Balancing Motorcycle Tires With Beads: Easy Beginner’s Guide


Balance your motorcycle tires with beads, well worth the small investment for your motorcycle.

I’m always looking for ways to make my motorcycle run smoother and quieter and I’ve been hearing about Dyna beads as a way to balancing motorcycle tires with beads. I always wondered if they really worked so when I recently had a new set of tires fitted to my bike I decided to give Dyna beads a try and you know what? My bike has never run smoother.

What Are The Best Tire Balancing Beads?

Dyna beads available from AmazonOpens in a new tab. are different than a lot of powders or granules that claim to do the same thing, these are extremely hard ceramic beads that roll on the inside of the tire.

They roll smoothly so they don’t wear down the rubber and you don’t get the rubber dust that you might get with other products.

These beads work on everything, not just motorcycles. Just about anything with a tire, trailers, trucks, cars, RVs off-road vehicles all can use Dyna beads and they have different products to fit a variety of different applications.

You may be wondering exactly how do these things work. When your tire is stopped they’re sitting at the bottom of the tire but as the wheel begins to spin centrifugal force distributes the beads around the inside of the tire so they compensating for any heavy spots on the tire.

This means your tires are always in perfect balance as you’re moving and that can only mean one thing, less tire wear a smoother ride and on a bike like mine, it even helped with that 40 miles an hour wobble.

Tire Balancing Beads vs Weights

So you’re driving along and all of a sudden you feel one of the worst feelings you can experience on your bike, yes it’s the dreaded wobble.

That harsh vibration from your tires that tells you immediately something is definitely wrong, many times the culprit is an unbalanced wheel that’s causing all the commotion.

When you purchase a new tire for your motorcycle part of the assembly process is to balance your newly mounted tires. Correct balancing is essential for a smooth ride, and there are different options that are used to achieve this.

Let’s take a look at the two most popular methods of balancing and find out what you need to know to choose the best option for your bike.

Most of the balancing done when you purchase a new tire will be done with metal weights. These weights are different sizes depending on how much each one weighs and is attached to the wheel rim.

A computerized balancer senses the amount of weight needed and the weights are then applied, these weights are popular because they are inexpensive reliable and can be removed if new ones need to be applied.

Weights will take care of any issues you may have but depending on your situation you may want the option of balance bead.

Balance beads available from AmazonOpens in a new tab. are made of either steel, ceramic or a ceramic compound and are actually inserted into the tire during the mounting process. Once inside the moving tire will start to distribute around the inside through centrifugal force and achieve a balanced ride, the important question is which method is best for your bike?

Most tire shops will use weights unless you specify otherwise but there are some cases where balance beads may be better. It really depends on your preference but here are some tips to help you decide

Some bike owners with large tires prefer balance beads, especially if there’s an aggressive tread present. Larger tires are a better fit for balance beads because they have more room to disperse.

If large tires have to be rotated there’s a greater chance you have to rebalance if you have weights, with balance beads, there are no worries.

When off-roading weights can be knocked off when going over rough terrain and climbing around rocks, in this case, balance beads may be a better option.

Sometimes different bikes will have large brake calipers that may cause the weights to be knocked off due to lack of room between the caliper and wheel, balance beads can certainly solve the problem of oversized calipers.

Finally, you may prefer balance beads simply because you want an extremely clean look and you don’t want weights showing on the back of the wheel. With beads, you will never have to worry about the dreaded wobble ever again.

How To Install Tire Balancing Beads

The method you use to install Dyna beads will depend on whether your vehicle has a straight valve stem, a 90-degree valve stem or whether you have a tire pressure monitoring system installed. The direct new tire installation method will work regardless of your valve stems and tire pressure monitoring, the direct method is how I installed Dyna beadsOpens in a new tab. on my bike.

Basically, you just dump the Dynabeads into the tire using a 2-ounce bag in each tire, on my bike I used 2 ounces but yours may take a different amount.

Once the tires are mounted to the rim you need to make sure the valve stem is at the 12 o’clock position before putting the air in, which makes sure the beads are down at the bottom of the tire.

If you have straight valve stems and no tire pressure monitoring you can install Dyna beads using a small plastic bottle that’s provided by Dyna beads and it’s really pretty simple, it just takes a little time.

You start by removing the valve core using the tool provided. Unscrew it counterclockwise being careful not to let the valve core go shooting across the room.

It’s under pressure so make sure you hold your finger over the valve stem and the core and then carefully remove the valve skin and let all the air out of the tire.

Next press the clear rubber tube over the valve stem very firmly, push it on really tight. Cut the corner off the bag of Dyna beads and pour them into the plastic bottle. The key to using this method is to go very slowly, just slowly tap a few beads at a time and you’ll see they’ll go down into the valve stem.

However, if you get a little too aggressive they’ll begin to clump up and they’ll start stacking up on top of the valve stem you so you may need to tap the valve stem with your finger or with a tool to vibrate it.

To get it to go down some people use an electric engraver tool that vibrates, you can hold it on the valve stem and the vibration will help those beads to go down inside the tire. Once you have all the beads in you can reinstall the valve core and air up the tire.

If you have access to an air compressor there’s a little trick that makes the bottle method faster and it also works better if you have 90-degree valve stems. You pour the beads into the tube just as you did before but now you want to insert your air nozzle into the other end of the tube.

Carefully tap lightly adding air pressure, this will blow those beads down through the valve stem and into the tire, you want to be very careful and make sure you don’t just pull that nozzle out of that tube otherwise the air pressure is going to blow those beads back up all over your garage floor.

A very quick and efficient way to install Dyna beads is by using the Dynojet installer from innovative balancing. This is a specialty tool that is designed specifically for this purpose and works with all the standard size beads.

You can install up to three ounces of beads at a time, you just unscrew the lid, dump the beads in, put the lid back on and connect the clear rubber hose that comes with the system. It will regulate the air pressure so that these beads just into the tire.

PLEASE NOTE: Dyna beads available from AmazonOpens in a new tab. are not recommended for use on any tire with an aspect ratio of 65 or below (low profile) unless used in conjunction with wheel weights.

MotorcycleGear

Keith Mallinson has been a motorcycle enthusiast for the past 20 years. He has owned a variety of bikes during this time, ranging from sport bikes to cruisers. Keith has a passion for all things motorcycle related, including riding, maintaining, and customizing his bikes.In addition to his personal experience with motorcycles, Keith has also kept up to date with industry news and trends. He enjoys sharing his knowledge and insights with others through his motorcycle blog.When he's not out on the open road, Keith can be found tinkering in his garage, planning his next road trip, or spending time with his family.