I'm 22, about 6' and roughly 190-200lbs. 5 years ago i was bit by a tick, and got a light case of lyme disease, which causes me to have weak joints. I love my F4i, but going for long rides makes my wrists hurt, and sometimes my fingers go a bit numb, not it's something i've just been dealing with, but i figured this is worth asking.


Do you guys/gals have any recommendations on things i can do to reduce strain on my wrists?

I've looked in to this briefly, and some things i've encountered is riser bars, which would increase the height of my handle bars, bringing me to a more upright position, reducing the amount of weight i put on my wrists. Others mentioned better gloves, and better handle bar grips. I've seen people say that they tape up their wrists, and other things.

If i know i'm going for a long ride, i try and tuck my elbows in a bit and reduce weight on to my wrists, but it's not a natural feeling position, and i can't feel comfortable sitting like that for very long.

So are there specific's people can recommend, and i'm not looking for people just to say "Yea get riser bars", i'd prefer if people could point me to specific items, threads, links, pictures, anything.


Thanks!

 

Ideally when you ride you should rest little if any weight on your wrist, you could try doing exercises to build up your core (The muscles within the abs and back, attaching to the spine or pelvis) So that you can have an easier time holding yourself up properly.

Also what could help is lowering the angle of your clutch/brake levers, ideally when resting your hands on the bars you want a straight line from your elbow to your finger tips. It stopped my wrists from cramping up on long rides.

If you look at the bottom of this Cover you can see how your hand should be positioned. It also happens to be a great read for anyone looking to improve their motorcycle skills.

 

On my first year of starting to ride, I had the same problem as you. My right hand would start to tingle and after a short while it would start to go numb and feel like a balloon. After a some time of experiencing this reoccurring issue, I questioned whether I was even suitably built to ride a sportbike.

The problem was that I was supporting myself with my arms. This would become particularly strenuous on the wrists and due to the sharp angle and constant pressure on the bars, circulation would be cut off, hence the numbness. The remedy was simple but took a little getting used to for it to become natural.

The ideal way to ride these bikes is to grip the tank with your thighs and to support your upper torso with your core muscles (stomach & back), not your arms. You should become accustomed to balancing yourself and holding on to the bike with your legs rather than sit on the seat most of the time, kind of like how a jockey rides a horse. Your feet should be resting on the pegs by the ***** of your feet. Your arms should be slightly bent, your back arched, and the grip on the bars should be relaxed. It should feel as though you don't even need to grip the handle bars at all, aside for applying the hand controls. Most of the time with the throttle, I'm just barely holding on to it with a couple of fingers, just enough to maintain a certain speed.

Granted, holding a certain position for a prolonged period of time will eventually induce fatigue and soreness, so learning to situate yourself by making minor adjustments on the bike and to support yourself with different muscles will help.

This will seem a little uncomfortable at first but once you develop your muscles through habit, you will notice that not only will your bike's suspension (which you're a part of) handle the road better but your performance and riding should feel better too.

 

+1 to the excellent advice already given.

Wanted to mention that I know a girl that has carpal tunnel in both wrists but loves to ride. She wears high quality neoprene carpal tunnel braces/wrist supports on both wrists. She's able to ride more comfortably for much longer periods of time w/ the supports. Perhaps that's an option to try for you as well.

 

Wii Fit. You can laugh all you want, but I do an hour every other night. I do mostly strength training and yoga because I am trying to gain weight and muscle/balance control, but they have calastenics for just burning calories as well. There are games you can play if you get bored with the straight exercize. It is low impact, so won't give you too much trouble in your joints.

 

+1 on riding position. I had a very bad injury to my wrist when I was a kid. It was killing me to ride any longer than 20 minutes. So I started researching and found proper riding position. Instant difference and I can go 300 miles in a day and still not be in the same pain I was in before I learned how to use my core and legs.

 

Simply put - squeeze the tank with your thighs and support your weight that way instead of on your arms. Also a little bend on the elbows and a light grip on the handlebars will go a long way.

 

build your core muscle strength and squeeze the tank with your tights. having stompgrip or something to help increase traction on the tank really helps

 

We just touched on riding position in the Riding Skills section. This is something I posted in reply to a question about how far to sit from the tank

Sitting wrong in the seat will cause all sorts of aches, along with messing with your ability to control the bike. Aches in the arms and wrists are usually a good sign of being too tight on the bars.

Lee Park's Total Control (which I just discovered is availible in Google Books), Sport Riding Techniques and Keith Code's Twist of the Wrist 2 all are good reads that'll help with the things the MSF courses gloss over. And the things you don't realize till someone tells you