Friday, May 31, 2013
Enough With the Wobble
Anyone who rides this bike, or any dual sport with rim locks for that matter, will know what Im talking about. The wobble. At about 42 mph, the bike develops a pretty nasty wobble that smooths out above 60 mph. But its pretty unsettling anywhere from about 30 to 59 mph.
The rim locks do it. And I needed some weight directly opposite them to stop it. The problem is, I waasted 30 bucks on some spoke weights from motorcyclesuperstore.com that didnt fit, then another 20 bucks on some super heavy solder wire that I heard people use sometimes. Then I found these puppies on eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/KTM-450-530-EXC-R-TIRE-WHEEL-BALANCING-SPOKE-WEIGHTS-/330650776168?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4cfc527268&vxp=mtr). They look tech, work awesome, and they are a perfect example of a simple piece of equipment that is perfectly engineered.
I static balanced the front and rear wheels, and ended up putting about 2.5 oz on the front and 4.5 oz on the rear - directly opposite the rim lock. With that amount of weight, I would have needed to put over 8 of the commonly sized adhesive weights on the front and more than 16 on the back. In addition to looking ridiculous, that probably wouldnt work as well or be as durable as these sweet little weights.
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| Slick wheel weights look the business. |
