Wikco MC110 Tire Changer and Balancer

Yes I searched first!

Wikco believes their tire changer and balancer to be a superior product to the No-Mar and others. They do offer some pretty convincing arguments. Anybody have experience with it?

Wikco MC110 Tire Changer

I am considering purchase of their changer, balancer, C-Arm and deluxe clamp set.

Anybody???

It looks identical to the one you can get at harbor freight....except that it's blue of course.

Base.

https://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=34542

Motorcycle adapter.

https://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=42927

I seriously don't think the one you're looking at will do anything different or better than the one you can get at harbor freight for significantly less.

BTW, I have the Harbor Freight version and it gets the job done just fine.

I wraped duct tape around the ends of the clamps to prevent them from scratching the wheels.

I am also thinking about doing my own tires but I haven't figured out how you go about balancing a rear tire on a shaft driven motorcycle.

What do you use and how does it work.

Thanks

Mac

okmac said:

I am also thinking about doing my own tires but I haven't figured out how you go about balancing a rear tire on a shaft driven motorcycle.
What do you use and how does it work.

Thanks

Mac

Click to expand...

Search for "Marc Parnes".

Truly our friend in design and practice. A good quality static balancer is the ticket.

It works on the simple principle that the spinning wheel will stop rotating with the heaviest portion at six o'clock. Mark the top (light spot) of the tire with whatever (I use a silver Sharpie), rotate the tire 90 degrees, stop, and let go. The wheel should go back to where it was. Repeat in the opposite direction. Add weight to the light spot only, and re-check, using the same method as above. When the correct amount of weight is correctly applied, the wheel will not move anymore when it is stopped after rotating 90 degrees; it exhibits balance feng shuie. h34r:

Then go to a racetrack and watch the tire guy balance a few in front of your eyes. I'd pay for that lesson, but it's free when you carry the rims up for your friend. B)

Shane

Thanks for the info Shane.

mac

For a couple pics of Marc Parnes balancer in action: CLICKY HERE

okmac said:

Thanks for the info Shane.mac

Click to expand...

Yup.

Diesel said:

It looks identical to the one you can get at harbor freight....except that it's blue of course.
Base.

https://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=34542

Motorcycle adapter.

https://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=42927

I seriously don't think the one you're looking at will do anything different or better than the one you can get at harbor freight for significantly less.

BTW, I have the Harbor Freight version and it gets the job done just fine.

I wraped duct tape around the ends of the clamps to prevent them from scratching the wheels.

Click to expand...

Not even close.

The Wiko unit is made much more heavy duty than the Harbor Freight piece.

I'm a little confused that Wiko is selling the same model and part # that K & L was selling for a long time. Wonder if K & L sold them the product, or did Wiko stop selling it through K & L?

I had my eye on this one for some time, but I think I'm going straight to the Coats 220 instead.

FJRandy said:

Not even close. The Wiko unit is made much more heavy duty than the Harbor Freight piece.

Click to expand...

I think this is an accurate statement, the Harbor Freight appears to be a lightweight knockoff of the Wilco. I have the HF and cut up an old garden hose and glued it to the holders to avoid scratching the rims. I also use a Wikco mount/dismount bar with nylon ends to avoid any metal to metal contact. My setup works fine for sport bike tires but I don't know how long the HF would last if I were changing a lot of touring bike tires that are much more rigid. It might be fine since changing tires is really a lot more about technique than equipment but if you are planning to change a lot of tires then it might be better to invest in the Wikco vs. the HF.

I also have the Marc Parnes balancer and one of my friends verified the results by taking the balanced tire to a shop that uses a dynamic balancer. They spun the tire 3 times and said the balance was perfect, they also said they normally only balance a tire to within a half ounce. The Marc Parnes balancer is almost too good since its sensitivity is finer than the quarter ounce balancing weights so sometimes it is not possible to get a "perfect" balance, but you do know that the balance is probably within an eight of an ounce.

I also have the Marc Parnes balancer and one of my friends verified the results by taking the balanced tire to a shop that uses a dynamic balancer. They spun the tire 3 times and said the balance was perfect, they also said they normally only balance a tire to within a half ounce. The Marc Parnes balancer is almost too good since its sensitivity is finer than the quarter ounce balancing weights so sometimes it is not possible to get a "perfect" balance, but you do know that the balance is probably within an eight of an ounce.

I believe this to be quite true.

Routinely, I wind up cutting a 1/4 oz weight in half so's that the tire will balance; that's some precision equipment.

Also, a fan running in the area or the garage door open on a breezy day will affect the balance process.

Shane

+1 Marc Parnes works very good. I also cut 1/4 oz in half.