New Tire Woes - Help!

Ordered me a set of Conti Road Attacks from Ride Direct out of Kentucky, $237 bucks delivered to my front door. Took them to my local dealer and had them installed today and had them balanced with Dyna Beads. First new set of rubbers I've had on the bike, 5700 miles on the old Dunslops 204. My dealer uses the Dyna Beads and has for a long while with no problems. I took the bike out for the initial ride on the new rubber and had a high speed vibration from 90 to about 110 mph. Took the bike back and the dealer installed another ounce of Dyna Beads (1oz required, now have 2 ozs). Same problem at same speeds. Dealer then removed the Dyna Beads and balanced the tire on the machine and used rim weights as before. Still have the vibration at 90 to 110 mph! Dealer says it's gotta be the tire, probably defective. Well, sh---------------t!!!! Anybody experienced this? I'm open for any and all suggestions! I could hit 145mph on the old tires and they were smooth. I've now got to call customer service at Ride Direct Monday and hope they will exchange tires, what a big ass hassle. Thot I'd save a few bucks by ordering the tires on line but it ain't gonna happen this time!

 

I say take it to another place that can hand balance it.. is what I do

 

Still sounds out of balance.

 

Howdy, Never had this particular problem before,but you said you ordered a set of tires,seems to me you are only talking about one tire.You said removed the beads and balanced the tire with rim weights. So does that mean you have determined the problem to be in a specific tire or both tires? I would start with the simple checks,spin the wheels and check for any wobble or run out on both front and rear wheels and tires. On the machined part of the rear wheel and the mating flange,are both mounting surfaces
clean and burr free? Also is the front axle straight . Has the front axle been properly torqued, how about the rear lugs,did you slam them on with an impact wrench or torque them down in sequence. Also did you check for heavy spots on the tires? All these things may be exactly what you dont want to hear,because you didnt have the problen before and then you think its gotta be those f----n tires.
In my years I have been in some strange mechanical delimas,they are usually solved by going back to absolute basics and working from there. eddie

 

yes , I have had some defective tires over the years that absolutely would not balance..one set they exchanged, one set i just used for a long trip and didnt matter...could be ur problem all right.

 

Yeah, it's just in the front tire. That's where I'm getting all the vibration, up thru the handle bars. Don't feel any up thru my butt. I did torque all the bolts to specs. but I didn't check run out. I did check for looseness and wobble, I spun the wheels and just eye balled them but couldn't really tell anything was out of whack. When they static balanced the front tire they spun it by hand on a machine that gave a digital read out of the high spot/s and how much weight to use, much like the auto wheel balancers. Thanks for your inputs, it may not be the tire for all I know. I don't really think any thing is bent tho. I'm going to break all the bolts loose and re-torque tomorrow and then give a closer eye balling. It's got to be something simple. Tire manufacturers have too good of quality control to let a bad one get thru I would think.

 

Also check your head bearings, very carefully.
If head bearings, wheel bearings (F&R), axles, wheel alignment, proper wheel installation on bike, etc. all check out, then try this:

Before you go to the hassle of returning the tires (always a risk with mail-order; I use a local small FBS - support a local moto business and no return hassles...), ask your dealer to hand balance as previously mentioned, but this time have him rotate the tire on the rim 180-deg from present and re-balance.
If still not right, try 90-deg from that spot (either direction), re-balance, and re test ride; then 180-deg from that spot if necessary.
If the tire has a significant heavy spot this process will hopefully align the heavy spot with the wheel's light spot.
This worked in the old days with moto and auto tires.

If still not right, it's likely a bad tire as previously mentioned.
Probably the tread cap misaligned on the carcass (off to one side), or some other internal structural derangement with the belts - Tell Ride Direct it's defective and dangerous; I believe federal DOT law requires no cost/no hassle replacement (if they resist).

In my experience Conti tires, both moto and auto, have been of the highest quality (being German and all), and have needed very little balance weight, but every now and then a bad one can get through.

It could be as simple as a misaligned tire bead in the rim/not mounted quite right - simply pop all beads, lube 'em up good and try again.
Might just cure it.

When you re-mount your front wheel, tighten all fasteners hand-tight, let the bike down off the centerstand and bounce the front end a few times with the front wheel against a wall.
Then tighten all fasteners to spec.
This will align the fork sliders, axle, stanchions etc - the whole front end.

FWIW - All 4 of the Shinko tires I've used in the past year (006's & currently 009's) have needed not more than 1/4 oz per wheel, in fact my current Front 009 on the VFR has ZERO balance weight, and has been just fine up to 120ish.

 

Thanx Rat, good info. I live approx. 40 miles from the dealer. I'd have to go back up there next Saturday and try and get them to rotate and rebalance as you suggested. That would be a real hassle cause I would have to wait on a mechanic to become available each time I came back in for a rotation rebalance and Saturdays are a mad house at this dealers store. Another possibility would be to use a vacation day from work and go up there during the week when their not so busy. I don't know, just frustrated as hell with the whole ordeal. I mean, damn, a gazillion tires made and installed on motorcycles every day and I have to screw the pooch!

 

old skool balance in order... them dynabeads be snake oil.

If they cant get them close with 1 oz (or less) roatate the tire 90, 180 degrees on the rim...

