the axle held between two braces or will that be too much resistance to get an accurate balance. I don't have a balancer and can't see spending the money on one seeing as I don't change tires too often. I know there are homemade ways of doing this. I could also just run them down to Keith's (OoPEZoO) since he was kind enough to offer help to me also

[Mark K]

Really?

 

I used to go through this agony, but I haven't balanced the last two sets of tires and I honestly can't feel the difference. There is no difference in tire wear either. I do use an in-the-tire-seal product, though...if it matters (let the bashing begin)

[barryNmarin]

After paying for tire mounting for 5 years I finally invested in a Harbor Freight changer and Marc parnes balancer. Putting on the new tires was a piece of cake but I found the balancing part to be a bit of a problem. I finally got them pretty close to perfectly balanced and just gave up on it. So I find it interesting to see that others have just said "screw it" entirely to balancing their tires and have just mounted them and started riding.

I couldn't help but wonder as I was struggling with the balancing procedure, how important was it to get the tires perfectly balanced. Now I think I know.

[T__]

Can you balance a wheel using just the axle held between two braces or will that be too much resistance to get an accurate balance. I don't have a balancer and can't see spending the money on one seeing as I don't change tires too often. I know there are homemade ways of doing this. I could also just run them down to Keith's (OoPEZoO) since he was kind enough to offer help to me also

 

Willie, no that won’t work at ( least on lower mile wheel bearings) due to the grease in the bearings & the bearing seal drag.. Just too much resistance to turning easily to allow using the wheel bearings to balance a wheel/tire combo..

 

But, with the above being said you might do it anyway.. It won’t be anywhere near accurate & you can’t actually balance with it but if you do find a heavy side by using the wheel bearings you have real out-of-balance issues & should seek a real wheel balance..

 

Twisty

 

[OoPEZoO]

Just bring it over.......we can can do a science experiment. I have a bunch of stick on weights laying around. We can strip all the weights off your wheel and start from scratch if ya want. We can balance the bare wheel and then mark, spin, and reseat the bead as much as you want to see if it makes a difference. Its just time.....you know I work cheap

[smiller]

After paying for tire mounting for 5 years I finally invested in a Harbor Freight changer and Marc parnes balancer. Putting on the new tires was a piece of cake but I found the balancing part to be a bit of a problem. I finally got them pretty close to perfectly balanced and just gave up on it. So I find it interesting to see that others have just said "screw it" entirely to balancing their tires and have just mounted them and started riding.

I couldn't help but wonder as I was struggling with the balancing procedure, how important was it to get the tires perfectly balanced. Now I think I know.

Just a tip, you probably don't want to go for a 'perfect' balance as the Marc Parnes unit is very sensitive and you'll drive yourself nuts trying to null out even the smallest movement. The main point of checking balance to to uncover and rectify any significant issues. As has been noted these are not that common, but most definitely do occur from time-to-time so to my mind it's a good idea to at least run a check.

[Willie]

Just bring it over.......we can can do a science experiment. I have a bunch of stick on weights laying around. We can strip all the weights off your wheel and start from scratch if ya want. We can balance the bare wheel and then mark, spin, and reseat the bead as much as you want to see if it makes a difference. Its just time.....you know I work cheap

 

Won't be too hard to start from scratch on the front. No wheel weights on there now. Back has 3 pieces though I think. I'll PM you about getting together sometime. It's a shame there's not a techdaze that you're going to this weekend with your tire stuff Sucks working on Saturdays! Thanks Keith