Shake Rattle & Roll

Hi All,

I bought my Speed Triple in March last year as a Factory pre-registered "new" bike and have spent quite some time fettling it and making it the way I want. I'm currently making a carbon fibre fenda Extenda as there are none available for the RS.
I am aware that R & G do one for the 2017 model and it can be "made" to fit but it is unsatisfactory in my eyes - keep an eye out for a new post on how I made one myself ( assuming I'm successful!! ) Meanwhile . . the purpose of this post . . .

I removed the wheels so that I could whip the tyres off and fit the TPMS sensors. I weighed the new valve-sensor assembly, subtracted the weight of the OEM valves and the plan was to merely add an equal amount of weight onto the wheel opposite the new valves . . job done. Of course, this will be fine on this occasion but moving forward, I need a way of balancing the rear wheel for a single side swingarm bike. I have a balancer which works fine for both front and rear wheels on my S1k and 1050 Tiger but the cones won't hold the wheel for the Speed Triple Rear.
No-Mar in the States produce a set of cones for a SSSA rear wheel but I really don't want to start buying stuff from over the pond but the only product I could find in this country was from ABBA. When I looked on their website, they offer two adapters, one generic and one BMW-specific. The problem is, their generic version didn't look appropriate for the Triumph wheel and I harboured some doubts that it would work and so I emailed them direct to enquire if it would fit and received the following reply

"Hi Alan, Yes we have an adapter which will fit the new speed triple wheel.


The adapter is not listed on the website yet, however we have sent you a direct link to pay (this should come in a separate email).

It looks like the picture below


.

Please let us know if you need further information"

I have ordered one at £33.75 and when it arrives, I will fit it to the wheel, take a few pictures and comment on how well it appears to hold the wheel etc and post the part number. If anyone else out there likes to balance their own wheels then this would appear to be the only current viable option in the UK, short of making your own.
I presume the SSA rear wheel hub design is common to other Triumph models as well like the 1050 Tiger Sport etc and so maybe those boys ought to know too. Will see if it fits first before I get too excited!!!

 

Hi All - excellent service from Abba - I ordered the stand one day and it arrived the next courtesy of Royal Mail.
I confirm it fits and will do the job it's intended for.
As I currently have both wheels off the bike I will strip all the weights and start from scratch I think . . . might as well do the job properly whilst there's not much else to do.
For those interested in buying one, the item is not yet listed on their website. They currently have two listed - one generic for SSSA-equipped bikes and one for the various models of BMW. Be warned, the Generic item is not intended for the Triumphs and the one needed is "Single Sided Adapter - Type C Product Code 167.
If still not available at the time of ordering, simply contact Abba direct.
I guess most folks don't fit their own tyres or balance the wheels themselves but it's a must have for those who do.
I am due to put a Michelin Road 5 on the front of my Tiger some time soon and will make a video of how its done because again, some folk might find it interesting and there's so much garbage on Youtube with gorillas resorting to tyre levers and brute force which in some ways, defeats the purpose of doing it yourself!

 

well spotted that man - very perceptive of you!!
The cones are some form of high density plastic - They feel harder than nylon 66 or acetal and so not sure what they are but certainly feel very strong.

The one concern I had and why I didn't post the full details beforehand is because I wasn't convinced the cone would locate stably on the driven side of the wheel.
The smaller cone is an accurate match and so no problem there. The larger cone does locate on the 5 edge "chamfers" on the inner edge of the drive flange and does so stably but with one caveat . . . .
The weight of the wheel is borne by the cones and thus the contact angle will try and push the cones outward. Any small movement will loosen the the fit and thus interfere with the accurate alignment of the cones within the hub and so it is necessary to nip up the grub screws reasonably firm. There is no need to hang off the allen key and do a gorilla job when tightening but they do need to be nipped up firm but not tight enough to risk stripping out the threads in the plastic. One saving here is the fact that without any bearings or discs etc, the S3 wheel is extraordinarily light.
I mounted the wheel by securing the grub screw in the smaller cone, feeding the bar through the wheel and then sliding the larger cone into position and then whilst squeezing both firmly together with one hand, simply tightening the second grub screw - it self-centres perfectly well.
A better design would have been to use an accurately machined cylinder which slides inside the hub and mates up to the 5 internal surfaces of the hub - they missed a trick there I think and when I have time, I might even turn up another "cone" on my lathe but not something I'm inclined to do at the moment as it will work fine as is . . . . .

 

Very creative
Another alternative would be to balance the wheel on the bike but I’m not sure how well this would work.
Remove the chain and caliper or maybe just the pads if this can be done in-situ (I haven’t checked my service manual)
Now balance the wheel already mounted on the bike whilst supported on a paddock stand???
Only downside I can think of is excessive friction in the wheel bearings might not allow a particularly accurate result.
ABBA kit works fine for me but large cone would be better had it been made as a cylinder

 

As an addendum to this post . . . .
I am currently working on winter maintenance of the bikes - Speedy RS and Tiger both done but now wrapping up the S1000.
It is due an MOT in April and will be my first port of call as it is currently SORNED and will need taxing in the spring. I noticed the front tyre was borderline legal and so thought it prudent to change it.
I went through my usual routine of balancing the wheel first without the tyre, then installing the tyre, seating on the beads and allowing it to settle on the balancer and then marking the heaviest spot on the tyre, unseating the beads and then rotating the tyre so that the heaviest point on the tyre was seated against the lightest point on the wheel.
After this, I removed all the lead and the final result . . . . only needed 5gm for an accurate balance.
When I did this previously on the rear wheel, I didn't bother seating the beads and simply assumed the tyre would be fitting sufficiently central for the technique to remain valid but I ended up needing over 40gms of lead and I now realise, for the procedure to be really accurate, it is imperative to seat the beads before locating the tyre's heavy spot.
Anyway . . . the moral of the story.
I had cause to be looking through the official BMW manual for my bike and came across a section on static wheel balance which stated
1. The maximum permitted out of balance for the front wheel is 5gm and the maximum allowable weight of lead is 80gms
2. The maximum permitted out of balance for the rear wheel is 45gms and the maximum allowable weight of lead is also 80gms.

I was always puzzled why my S1K had no lead balancing weights on the wheels when new and I now know - using the front tyre to balance the "wheel" is more often than not going to get the thing withing 5gms or thereabouts and doing the same for the rear will easily bring it within the 45gm tolerance which is clearly far less critical.
Given this is a 186mph 199bhp road missile, I really don't think I'm going to be so fussy in future - sure, I will take great care over the front wheel as a 5gm tolerance is tight but clearly, the rear isn't an issue at all and simply matching heaviest point on tyre to lightest point on wheel will more than likely suffice.
Don't know about you guys but that surprised me and I would have suspected a typo were it not for the fact I took my S3 to Clive Wood last spring and he casually mentioned to me that front wheel balance was important but the rear didn't really matter - I registered his remark but paid it no heed to be honest until I came across the above in my manual . . . . .