Lightweight rimlocks??

I came across these in the Dennis Kirk catalog and elsewhere:

http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/produ ... lyId=26096

One of the things I have noticed on my 570 is that on pavement, at about 45 to 50 MPH and above, the bike has a lot of vibration. I assume most of this is coming from the front tire/wheel. The rear has a Tubliss with a Pirelli MT43 trials tire which smoothed the bike a little on pavement, but the vibration remains and it seems to mostly come from the front. The vibration seems to oscillate and increase in frequency and amplitude as the speed increases.

Not particularly surprising, but it would be nicer if it was decreased. I know it is hard to balance knobbies and keep them in balance - it may just be an exercise in futility - but I was thinking that probably a good portion of the vibration comes from the rim lock too. The rim lock is the standard rubber covered aluminum.

Has anyone used these lightweight rim locks? Do they help with vibration? How about using two - one opposite the other?

Thanks.

or you could just use 2 normal rim lock opposite each other.

only offroad bike i've even seen with a balanced front wheel was one that had a massive oversized front disc fitted.

the rider had fitted it as his sponsor had given it him as a joke & he thought he'd try it out all the sale.

I've never seen an off road bike that could stop so quickly if the front tyre had enough grip!

without the balancing the bike was pulling to the left due to the weight of the disc.

anyway back to subject, what do big trail bike like the xt660, xr650 etc use to balance the front wheels? might be worth looking into before trying to reinvent something

cypher said:

or you could just use 2 normal rim lock opposite each other.

Click to expand...

I think the lightweight rim locks would be easier to balance - something that weighs 2 ounces is better/easier to balance than something that weighs 4 ounces.

anyway back to subject, what do big trail bike like the xt660, xr650 etc use to balance the front wheels? might be worth looking into before trying to reinvent something

Click to expand...

A lot of dual sports don't have rim locks. From what I have read where people have tried to address this problem, rim locks are big factor in whether a wheel can be balanced or not.

I am not looking to balance the wheel perfectly - just enough to remove the major portion of the vibration.

2 stock ones works

i think the front berg and ktm rimlock is only 50gms that plastic one looks crap and 30gms

the 160 RWHP hayabusa in my gallery uses 8 stainless steel self tappers through the rim, can be used with a tube if the screws are ground blunt, holes drilled in the tyre and loctite 403 used to retain them, not easy but balance is perfect and rimlocks just don't cut it with 19 paddles and all the grunt.

FWIW 50 gms lead isn't very big you can make up a weight and attach it to a spoke or buy a proper one, you will probably find that it needs to be somewhere other than directly opposite the current rimlock.

I bought a set of the motion pro light weight locks. They are not noticeably lighter than stock. I was rather disappointed. I didn't weigh them to see what the difference is, but I could not feel much if any.

The claim is that a 'lite' 2.15" rim lock weighs 1.5 ounces/42.5 grams

The rubber covered aluminum rim locks like what was in my rear tire as it came from the dealer weigh (according to online catalogs) 4 ounces/115 grams.

that must be the rear one, the front is either 50 or 70gm I can't remember which

I think I can weigh the fronts and compare them.... I don't have a spare rear. maybe the next time I change tires.

From over on the sportbike forum. Much discussion about DYNA-BEADS. Please dont start a discussion on this as its been beat up and up over there--- BUT-- if you are tubeless and have rimlocks on a knobby It could work! Some body should try it and report back.

http://wingstuff.com/pgroup_detail.php?pgroupid=27738

I always have my wheels balanced as I have to do a fair bit of time on the road to get to trails and then to join trails together. I just take them in to our local tyre place (Micheldever Tyre) and the guy there does them with standard stick-on weights. I really didn't think they'd stay on but I've never had one come off yet. Apparently they can't get spoke weights that are big enough to go over the spoke nuts so stick-on is the only option. It does mean adding quite a few weights and he always tells me he can't get it perfectly balanced as they start spreading out away from the point where they need to be, but TBH it's so close to balanced that I can't feel any vibration from the wheels at all, even at high road speeds. Once it's been done on new wheels I never get it redone after changing tyres and it's always been fine.

CodeMonkey said:

I came across these in the Dennis Kirk catalog and elsewhere:

http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/produ ... lyId=26096

One of the things I have noticed on my 570 is that on pavement, at about 45 to 50 MPH and above, the bike has a lot of vibration. I assume most of this is coming from the front tire/wheel. The rear has a Tubliss with a Pirelli MT43 trials tire which smoothed the bike a little on pavement, but the vibration remains and it seems to mostly come from the front. The vibration seems to oscillate and increase in frequency and amplitude as the speed increases.

Not particularly surprising, but it would be nicer if it was decreased. I know it is hard to balance knobbies and keep them in balance - it may just be an exercise in futility - but I was thinking that probably a good portion of the vibration comes from the rim lock too. The rim lock is the standard rubber covered aluminum.

Has anyone used these lightweight rim locks? Do they help with vibration? How about using two - one opposite the other?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

The first thing you need to do is to move the front rim lock to 180 degrees out from the valve stem. Why they would put the rim lock virtually next to the valve stem is ********. This will solve a good portion of your un balance problem straight away.

The next thing you need to do is take notice of a little painted circle on your tire, all tires come with them, and are meant to be mounted directly in line with the valve stem. Car tires are the same.

Out back, get another stock rim lock and mount it 180 degrees out from the stocker, keeping in mind to put the little circle where the valve core is.

Then take your wheels down to the local tire shop that does bike tires and have them balanced. DONE.

I bought a new a GPZ1100 B2 many years ago and it was the first bike I'd had with tubless tyres. I changed the front one once after hours of torture, I decided never again. Finally sorting it at a mate's workshop who also had an on vehicle balancer, an electric motor and drum that spun the whole wheel and brake assembly on the vehicle, and designed for cars. With the bike strapped down on the centre stand, the wheel spinning and the speedo indicating 130 km/hr, to my amazement and consternation the front axle, and wheel, was oscillating back and forward about 12-15 mm due to the imbalance. Fork flex on my 230kph + road bike! Can you visualise that? A 1/4 oz weight fixed it (7 grams)! 8O 8O

I like my wheels balanced, but I also like my rim locks near the valve stems because it simplifies tyre changes. I have an old swing arm cut and welded into a stand with some low friction bearings attached and an old axle that I use to static balance the wheels using stick on weights. The centrifuge action seems to keep them stuck on OK as long as you prepare the surface of the rim to stick them to properly. You can definitely feel that the bike is smoother to ride with balanced wheels. I expect less wear and tear on moving parts too, although I can't/haven't measured it, ie, wheel bearings and suspension bushes, and maybe head bearings too.

Steve

I bought these for my other bike but havn't tested them yet:

http://www.terra-x.com.au/page/balance_weights.html

The next thing you need to do is take notice of a little painted circle on your tire, all tires come with them, and are meant to be mounted directly in line with the valve stem. Car tires are the same.

Out back, get another stock rim lock and mount it 180 degrees out from the stocker, keeping in mind to put the little circle where the valve core is.

Then take your wheels down to the local tire shop that does bike tires and have them balanced.

Click to expand...

Note that 'the little circle' on (some) tires is the light spot, and therefore should be placed at the heaviest spot on the wheel which is generally adjacent (next to) to the single rim lock.

Good advice on wheel balancing. All wheels, both front and rear, need balancing.

Delete.