 

I do believe your on to something! I thot them dyna beads would be the way to go for wheel balancing but apparently not in all cases!:crazy:

 

I buy my motorcycle tires (among certain other things) only through my local Honda dealership (Ohio Motorcycle - BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Suzuki, Triumph, Yamaha in Ohio.), which is thankfully only 12 miles from my home. If there's a problem with anything I purchase through this dealership, they'll promptly and happily either replace it or refund my money, whichever I choose.

At any rate, the dealer handles any headaches, and they take very good care of me, since I've built a strong relationship with them over many years, and I'm a loyal and preferred customer who enjoys a 10% discount. We're all on a first name basis; I know them, and more importantly, they know me very, very well.

I've long been a strong believer in supporting and doing business with honest, high quality, local bricks-and-mortar businesses whenever possible. I like being able to do face-to-face business with local businesses and people with integrity who I can come to know and trust. It's good for the local economy; it's good for establishing solid and trusting relationships between customers and retailers; it creates personalized and responsive customer care, and it's good for the soul. There's really no substitute for this kind of personalized business relationship.

I shop online when I have to, but one important downside of shopping online is that it has been putting more and more bricks-and-mortar, locally owned and run, Mom-and-Pop establishments out of business. (This issue is all the more important in light of our sinking economy and skyrocketing unemployment, as American jobs go overseas.) The same is true for doing business with multi-national, Nazi-run, radical rightwing driven, fundamentalist Christian mega-conglomerates such as WalWart.

When I need a new set of motorcycle tires (as but one example), I would never dream of buying them online, or at WalWart for that matter. Why should I? I have my local Honda dealership who is like family.

Let's say that a new set of Muchelin Road Pilot 2CT's can be purchased through an online retailer for $75.00 less than what my local dealership quotes me. Not infrequently, this amounts to false economy.

Wow, what a deal! Yeah, right. If there's a problem after I receive the shipped items from an online retailer, I must first contact the online dealer either directly by phone... or worse, only via email. If and when I can finally get a response (maybe even get to talk with a human being!), I may very well have to tell the same story to many people before they decide whether or not I might have a valid claim.

["So, Mr. Kat, did you install the tires yourself? Oh, a dealer installed them, that's good. Now, you mentioned that they used something...what did you say, 'Dino Beets'? Oh, I'm sorry, they're called 'Dyna Beads'? How many miles did you ride our tires before you felt there was a problem? OK. Hmmm, I'm very sorry, can you hold a moment, I'll be right back......... OK, Mr. Kat, I've checked with one of our technicians, and he said that your use of 'Dino Beets'... sorry, I meant to say 'Dyno Bleeps'...anyway, the tech says that this isn't a product that we recommend or endorse, and therefore it voids any claims you may have... plus you've rode them, so we no longer consider them 'new'. I'm very sorry sir... Is there anything else I can help you with today? Sir, you shouldn't use that kind of language... Thank you for shopping at TyreYourLuck.com. Have a wonderful day! ]

Then, if the online retailer determines that I have a valid claim, I will be issued a Return Authorization #, which must be included in the return shipment. I may well have to pay return shipping costs, including shipping insurance. It's also my hassle, my time, and my responsibilty to safely and properly pack up the merchandise, then take it to a local shipping outlet, etc. during my lunch hour, instead of just eating my lunch undisturbed. Moreover, I will often be subject to an exorbitant "restocking" fee, and of course I must keep track of any tracking numbers, etc., while I periodically check my credit card account to see if in fact I ever get any portion of the refund I was quoted. Gee, sounds like a lot of fun, huh?

On the other hand, I could've just bought the tires through my local dealership at a bit higher cost. They would then install the tires, and if there are any subsequent problems, the dealer takes care of this, and they solve the problem to my satisfaction.

I agree with the others here, who suspect that the most likely explanation is that the tire(s) are defective. Get thee Michelins.

 

I have had some tires that mount up (with the red dots on the valve) with zero weights, and others (same brand/size) that use 1/4 oz or so, and others that had to be spun 180 degrees and required zero weights... a traditional balancing by someone who knows what they are doing is prob in order.

 

i would find another shop if your tire is defective any good shop would immediately be able to tell you that once they tried to balance tire.

 

I have to admit, this is the most intricate ass chewing I've ever had. A lot of points well taken! Your right, had I gone thru my local dealership this problem would more than likely be resolved by now. Once this issue is over I'll always go thru the dealer, I've learned my lesson.

 

LOL had a feeling this may be the case here. Hmm, ok so I'm slow to the know here, after I went and checked on them Dyna beads LOL or what ever one calls em. I'd never use something that makes a claim as they do. I've used something similar for autos and never like the results, only thing that needs to be in a tire is Air. So that said take em off and if it's not to late to get those Dyna beads out. I'd balance them up the true and proven way, get the weights that clip on the center of the rim. Just my 2 cents worth, good luck.

 

Matter of fact I did just that today, took the tires to a different dealer and had the fricking beads removed and the tires balanced the conventional way. All is still not well tho. I still have vibration, although not near as bad, at higher speeds of 90+, and as the bike is decelerating from the higher speeds I'm getting a shimmy/vibration. So I guess the tires may have a defect, I've checked everything else. The rear tire did require a lot of weight to balance and I don't like that. Dealer said tires of lesser quality usually require more weight. I got the Conti's Road Attacks and was unaware they were of lesser quality. This whole ordeal is so frustrating, now I'm considering sending these back and getting a set from my dealer and not a discount warehouse on line!