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Oct 17, 2024

Rabaconda Introduces Motorcycle Wheel Balancer - Adventure Rider

Photo: Rabaconda We’ve already been impressed with Rabaconda’s tire changers, both for ADV bikes with spoked wheels and cast wheels that use tubeless tires. Both of these tools let you swap tires at

Photo: Rabaconda

We’ve already been impressed with Rabaconda’s tire changers, both for ADV bikes with spoked wheels and cast wheels that use tubeless tires. Both of these tools let you swap tires at home instead of taking your wheels to a shop and paying them to do it. However, neither tire changer includes a way to balance your tires after you mount them, which is a critical step before hitting the road or trail. Rabaconda has just released a motorcycle wheel balancer, filling this gap and enabling you to do the entire process at home. It will handle up to a 21-inch wheel, which should suit ADV riders just fine.

Unlike the tire changers, there is nothing particularly revolutionary about the wheel balancer’s design. This isn’t a bad thing because wheel balancers are simple and just work. Instead, Rabaconda focused on the portability of their balancer (it comes apart easily for storage in a small bag), the quality, and the usability.

Photo: Rabaconda

Take, for example, the HACS, which stands for Hand Adjustable Cone System. The cones that hold and center the wheel on the stand are on threaded bases, enabling you to fit them perfectly to your wheel by simply turning them. Traditional wheel balancers I’ve used have cones that use Allen screws to secure them to the balancer’s axle. These are easy to lose, as well as the wrench you use to tighten and loosen them. (Ask me how I know.) It will accommodate up to a 34mm diameter hub bearing, or up to 72mm with Rabaconda’s optional big hub adapters. It is also compatible with Rabaconda’s BMW shaft drive adapter.

Photo: Rabaconda

For many of us, space is at a premium, especially any flat work surface we have available. Rabaconda’s wheel balancer will work on a table or workbench, but it also includes a wall mount for easy installation in your garage, trailer, or toy hauler. This saves you from having to clear the workbench every time you want to balance a tire.

Photo: Rabaconda

The quality of this wheel balancer shows in the details, such as the stainless steel bearings. The lowest possible rolling resistance is required for the heavy spot of the wheel to identify itself by rotating to the bottom while on the stand. These bearings provide that. There are also three of them on each side, rather than the usual two, enabling the stand to be used vertically on a table or horizontally when mounted to a wall.

Selling for $189, the Rabaconda motorcycle wheel balancer isn’t cheap. But given the quality and usability we’ve seen in the tire changers we’ve tested (we haven’t seen this balancer for ourselves yet), it seems worth it. You could get a cheaper stand at Harbor Freight, but it’ll only be Harbor Freight quality, and it will lack many of the Rabaconda’s features. If you’re going to use a wheel balancer regularly, you might as well invest in one like this that won’t give you any headaches.