Modern Vespa

Has anyone tried the liquid tire balancer on their 12" tires?? Does te stuff work, or is it garbage. The closest shop that can balance Vespa wheels is 200 miles away. Yes I live in the "STICKS"!! LOL!!

A number of people have used this DIY tire balancing tool with good success.

And watch this video of Old as Dirt (I think) balancing a Vespa wheel with it.

Link if the video doesn't show up in your browser: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y0oAU8Vxyg"

There have been a number of other DIY balancing techniques and tools that people have used. Use the search tab above.

Best
Miguel

I use RideOn in all my tires, but only after static balancing.

You could get a Marc Parnes setup for the Vespa wheels, and balance yourself.

http://www.marcparnes.com/Vespa_Scooter_Wheel_Balancer.htm

I have used Rideon with and without balance weights on a GTS 250. I couldn't tell the difference even at 70 miles per hour. It's a good product. Since it also seals small punctures, Rideon adds to safety and convenience as well.

What makes you think you're unbalanced?

That's very good znomit!

I use CounterAct Balance Beads on my Vespa GTS, MP3's, and my Motorcycle Trailer. Works Great... You remove all the weights from the Rim, you insert the Beads through the Valve Stem that is equivalent to the oz weight you removed. Typically about 2oz per rim, and your done.

https://amazon.com/Z-Tire-Beads-Balancing-Applicator/dp/B078TPTVJC



Keith,
Marietta, GA

Keith, Any downsides to these beads?
Miguel

I use the balance beads with no problems and a perfect balance. The only thing I've heard is if you spill some it would be like trying to walk on ball bearings.

I was a balance bead advocate for many MC sets of tires. As for walking on them in the shop, they're too tiny to bother your footsteps.

When I put my first tire change on my GTS I had a tank slapper event(scared the pee out of me too!!!) which I notated well here right after it happened.I am a life long rider and had never had one before and don't want a nother. The psi was correct and I saw nothething out of order on the scooter. I decided to dump those beads and went back to stick on weights. i use a HF wheel balancer which can be made to fit one side of a GTS wheel via a socket in my tool box that fits that hub center tightly. I use the HF cone on the other side of the wheel. I had no issue after the rebalance and sold the scooter to a guy who's also had no problems.
I used 2 oz of beads.
Do as you wish but I'm done with beads. I sold off my bulk bag on ADV rider and never again. I have no desire to use a liquid balance either as I might need to plug a tire to get home sometime.

RideOn is specifically made to plug leaks in the tread area.
Personally can't vouch for how effective it is, other than perhaps ~60,000 miles with no flats.

I don't use them and never will, I have change a few tires with them in for folks and hate them. They go everywhere and they will make you slip and twist and fall. To me they are a hazard.

As far as their effectiveness in balancing a tire and rim, sure at a give steady speed they should do just fine. Now I don't ride at 50mph from the start to wherever I am going. I start and stop , speed up and slow down, brake easy and sometimes break hard. Do those beads keep the wheels and tires in balance during all of that? NOPE they can't. When slowing by braking they fall to the bottom and then have to resend up during acceleration again.

I prefer to have my wheels and tires in balance 100% of the time, in all corners and braking, during any acceleration and decelerations.

But most of all not to have those stupid things all over my garage floor and me slipping on them and then having a hospital bill.

During my apprenticeship I was taught to sweep the shop floor.

Actually I used the beads over again and dumped them on a small tarp, not a major issue to contend with?
I had zero issues with smooth riding using beads and tire wear was logical.
The whole bead thing is a worn out topic by now. I've read stuff by physics people, grease balls like myself and came to no conclusions except they worked for me. In many pages of ADV comments not ever have I read about someone falling on the beads? They are less than 1/32" dia and much smaller than lots of other floor debris to begin with.
Who really knows what the little things do inside there?

I will probably get torched for saying this but I have never balanced a scooter tire and never had a problem. Never noticed any wobble or vibrations at any speed on either the Yamaha Majesty or GTV 300...[/url]

One common tactic by DIY balancers is to rotate the tire on the rim until balance is achieved via placing tire & wheel where they happen to make the assy become in balance, sometimes it's possible, others not.

I didn't know Mr. Miyagi ran a repair shop. I haven't either, even on much larger displacement bikes that I've ridden a whole lot faster. I use Ride-on, mainly because of the flat protection, but don't really notice a difference. I've used balanced tires before, and I don't think I really noticed a difference there either. I think a lot of that is because rims and tires are more precisely made than before, rims are alloy and don't have spokes, and we don't use tubes, so any inbalance is going to be minor, compared to how things were forty years ago or so.

