An aggressive riders opinion on Dyna Beads. Survey says...?

...they suck. I had tires mounted yesterday (Metzler M3's) and, for the first time, Dyna Beads were used to balance. It probably starts earlier, but at 105mph there is an obvious and quite strong vibration at the front. By 110mph the vibration was strong enough as to feel dangerously out of balance. I wasn't comfortable going any faster than that, so nothing to report beyond 110mph. Another member here, who I often ride with, experienced identical front-end behavior after using beads on his 6 gen, only his problems began at 80mph.

I have read the mixed reviews posted in other threads and can't seem to find a solution as to why this happens to some bikes and not others. All of the existing weights had been removed, so that isn't the culprit. It may not matter as to why; I'll never use them again. In fact, I'll be asking for a refund of the installation price so that I can take the bike to an alternative tuner and have the tire re-installed using more traditional weights.

Bottom line: I wouldn't recommend Dyna Beads to anyone. The fact that there is even a modicum of balancing failures, let alone what appears to be a 30%-40% failure rate by members on this site, suggests that they're not worth your time.

 

Someone who swears by them will probably tell you you have (a) too much, (b) too little, (c) wrong size, so it isn't the fault of the DynaBeads. To me the explanation of how they are supposed to work always sounded like faux science.

Nice to hear from someone who has given them a real tryout with no preconceived notions going into it.

 

I have used Dynabeads for my 2002 CBR954 with stellar results. I have hit 150mph at Nashville Super Speedway and it's as smooth as glass. I have had these results with two sets of PP 2CT's and one set of Dunlop Q2's.

I tried them on my 1998 VFR and the front had a lot of vibration. My problems started at about 80mph as well. Even with two ounces of beads in the front tire the results were very poor. The recommendation is to use 1 oz. in the front and 2 oz. in the rear. Then I had the front tire removed, the beads emptied from the tire, the tire remounted and balanced with lead weights. It took 1 3/4 oz. of weight to balance the tire/wheel combination. The vibration is gone and the bike rolls very smooth now. I did not touch the rear wheel. The rear still has 2 oz. of Dynabeads in it.

I have no concrete proof, but I suspect that if the front wheel on my VFR just isn't very well balanced from the factory.

The guy that changes my tires does both front and back for $30 including balancing and old tire disposal. He is very careful with my rims and uses a No-Mar tire changer. I will continue to use him. I am not sure the Dynabeads are worth messing with for what this guy charges.

So, my results are mixed. Good with the CBR, bad with the front on the VFR.

I will say that both sets of PP 2CT's on the CBR wore very, very evenly.

 

Just like Scientology. Snake oil

 

I'm the other rider Havcar mentioned in his original post. After seeing two Gen 6's develop severe shaking issues after having new tires installed with Dynabeads, I would steer any Gen 6 owners away from using them. I know that everyone has different experiences but our situations are too similar to disregard.

I had a new set of Michelin Road 2s installed a while back with the Dynabeads. My shake started at 78mph and got worse the faster I went. Getting up into the mid-90s it was downright unsafe-feeling, especially leaned over at those speeds. I took the bike back to the shop thinking that maybe my chain was adjusted incorrectly after reading some headshake posts in this forum. That wasn't the issue. They put more Dynabeads in but that just caused the problem to start at a higher speed (about 81 mph).

My experience is very similar to Deadsmiley as well. They work just fine in my Speed Triple up to 115 (haven't had it higher than that lately). In the VFR - not good at all and could have caused fatal injuries at those speeds to be honest.

Just another data point if you're on the fence about using this product.

EDIT:

I forgot to mention. As an outcome of the shake issue, both front and rear tires ended up with severe cupping patterns. This cut the life very short on those Road 2s. I keep a close eye on tire pressures (checking and correcting it before almost every ride). I run 36F/42R as recommended in the manual which has always worked well for me for both grip and tire life.

 

Since I have yet to see their logo pasted all over the side of racebikes I think I'll pass. I dont know what they claim but I assume centrifugal force is the operator in supposedly making these things sort of work. Since there are no doubt variations in both the internal structures of tires and wheels, I can forsee many problems with something that uses centrifugal force to magically distribute itself inside a highly dynamic environment like that which exists in a bike tire. And bike only has two wheels, you better get it right, there's no covering it up if it is not. I suppose if you had a perfectly smooth internal environment between the inside of a tire and a wheel, everything would work theoretically, if the road and the lateral loads when leaned and deformation of the tire when braking were thrown out the window. Seems much more precise to stake a weight where needed on the wheel and proceed from there.

