Dyna Beads Alternative?

[Motech]

I have run many motorbike tires unbalanced and can only detect a difference with severely unbalanced tires. Modern tires are very true these days, and if your wheel is just as true, balance weight is almost irrelevant for street use. Voodoo beads ain't gonna change that one iota.

I'm not condoning running unbalanced wheels, especially when static or dynamic balancing is generally included with the price of mounting. Just sayin'...

 

[Lunch Box]

I have used the dynabeads a number of times and the science behind them makes sense (to a point). Sure, they will re-distribute until the ride is smooth, hence the "dynamic re-balancing" claims. If I were riding at a constant pace on a smooth freeway it would be no problem. The failure comes under hard acceleration or braking, at which point all bets are off.

Of course, it is almost impossible to notice the effects on an unbalanced tire under hard braking/accel, as there are other forces, noises, etc. distracting the rider. Once back on a relatively smooth surface in "cruise" mode, they re-balance and feel like they're working well.

The true test comes in tire wear. I know, based on how my tires wear with the beads, versus without the beads, that they are not working as well as a wheel that has been balanced with fixed-position weights. I've gone through a total of 4 BT-023 on the rear of my SD. Twice I have used dyna beads, and twice I had them balanced by a professional. The two with wheel weights lasted an average of 4100 miles and the two with dynabeads lasted an average of 3600 miles. I can't guarantee that replacement was performed with the exact same amount of tread left, of course, but I would wager that it was within 1mm, as I am good about changing out my tires when about half of the wearbar is left. I should have taken more pictures, but the difference in wear is noticeable. The riding with each tire was similar, but there are some seasonal differences. It's difficult to eliminate all of the other variables, but the evidence is pointing towards the beads being inferior to wheel weights.

Again, this is not really data, but it is strong anectodal evidence that dynabeads are inferior. I would wager that they are effective in ideal conditions (i.e. steady speed on a flat surface) but that's not what real-world riding is about.

 

[Z3n]

I have run many motorbike tires unbalanced and can only detect a difference with severely unbalanced tires. Modern tires are very true these days, and if your wheel is just as true, balance weight is almost irrelevant for street use. Voodoo beads ain't gonna change that one iota.

I'm not condoning running unbalanced wheels, especially when static or dynamic balancing is generally included with the price of mounting. Just sayin'...

Same. I've probably changed and run 3 dozen tires in the last few years across a ~20 different bikes, and I have never had a problem with balancing. On dirtbike tires run at high speed (70+mph), I have seen issues, rarely (typically weights needed opposite the rimlock, haven't seen the problem on rims without rimlocks).

This includes street tires on street bikes, my GSX-R 600 racebike, my SV650 racebike, a bunch of supermotos, dirtbikes, and whoever else has passed through my garage and needed a tire change.

I'm also not entirely sure how the dyna beads are supposed to "distribute themselves evenly" in the tires. If the interior surface is relatively uniform, how are the beads in the center going to magically distribute themselves to the light spot in the rims? If they were serious about proving this, there would be an easy demo...chop a rim in half with a tire on it, dump a bunch of dynabeads into it, and then allow customers to add and remove weights to show how it counteracts the additional weight.

Of course, they'll never do that, because their beads don't do a damn thing.

The other thing is that your tires, over time, lose enough rubber to go out of balance on their own. You run a tire for 25-50% of it's life and toss it back on the balancer and you'll find it's out of balance anyways.

Shrug.

 

[JO EBRMC]

Despite a complete lack of any actual evidence that they work, I've yet to see a single person who believes the marketing hype actually decide not to use these things.

 

[Valgar]

I think it would be awesome to put a bunch of little jingle bells in the tires. Just for that christmas spirit!

 

[Z3n]

I think it would be awesome to put a bunch of little jingle bells in the tires. Just for that christmas spirit!

Bonus: Turns the Panigale back into a real ducati.

 

[afm199]

Doing the tire change myself to save 50 bucks.

A little research on Dyna beads will show they do in fact work. Physics or something

I did some more research and it seems like some people are using airsoft pellets. Might just give those a try.

 

[VP1]

^

What was your experience with dyna beads?

 

[afm199]

^

What was your experience with dyna beads?

You ever stop to think about what happens to those BBs at speed when you suddenly turn? The dynabeads were designed for slow big long distance truck tires and seem to work for them. Every time you sudden brake, accel or change direction on a motorycle ( which happens with several times the delta that a big truck creates) the beads shift around. Frankly I'd rather run my tires unbalanced. NOBODY uses that shit on the track, and for a good reason. It's insane.

 

[SuperMike]

ok, "the list"

1) countersteering
2) oil type/weight
3) harley's
4) dyna beads
5) high beams all the time

surely i've missed a couple

6) sprockets!!!!!

 

[VP1]

You ever stop to think about what happens to those BBs at speed when you suddenly turn? The dynabeads were designed for slow big long distance truck tires and seem to work for them. Every time you sudden brake, accel or change direction on a motorycle ( which happens with several times the delta that a big truck creates) the beads shift around. Frankly I'd rather run my tires unbalanced. NOBODY uses that shit on the track, and for a good reason. It's insane.

So then you've never used them..

Are you sure the beads shift around? I personally think the centrifugal force would hold them in place.

