Yellow and red dots

[RaYzerman]

To fix your dot problem, and I'll throw in I've had bikes with light and heavy at the valve stem..... first balance your bare wheel and install weights you'll leave there permanently, mark them somehow. Put the tire dots wherever you like and balance it. Done.

 

[Daboo]

My XR has Michelin Road 5 GTs...and they have a red dot. Those are the factory installed tires and the red dot is next to the valve stem.

My F800GT was using Bridgestone T32s. They have a yellow dot, and when I installed those, I put the dot next to the valve stem. I didn't have to balance them. They were the smoothest riding tires I ever had on that bike.

Chris

 

[The Dan]

Good to know it will either be a red dot or a drilled dot. I wonder how often the guy sneezes and pushes the drill through the tire?

Also interesting is the first thing said is putting the yellow dot adjacent to the valve stem maximizes profit....

I don't know what you read! You could read it again! Most of the time a wheel will also have a dot—either a drilled dot or a sticker to indicate its low point; if you have these marks, you should align the red dot with the mark on the wheel.

 

[SMSW]

I don't know what you read! You could read it again!

I did, and I misunderstood one of the points. From your post #19's link:
The explanation…
On the sidewall of most new tyres are red and yellow painted dots. If these marks are aligned with particular points on the wheel, you will reduce the amount of weight required for balancing. The less lead weight used, the lower the cost of wheel balancing and the higher the profit on the job.

Customer pays for parts. More weights used, more cost, more profits. Unless one is quoted a fixed price for the job.

I misread the following to mean they drilled the tire. I would assume a drilled mark in the wheel would be done by machine rather than a hand held drill, but my (joking) point is the same.
The Red Dot
In the same way that tyres are never perfectly balanced from the manufacturer, tyres are never perfectly round either, even when new. They have high and low points which occur where the belts are joined, and these points can cause vibrations when a tyre is rolling. The red dot indicates the tyre’s high point. Most of the time a wheel will also have a dot—either a drilled dot or a sticker to indicate its low point; if you have these marks,

​