Im very close to agreeing with Beta, proof positive that facts and physics outweigh everything else.

 

I have dynabeads in my front and rear right now. No choice, the only open shop in Atlanta in the middle of one of my weekend trips only used dynabeads.

I can feel them vibrating at as little as 60mph (100km/h) and when I go faster, I can feel the difference in both vibrations go in and out of sync. At 100+mph, it gets quite disturbing.

Never, never again. (un)fortunately, I'm too cheap to do anything about it until I burn off this rubber (PR2's), which should hopefully be within the next few rides.

 

serious?

Do you guys believe in the tooth fairy too? Sheesh. These things can't possibly work. I bet the penis enlargement pills have a better chance of balancing your tires.

brian

 

Thank you for your insight. I certainly feel more informed now. Thumbs up!

 

Thank you, sadrik! I also found it very informative.

 

I have them in my 99 and haven't noticed any vibes at speeds up to about 115. Course I stepped up from an old parallel twin kawi that was full of vibrations. A buddy of mine has my VFR for the week while his '96 VFR750 is out of commission. I'll have to ask him if he noticed anything.

 

I've had very mixed results. I mount my own tires with an automotive machine but have never set up an apparatus for balancing (not that I would likely have the patience anyway).
I had great results on the first two pairs of tires mounted to the VFR (Pirelli Diablo and Pirelli Corsas), A pair of Avons and a pair of Dunlops on the Wing, Michelins on GSX-R, Bridgestones and Pirellis on R1, all these bikes are ridden fast and hard. The Pirelli Angels I now have on the VFR give a significant headshake beginning at 90MPH. I have to agree that any instance of bead induced imbalance is an instance too many. Back to tried and true weight balancing for me next time.

 

Motorcycle consumer News did a study/experiment last year in their mag (that does not take advertizing) and said they DO NOT WORK/don't use them.

 

BadBilly swears by those enlargement pills, however, I believe he has overdosed on them, which may explain his behavior on this forum.

I was thinking, if those things really work, why stop there, you could just fill your tire with that expanding foam shit people put in holes in the walls and never have to worry about flats again.

 

From this latest sermon we learn that those with nonfunctional or atrophied equipment should behave in accordance with the precepts of our newly annointed keeper of the flame.

One might also conclude that a hole in a given wall is relative to the size of the object used to make the hole.

Eheu, Ursu dubitat qui ipse sit!

 

I used them with my Continental Road Attacks. They worked fine. The only negative I had with them is they made a mess when I de-mounted the tires. However, stick on weights are 10X easier to use so that's what I use now & don't have any reason not too.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

To bead or not to bead

Is / was there any moisture inside the tire ? aka soap, WD, slime, any kind of sticky goo will cause the beads to stick & clump and cause a whacked out vibe .

cheers

 

wow- I hope they work for the VFR. I've been using them for ~ 3 years now in my Ninja 650R tires, but now I have a VFR and ready for the first tire change. I have already ordered/received new beads and plan to use them. Of course, I don't ever go fast enough to have a problem I guess. :smile: Anyway - I plan to use them for the first time on the VFR this week, so I should know if they still work for a VFR by next weekend as I'm planning a long trip.

Actually - having said that - in my videos taken on the Ninja, I do notice that I get a vibration above 75mph, so you're probably right. I just rarely go faster than that - so I can't really confirm anything regarding beads. It is EASY though - so that's why I used them. I always used 2 oz in the rear and 1 oz in the front. Not sure if that matters though.

Hmmmm? I wonder if the centrifugal force at the higher speeds prevent the beads from moving at all, thus causing the vibration. Would MORE beads help at the higher speeds, or just cause more lumping? Anyone have a guess on that one?

 

Parker, if you don't go over 75 than you probably won't notice the issue. I don't usually ride much under 75 so it's a whole other story...and I still can't keep up with Havcar lol!

 

lol - somehow I thought I was missing out on something there. You guys ride safe. I'm 61 yo, so I guess that explains the speed thing.

I guess I gotta take it outta 3rd gear one of these days. :biggrin: