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First zinc balancing weight for motorcycles

Taking ecological responsibility means considering the environmental impact of products even when this is not a requirement prescribed by law. It is precisely with this in mind that Franken-Original is bringing the first zinc adhesive bars for motorcycles to the market.

"We want to offer our customers an environmentally-friendly balancing option for motorcycles too. As a development partner to manufacturers in the automotive industry, we are aware of the increasing importance of issues relating to ecology", says Thorsten Thom, managing director at WEGMANN automotive.

Already convinced, the German motorcycle manufacturer BMW is equipping all of its motorcycles produced from February 2011 onwards with Franken-Original zinc weights. The new K99 type zinc adhesive bar will also be available to trade customers from now on. With individual grammages scaled from 5 to 30 grams, the bars can provide the right weight for every imbalance phenomenon.

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Weights from China - not only lower quality, but possibly also hazardous to the health

A spectral analysis of cheap weights from China brings worrying problems to light. Zinc weights contain a large number of banned substances that exceed the maximum limits permissible in this country several times over. Apart from the lead that has been banned since July 1, 2005, cadmium* is also present at a level 23,730 times higher than is permissible in this country. Using these cheap weights may possibly mean saving money at the expense of the health of technicians and car drivers.

This cocktail of materials can also cause additional problems: due to the various densities of the used raw materials, the examined weights differed considerably from the nominal weight. In many cases, this would make it necessary to rebalance the vehicle and so the apparently cheaper weight would lead to considerable additional costs.

* Cadmium is classified as "extremely toxic" and is suspected of being carcinogenic, of being hazardous to organs, the central nervous system and the immune system and of reducing fertility.