Anyone mounted and balanced their own?

[Rothman]

I have a fresh set of Q2's that I'll be mounting in the next month or so and I plan do do it myself.

I have the following equipment: 3 Tire irons.........
.
..
....
...I guess that's it


I'm really wondering just how critical balancing a tire is as I have never done it before and have zero equipment to make it happen.

Is there some sort of way to balance without a balance stand? Or even make a ghetto balance stand with household materials?

 

[doniton2]

just get 2 jack stands, put your axle in and rest it on the stands. the heavy side will go to the bottom. place your weights on the upper side and repeat until no matter where you turn the tire to and let go it doesn't turn. here is a video to help you.

a motorcycle tire - YouTube[/url]

 

[98crewcab]

the balancing frame at harbor freight worked great and was SUPER cheap. great investment if you plan on doing your own tires from now on.....and made myself a wall mounted bead breaker that just folds up against my pegboard the rest of the year

 

[dadofthree]

I started out with spoons, but invested in a tire changer. It doesn't take long for this stuff to pay for itself.

 

[Rothman]

Wow, jack stands. Now why the heck didn't I think of that. Thanks!

I thought about the Harbor freight balancer but the reviews are pretty bad. It seems there's very bad QC issues with it. My luck, I'd get a bad one and being stationed overseas there's no good way to return it.

I even thought about dyna beads but for $30+ they can eat me.

 

[SoCal Blur]

just get 2 jack stands, put your axle in and rest it on the stands. the heavy side will go to the bottom. place your weights on the upper side and repeat until no matter where you turn the tire to and let go it doesn't turn. here is a video to help you.

a motorcycle tire - YouTube[/url]

LOL, that tire was not balanced when he was done. When he went to get the duct tape, the wheel started turning by itself.

 

[mikbusa]

I started doing my own tires last year, bought 3 spoons, a $50 balancer. It's not that hard, gets easier with practice. Balancing makes a huge difference, I had problems with my fingers going white/numb, even in moderate temps. A balanced front tire basically eliminated this problem for me. I take my time, and get it perfect, and the bike is so much smoother. I plan to check balance several times a season.