just had a new front tyre put on bike,battlax 020,the fitter didnt balance wheel ,when i pulled him about it he said "there made that well nowadays they dont need to be done"having chatted to some biking mates ,some agree some dont,whats your veiw, ?                                                                                                                                                                             

According to our clubs mechanic "Modern tyres of good brand name are pre balanced there is actually a mark that is to be allined with the valve that virtually is it!" He only mentioned this after I'd bought a second hand tyre and the mark was no longer on the tyre and "had to balance" it using a lot of stick on lead.   How ever if you experiance any problems after fitting you obviously can take the bike back in to have it balanced at no extra cost as they have already told you it's not needed.                                                                                                                                                                             

Always balance wheels myself, dead easy pm me if u need 2 know how                                                                                                                                                                             

I have my wheels balanced dynamically by National Tyres and they always need weighting.  Indeed, every bike I've ever had has required balancing and weighting.   The mark on the tyre is only to show the heaviest point on the tyre, hence the reason it should be aligned with the valve.  The wheel still needs balancing.   Remember, you're not balancing the tyre, but the wheel with a new tyre on.  Even if the new tyre is perfectly balanced, which is unlikely, the chances of the wheels being so with modern mass production techniques is very small indeed.   An out of balance wheel can cause sudden wobbles if you hit gravel or a pothole etc and can be very dangerous.  So always, always have your wheels balanced.                                                                                                                                                                             

how can you tell if your wheels are not balanced, pre before encountering potholes?                                                                                                                                                                             

At speed Julie your bike would seam to vibrate as if on a very bumpy road (don't need a lot to make a bike almost unridable)                                                                                                                                                                             

i was fine ,till i cranked it up a bit,then crouched down to fairing ,thats when i had a bit of a wobble,soon as i sat up it went,thats why i asked the ?.                                                                                                                                                                             

Well check your tyres are also at correct pressures (I've had probs from my CB750 that is normally extreemly steady as any speed I wish to go) but I had a slow puncture on the back and when it went down below a certain level speed wobble reared it's ugly head more than once!

To be honest, I'd think about changing my tyre fitter if that's the advice he's handing out. I've never bought a tyre yet that didn't need some balance adjustment after fitting.                                                                                                                                                                             

thanks all ,think i will get it balanced ,just to make sure.                                                                                                                                                                             

Hi All,

As a bike mechanic my take on this is:

Modern tyres are very uniform now days, so the actual tyre has less of a 'heavy spot' which leads to less weight being needed.  So good that Avon for example don't bother putting a valve hole alignment mark/dot on their tyres anymore.

I still balance front and back tyres.

I heard tests showed that 60grams of mis-balance is acceptable...but I ignore this and try to get down to +/- 5 grams.

Front tyres have more effect on stability than rear tyres.

In Summary If you balance both wheels your bike will be safer and your tyres will wear more uniformly as you avoid cyclic wear at the heavy spot (the tyre gets forced into the road at that point with every revolution).

                                                                                                                                                                             

When your last tyre was fitted the wheel was balanced with the tyre on. once that tyre was changed, reguardless of how uniform the weight was. the balance will have changed.                                                                                                                                                                               

Never thought about it before, Bikebill i will pm you mate for details