Again, I don't know. Which I why I was looking for advice from people who have actually used them and have first hand results, not mere speculation.

They're going in a 1980 GS1100E, my daily commuter which sees no track time and unfortunately not much time in the twisties anymore either.

Either way, I'll be sure let you all know how it goes. Honestly, the big bike shakes so much either way I somewhat doubt my ability to distinguish a slightly out of balance tire from bumps in the road from a shaky 30yr old motor...

Appreciate all of the responses, results to come

 

[Z3n]

The only real way to test is to have someone add them at some random point in the future.

Confirmation bias is a bitch.

 

[JO EBRMC]

The only real way to test is to have someone add them at some random point in the future.

Confirmation bias is a bitch.

+1


Testing them out is almost certainly going to tell you absolutely nothing about whether they work or not and a lack of definitive feedback will just convince you that whatever you believed going in was true.

 

[High-Side]

I'd be worried that they were wearing out the inside of my tires as they spin around.

 

[stangmx13]

i installed them for a customer a few years back. his tires were wearing terribly because the balance was soo bad and the beads actually made his ride smoother when cruising.

oh, i forgot to mention... his truck ran huge 40" bias-ply mudders and they werent exactly airsoft beads

....

Again, I don't know. Which I why I was looking for advice from people who have actually used them and have first hand results, not mere speculation.

They're going in a 1980 GS1100E, my daily commuter which sees no track time and unfortunately not much time in the twisties anymore either.

Either way, I'll be sure let you all know how it goes. Honestly, the big bike shakes so much either way I somewhat doubt my ability to distinguish a slightly out of balance tire from bumps in the road from a shaky 30yr old motor...

without performing a blind study of sorts, all user experiences are just speculation including yours. at least u already know that it wont make the slightest difference.

 

[KTMKen]

Oh wait, what was the question?

Really....that took way longer than I expected to come up as a reply...

 

[mototireguy]

Dyna-beads and fresh squeezed kool-aid?

 

[ALANRIDER7]

I have run many motorbike tires unbalanced and can only detect a difference with severely unbalanced tires. Modern tires are very true these days, and if your wheel is just as true, balance weight is almost irrelevant for street use. Voodoo beads ain't gonna change that one iota.

I'm not condoning running unbalanced wheels, especially when static or dynamic balancing is generally included with the price of mounting. Just sayin'...

1 in 20 tires that I balance do not require balancing weights. The typical tire needs about 7 to 14 grams to get it perfect.

 

[Z3n]

How many grams do they require to rebalanced once they're at 50% life?

 

[auntiebling]

Been using Dyna Beads in my touring ST3 and one of the race bikes.....

NOBODY uses that shit on the track, and for a good reason..

except for that guy nikon.. but

anyway, i'm going to effing quote myself from an ancient thread

search is your friend

voodoo 1

voodoo 2

i've read of these on car, truck, and motorcycle forums. the theme i see is that those that have tried them are happy, those that have not condemn them as bullshit, and neither side has a conclusive scientifically sound argument including the manufacturer. one thing everyone agrees on is that they're not for any kind of racing application or environment that mimics racing i.e. spirited weekend rides.

in that second link, this quote can be found

The following is an email from the guy who owns the company - responding to our thread. I took the liberty of bolding the part that affects we barfers most.

Hi Frank,
I looked at the forum threads, and there's nothing there that brings anything but a smile to my ugly puss. I still get guys who think this is some kind of "snake oil". If it was, I wouldn't have thousands of satisfied cutomers.
My friend and his Harley Softail just returned recently from Sturgis. He couldn't believe the ride with the Dyna Beads. he even let some others ride it so they could see for themselves, and the others couldn't believe it either.
A couple of cautionary notes, as with any product. We don't recommend this for racing. Racing to us means blazing acceleration, motocross, flattrack, etc. This product is for road bikes only, and bikes driven under normal conditions. I have not tested the product with a crotch-rocket under extreme acceleration, but I would expect it to cause problems, primarily because the beads take a few seconds to find the counterbalance point, which may not be fast enough under brutal acceleration.

Second, Dyna Beads requires a suspension for each tire it's used in. It will not work in Harley Hard Tails (rear wheel), or any wheel that does not have a sprung suspension.
As for the others, we have a lot of bike customers, and we're getting more all the time. There may be someone out there who didn't like them for bikes, but in truth, not one single email has appeared that said anything negative. We've found that most people won't tell you when things are going as they expect, but they damn sure will let you know when they're not happy.

He goes on to mention the benefits of Nitrogen, and provides the link below:

http://www.nitrogendirect.com

Pretty nice guy. His office called me right away in response to my email...all in all, nice people. Again, the proof in is the tire. I should get 'em in the mail next week and throw 'em in my 'Wing for a test.

that's from the owner of the effing company. don't race with them in your tires. interestingly, their current FAQ says you can. WTF doublespeak?

nowthen, i did try to look on their website, it used to contain similar verbage but i got bored beating this dead horse. again. if you have a cruiser and aren't close enough to santa clara cycle to get you tires installed and balanced for free (you have to remove from bike) then use them. otherwise a bare bones static balancer can be created quite simply.

also, op, whoever is charging you $50 to install tires is raping you without lube

here, look at this thread. our very own karbon shows how to change tires with irons and then balance your own shit. kapow!