Tires are handmade as they have been for many years, A human hand pushes the buttons or pedals, applies and tears off the carcass fabric and the human eye decides the tearoff point and width of the fabric splice. The fabrics have evolved somewhat(rayon, nylon, kevlar, polyester, etc.) but most have been around a very long time. The belt designs, if used, evolve some.
A machine extrudes & cuts/skives the tread piece then a human feeds that onto the carcass. The materials, such as tread compounding have changed but generally speaking the build a tire process hasn't changed much for many years.
The mfg can change the molds, cure times and in the end it's quality control in large part that decides what we take home balance wise or allowable defect wise.
Throwing on a tire and running it w/o a balance check, is to roll the dice balance wise. Tires are expensive and my life matters to me as well, seems illogical to me when someone says they have great "Luck" avoiding a balance of some kind. I do adhere to watching the wear pattern on all tires as it tells us when somethings off such as balance or alignment. PSI matters.
Having TPMS's on my car/truck is very illustrative of how temps affect PSI this time of year. My PU trucks new set of Michelins show ~ 31-32# in the a.m. but will show the OE# of 35 after the suns been up a few hours with the vehicle sitting still. In use the PSI heats up to 36-37 rather quickly and if towing, thus weight on the rear tires increased, they'll show 37-39#.
These tiny scooter tires need to be in balance and have proper PSI!

]You dont need to do anything else but change your front shock to a proper shock and it won't wobble.

Have a look at my posting.

https://modernvespa.com/forum/post2387507#2387507

flag edit X quote
Here is the new 4.0 bazooka on Supertech.

Problem is with coil shock, most of the time the spring is not rated to individual weight and most brand when buying their shock are not given a choice off spring. There is no 1 spring for all. Almost every aftermarket shock especially designer shock (Example, zelioni etc does no testing and have no facilities to test their shock. Its all outsource to a manufacturer) including bgm that i have to tune for customer, 99% are not able to even set the Sag correctly due to wrong rated spring etc. Nothing else can be set if the basic of sag cannot be set correctly.

So if you would to ask me, i would say most people are spending money to make their suspension worst. Bazooka air shock is just like your tire,it does leak a bit. you would check it lke how you would check your tire pressure. My bazooka from my old vespa still works perfectly after more than 3 years. You can even send it in for maintenance where all your internal parts will be change, with proper care, it could last you a lifetime.

Its around 40% lighter than stock, with that saving in weight, it translate into more power for your bike and your front end will feel as lot more nimble. I am sure everyone knows about the infamous vespa front end wobble . It will wobble regardless its the current front end setup or the 14-17 macpherson strut setup, it will wobble. Just try letting go both of your hands and see what it does. I tried a few suspension setup and i can say only bazooka i can safely do let go of my hands and it will self correct itself and will not wobble. Have as look at the video, do note my left hand is holding my phone for recording and that is the furthest back i could go to take the video, i can do a longer video without hands if you want.
To me, its no brainer. Either you buy a proper shock that improve your ride the first time or you buy a cheaper shock that doesnt work and then spend more money on a shock that work. If you are only into aesthetic, then use whatever shocks you fancy but be ready for rough ride.[/quote][/quote]

OK now you are officially spamming.

yummyburger has been ejected from this topic

Havent balanced my tires in the last 4 changes...cant tell the difference.

A tire/wheel assy either needs balanced, or it does not. Ignoring balance is not logical, meaning you take a look and check, not assume.

I have ridden on several rides with an out of balance front tire.

It shakes, causing the mirrors and windshield to shake.

The vibrating windshield sends disturbed air to my helmet causing my head and eyeballs to shake.

No fun.

I now use a Marc Parnes balancer with great success.

A smooth riding scooter is a real pleasure to ride.

It is possible to have a balanced tire without balancing it.

But in reality, it is just that you were lucky.

Or don't ride very fast.

Bill

If Ride-on balances my tires, then I guess I do balance them.
You can get a decent mechanical tire balancer for about $40, but I just haven't found it to be worth the time or effort. If you have good tires and your rims aren't bent, I don't think it makes a difference. But then again, I don't ride very fast.

My dealer had a rule of thumb - if the bike could go 60mph or more, then he insisted on balancing the tyres. If you've ever ridden a bike with an out of balance tyre - front or back - you'll know it as soon as you get to 60+. Worst case, the bike will shudder so much you just have to back off to a slower speed. Sometimes you can ride through the resonance and have peace and quiet at a higher speed - but it'll still be very uncomfortable slowing down through that speed window.