Wrist pain

john1691 · May 4, 2009

OK, so this isn't really related to Wedge bikes, but wasn't sure where to post, so here it goes. I ride a K1200S with a K1200R top triple clamp installed. This weekend was my first experiance with longer distances on this bike and I found that after 4-5 hours, my wrists were quite sore, mostly the throttle hand. I have a Throttlemeister cruise control installed, and used it when safe. I try to change positions on the bike fairly often, but nothing seemed to help. By the 11th hour I was thinking of selling the bike..............not really. Any suggestions? How can you tell what the problem is? There are a couple riser types, but how do I figure out what the issue really is?

Any ideas are appreciated.

johns3 · May 4, 2009

Have you tried one of these?

Seriously. I have a Throttlemeister too, but being able to just rest my mostly open hand on the "gas" (I find) takes a lot of the strain off my wrist. Cheap too.

john1691 · May 5, 2009

Thanks John, no, I've never tried one, maybe that should be the first step.

roborider · May 5, 2009

Here's my take on wrist pain:

A) Both wrists: You are either grabbing too hard or locking out/arm pumping. If you ride a lot of other bikes and don't have the pain, then you probably aren't grabbing too hard. You'd feel that pain on any machine if that were the case.

Locking out your arms and putting pressure on your wrists/forearms to hold you up, especially when braking, is the next likely cause. This could be you as a KS is very sporty and will put your weight forward. You need to use your legs, gripping the tank, and your core to hold you up. You should always, even when dragging a knee around a corner, be able to wiggle your arms, indicating there is not too much weight on them. In a tight corner, your throttle arm should be more in a screwdriver type alignment with the throttle. Try making sure at various times that there is not a lot of weight being absorbed by your arms. Finally, be sure to ride a bike like that with the balls of your feet on the pegs, not the pegs 'wedged' into your heels. This is poor posture that does not allow your legs to do their share of the weight bearing. Failure to teach this proper foot positioning is one thing that the MSF class could really improve on.

I just did a full track day at VIR and today my quads are sore as hell, but my arms are fine!

B) Pain in just the right hand: This is due to the work the hand must do to operate the throttle. You might be grabbing the throttle too hard, but really, when I ride my CBR600RR for more than 2 hours, it gets to my hand as well. Holding a throttle open for hours is tiring, and the throttle devices like the one shown should help a lot.

Robo

RIK · May 6, 2009

SugarHillCTD said:
Have you tried one of these?

Seriously. I have a Throttlemeister too, but being able to just rest my mostly open hand on the "gas" (I find) takes a lot of the strain off my wrist. Cheap too.

Tried one for the first and last time on a ride from Cape Cod to Pittsburgh last year. After a long wet slog, pulled into a crowded service plaza and as I was negotiating a tight right turn around some autos.. and with the bar set as it is on the K12s, the throttlemeister was depressed against tank. Can you guess the rest? There are two sizes, and I suppose the shorter of the two might have allowed me to escape the calamity, however I am not going to experiment.
Back to the service plaza, what I remember was the power as the rear of the bike went 270 degrees before I got the clutch and brake squeezed. Tired and damp I didn't think to flip the device out of the way. I'm glad nobody could see how ghost white my face turned through the visor. The kids in the minivan were impressed though.

terham · May 6, 2009

john1691 said:
Any suggestions? How can you tell what the problem is?

I'd have to borrow your bike for 4-5 hours to really tell. Would Saturday work?

I use a cramp buster on longer trips, and find they work quite well, but they are a pain around town. Position changes on the bike, relaxed arms and frequent stops works for me. I also find riding after longer layoffs can make for sore wrists. I think you need to ride more.

Roy.Jackson55@aol.com · May 6, 2009

I've been using the wrist rest for at least 10 years now. I run both left and right side wrist rest. Sence using them I hardly ever use my throddle lock. I believe I purchased them from Bob's BMW, though its been awhile. Good luck in what ever way you go.

rich · May 6, 2009

r11rs94 said:
I run both left and right side wrist rest.

Left side? How does using one of them on the left side help anything?

I'm missing something here.

aa3jy · May 7, 2009

If you have ever ridden horses..especially bare back..you ride with your thighs..in other words...keep your knees tight against the tank area and keep the weight off your wrists especially at low speeds. I have many a LD trip using this concept and have kept the wrist pain as you mentioned down to a bare minimum...

Hope this helps...

Clay
Kimberton,Pa.

Paul_F · May 7, 2009

My wrist pain from a couple of summers ago was eliminated last year after installing bar backs.

john1691 · May 7, 2009

terham said:
I'd have to borrow your bike for 4-5 hours to really tell. Would Saturday work?

I use a cramp buster on longer trips, and find they work quite well, but they are a pain around town. Position changes on the bike, relaxed arms and frequent stops works for me. I also find riding after longer layoffs can make for sore wrists. I think you need to ride more.

Terham, Saturday is calling for rain, but I'll be in Galveston, TX, starting Monday, doing some Hurricane "Ike" repairs for a church down there, so the bike will be here, alone in the garage, so feel free to borrow it, just make sure the tank is full and a nice bottle of Bourbon in the tank bag when you return it.........................

john1691 · May 7, 2009

Thanks, everyone for the input. Sounds like I need to work at keeping the weight on my back, with the help of my legs, and will probably purchase a "Wrist Rest" as well. I was supposed to help lead a 12 hour group ride to WV and back next Saturday, but a last minute trip to TX will cause me to miss out on that ride and allow the wrist to heal longer before my next long day of riding.

Thanks again,

tommcgee · May 7, 2009

If you've got big hands (think 2XL gloves), a wrist rest is trouble waiting to happen.

terham · May 8, 2009

john1691 said:
...and a nice bottle of Bourbon in the tank bag when you return it.........................

Well, I guess that's another way to deal with the wrist pain.

johns3 · May 8, 2009

tommcgee said:
If you've got big hands (think 2XL gloves), a wrist rest is trouble waiting to happen.

Why so? I have very large hands and have always used a wrist rest- never a problem.

Ralph · May 17, 2009

Bar backs help. Wrist-rests (Crampbusters) help. Keeping weight off wrists helps. And, keeping loose rather than riding with tension in the arms makes a lot of difference. Tensing up puts strain on the wrists and is probably the worst of the causes. Having BMW's cruise control on the bike is a real help too because every so often, you can take your hand off the throttle and relax it with no diminution of speed. Throttlemeisters are handy in that regard too, the trouble with them being that they simply set the throttle at one position, rather than automatically adjusting it to compensate terrain that would cause variances in speed (uphills/downhills).

flyinon2 · May 30, 2009

Google "Master Yoda Riding Position" A lot of good information there.

Wrist pain

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You stupid, fix it!

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