MOTO Z TRACTIONATOR

Gigitt

Active Member
Joined
May 15, 2015
Messages
427
Location
Sydney Australia
I've only used ceramic balancing beads when I do my tyre changes. Love them!
There is No damage at all to the rims or the inside of the tyres from the beads. They work really well and the ride is always super smooth.

Changing tyres is a bit fun, I just use a barrel vacuum that i have washed and cleaned the barrel. then use about 30cm of PVC tube taped to the vacuum nozzle. Crack the bead on one side othe rim, push the pvc tube in an just vacuum all the beads out. I then clean the beads a bit, then reused them again.
 

jeckyll

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 11, 2016
Messages
651
Location
Lotusland
Despite all the guys that swear Dyna Beads or Ride On stuff works, I still go by logic. Is there any way in this world beads or any form of liquid can possibly flock to the light part of a tire to balance it? To me the answer using my brain at least says no way. Most the time on a motorcycle at least, the tire can be mounted and whether balanced or not, most will not feel $0.02 worth of differance the vast majority of the time, and those that say they get no cupping with beads where before the tires always cupped? I call balony.
I like balancing my tires because I bought the weights and the Marc Parnes balancer that works real nice, but for like 400,000 miles I never did any balancing and can't say I feel any difference.
I know a shop that used these for years with happy customers and know people that have run them. So you can call it whatever you want :)

Now, if you use 'slime' or anything that impedes the beads moving, then it won't work well. same if you run tubes, obviously not a great application.
 

50ishS10

New Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2020
Messages
4
Apologies for being late to conversation but would like to know if anyone has mounted the Tractionator GPS in the “Dirt” not 50/50 direction for primary pavement use with dirt only on weekends? Performance on pavement? Did it wear quickly? Thanks for all the great posts!
Recent S10 owner. Commuting 60 mi/day. Fire / double tracks weekends in New England
 

jeckyll

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 11, 2016
Messages
651
Location
Lotusland
Apologies for being late to conversation but would like to know if anyone has mounted the Tractionator GPS in the “Dirt” not 50/50 direction for primary pavement use with dirt only on weekends? Performance on pavement? Did it wear quickly? Thanks for all the great posts!
Recent S10 owner. Commuting 60 mi/day. Fire / double tracks weekends in New England
For fire roads and double track I would not bother mounting it the other way. I did a 7,800 km trip with mine last year, about 1,000 km on gravel, wouldn't even consider mounting it the more off-road direction.

That might change if it's stuff you can't ride with T2 enabled and have to turn off all the traction control just to be able to tackle it, but anything short of that, doubt it's worth it.

Just my $0.02
 

50ishS10

New Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2020
Messages
4
Thanks Jeckyll. That’s what I thought but wanted to be sure. Much appreciated.
 

jeckyll

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 11, 2016
Messages
651
Location
Lotusland
Quick update:

We were out yesterday and I did notice a lot of slipping on the rear tire. I'm at 12,000 km on it and down to 3.8 mm tread depth (from 11. 5 mm) so probably have a bout 5,500 - 5,900 km to go before it really needs replacement.



But I was able to spin the tire all the way to 80 km/h on the pavement (TC2) with plenty of throttle and uphill. I had not aired down after having luggage on for a road trip, so was at 40 psi or so. Probably should have aired down a bit. But definitely not good wet grip once really worn with high tire pressure. Plenty of hooligan fun if you're into that kind of thing...

No problems on the gravel, I felt like I had more grip there than the pavement :D
 
B

ballisticexchris

Guest
Yikes!! It blows my mind how far some riders will push a tire past the point of being safe. It's almost like a badge of honor in the motorcycling world.
 

jeckyll

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 11, 2016
Messages
651
Location
Lotusland
Yikes!! It blows my mind how far some riders will push a tire past the point of being safe. It's almost like a badge of honor in the motorcycling world.
Stop talking nonsense. There was nothing unsafe about it. I was having fun and was purposely spinning it up.

It the roads were slippery and I should have aired the tire down a bit more.

The GPS works better at slightly less pressure compared to other tires I've used on the Super T.
 
B

ballisticexchris

Guest
Stop talking nonsense. There was nothing unsafe about it. I was having fun and was purposely spinning it up.
It's fun spinning up a worn out tire right up to the point of wadding it up. Deliberately spinning any tire at almost 50mph on a wet paved public road is unsafe and not smart. 3.8mm or 1/8 of an inch is well past the safe point of any 50/50 tire. Of course it's all about the miles to some riders and they will run the tire right to the legal limit or wear bar.
 

Mak10

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2018
Messages
2,567
Location
SE Idaho
I think we have heard your opinion. Like a broken record, ad nauseum.

Ad nauseam is a Latin term for argument or other discussion that has continued to the point of nausea. For example, "this has been discussed ad nauseam" indicates that the topic has been discussed extensively and those involved have grown sick of it.
 

Tenman

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Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
2,102
Location
Natchez Ms USA
I think we have heard your opinion. Like a broken record, ad nauseum.

Ad nauseam is a Latin term for argument or other discussion that has continued to the point of nausea. For example, "this has been discussed ad nauseam" indicates that the topic has been discussed extensively and those involved have grown sick of it.
Use the ignore feature for the broken record
 

Tenman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
2,102
Location
Natchez Ms USA
I've only used ceramic balancing beads when I do my tyre changes. Love them!
There is No damage at all to the rims or the inside of the tyres from the beads. They work really well and the ride is always super smooth.

Changing tyres is a bit fun, I just use a barrel vacuum that i have washed and cleaned the barrel. then use about 30cm of PVC tube taped to the vacuum nozzle. Crack the bead on one side othe rim, push the pvc tube in an just vacuum all the beads out. I then clean the beads a bit, then reused them again.
I saw the independent Harley mechanic I use save the non ceramic beads. I think he reuses them and charging for them. They still seem to work fine though. He also sells a little substance. Who woulda thought a guy with face and neck tattoos would.
 
B

ballisticexchris

Guest
I think we have heard your opinion. Like a broken record, ad nauseum.
It goes both ways Sir.

Use the ignore feature for the broken record
I do and it works!! No more thousands of posts showing how many thousands of miles a single tire can last.

I saw the independent Harley mechanic I use save the non ceramic beads. I think he reuses them and charging for them. They still seem to work fine though. He also sells a little substance. Who woulda thought a guy with face and neck tattoos would.
I tried the RideOn in my dual sport tires and it did not help. At freeway speeds the bike wobbled. I thought about using the beads. But I already have a static balance setup and can lace, true, and check runout on wheel/rotor at each tire change. I know a lot of riders that swear by the beads.

Here is an option that gets pretty good reviews:

 

jeckyll

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 11, 2016
Messages
651
Location
Lotusland
It's always interesting to see how tire wear isn't linear on knobbies / 50/50 tires.

  • After my calculation of 0.69mm / 1,000 km on the GPS, in did just shy of 1,500 km Monday and Tuesday this week, loaded. I only used 0.3 mm in that ride. I.E. I left on 3.8 mm as reported above, and got back with 3.5 mm left (to the wear bar).
  • I know it's 'geeking out' but previously I often found that tires 'seemed' to wear faster at the beginning and slower at the end, which makes sense given the longer the 'knobs' the greater the flex. But now I actually have some numbers that seem to support it.
  • Granted, less than 10% of my riding as on gravel, so that will change the wear, but still. The last a long time with less 'flex'.

Anyway, at this rate I can do at least one or two trips of the same type before having to put on a new tire.
 
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