high speed motorcycle wheel / tire balancing?

[tylerm]

Hello, I am curious if anyone has information or a source on having motorcycle wheels high-speed balanced. In my mind I am thinking I would ship both wheels, with tires mounted, sprocket and rotor carriers, etc (the whole assembly) to the proper shop to get balanced.

Thanks for any input or resources you can provide!

Tyler Malinky
NE Ohio

[mtiberio]

how high a speed? 250, 350, more?

[donpearsall]

You don't say where you are going to do your high speed racing as that makes a difference. At Bonneville (and to some extent El Mirage) you can start with a perfect balance and by the end of the run the wheel and tire will have collected a ton of salt (or dirt). So there goes your perfect balance. My bikes have been well over 230 almost every year I go I have never noticed any ill effects from collecting salt. I used to have the wheels dynamically balanced, but now I just static balance them with my Harbor Freight wheel balancer.

OTOH if you run on pavement, a normal dynamic balance will be good.

Don

[tylerm]

Bike runs in the 160-170 range. Mainly raced at Bonneville, potentially also at Loring.

I appreciate the feedback, Don, and thoughts regarding salt accumulation. Good point. I am just aiming to fine tune this machine to run as smooth as possible.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

I'm sure there are a few Bonneville bike racers that don't have a garden sprayer of water to help rinse salt buildup off the wheels and other bits after runs, but I can't think of any just now.

Well okay, that's probably an exaggeration, but it's pretty common practice.  I've been over 200 a bunch of times on different bikes and tires and wheel balance hasn't been too much of an issue.

[tylerm]

So many components on my bike are one-off that I like the idea of accurate balancing just to 'check it off the list' and know there is no issue there. I have been land speed racing since 2010 and have set and broken 10 or more records. I also have a garden sprayer, multiple, in fact

Here is a photo of my latest bike, built in 2021...

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Nate Jones Cowboy Tire is in Signal Hill, CA.  562 597 3369 

Nate is about as experienced and knowledgeable about race tires as you'll find.  Yes, he's on the other side of the country, but I've shipped wheels to him to get tires installed, shaved, balanced, and delivered to me in my pit during SpeedWeek a while back.  Maybe he can offer someone closer to you, too.  His company info/ad is in the rulebook.

And he's the only guy you'll talk to these days that has the keys to a WWII battleship.

[Stan Back]

He knows my mother-in-law?

[WOODY@DDLLC]

Iowas wondering about that Jer! 

[floydjer]

Woody....Wrong snarky person.