Wheel balancing at home.

https://www.harborfreight.com/motorcycle-wheel-balancing-stand-98488.html
Has anyone used the harbor freight wheel balancer? How does that work? Do u put the xs axle on it, I would imagine the wheel must spin on its bearings? What is the consensus on this or any other at home balancing methods?
I'm looking to drill front rotor and I would definitely want to balance the wheel and rotor.
I guess if I do the drill pattern carefully I can have the shop balance it but it would be nice to be able to do it myself.

I have one that I use to balance my tires. Put the tire on the bar and slide the end pieces into the bearings and tighten them down with an allen key. Spin it and let it stop where it stop the bottom of the tire is the heaviest. Add weights 180 degrees until the two points are balanced right and left.

Only 30-40 wheels so far....
Often as not the stand's shaft rotates on the stand bearings, they don't have heavy grease or oil seals and have less resistance.
Flush those bearings with carb cleaner or mineral spirits then lightly oil.
Do spin the included shaft to be sure it runs true, several have found the shaft is "not so" straight.
I made a replacement shaft out of all thread and coupling nuts with a taper machined on the inner ends of the nuts. It's easier to tighten these on the wheel bearings. Those set screw collars are a pain if you use the stand a lot.


I use this mainly for truing but it would work for balancing also. An old swing arm with nuts welded on the ends. The short sections of all thread, one on each side, have a nut on the inner end with a taper cut on it.

This setup does depend on the wheel bearings turning freely. They usually are free enough for balancing.
There's several other DIY balancing stands 'round the forum. A box of kid's colored sidewalk chalk is handy for making marks. Change chalk color after each weight is added.

I see now the wheel is tight on the balancing shaft.
The bearings in my rear wheel do spin less free than the front. I might go ahead and clean and grease them.

It wouldn’t hurt to clean them out and see if that frees them up before you put on the grease. If your bearings are not spinning like they should I would just replace them. They aren’t that expensive or hard to replace

I bought a HF balancing stand but I think it is rubbish. The cones do not set tight on the shaft, therefore the wheel is not centered with precision. I ended up just using the axle and the wheel bearings to get the balance as good as I could.

Tt

In my homemade wheel stand, I normally just use the axle.



For balancing, I don't shim the wheel, I just let it "float". I built the stand with one side adjustable for height so I level the axle first. This keeps the unshimmed wheel from "walking" left or right as I spin it .....

A while ago I bought a pair of cheap Black&Decker style Workmates, in a 2fer1 deal. It occurred to me they'd be useful for quite a few things, balancing wheels being one of them.



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