Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

A lot of the time when I ride decent distances I get cramp/pins and needles/pain in my throttle hand. I also find that I grip the bar very high up (near the switchgear, up right on the inside of the grip) quite a lot.

What's other people's gripping style? Should it be OK for my throttle hand to be down more towards the middle of the grip? If so how should I go about conditioning myself to not have my hand so far inboard that it's almost off the end of the grip?

A gentle grip of the tank with your knees and you can loosen the grip on the bars - no more cramp issues.

I have a pair of gloves that give me pins and needles in teh hands, the leather crinkles up under the knuckles and cuts off blood flow and crushes teh tendons.
Have a look into that, next time it happens, slip a glove off for a bit.

Regards, Andrew.

You may possibly be gripping too hard. If it turns a dark shade of purple, that's a pretty good signal to loosen your grip!

Most hand numbness is actually caused through the nerves in the shoulder, rather than the wrist. Over a long day, especially when you are on relatively straight roads at constant speeds, it can become a real pain. As Mike said, try to use your lower body to grip the bike better and use your abdo muscles to hold yourself up rather than your wrists. this also alleviates some pressure from the shoulders and can also assist in reducing hand numbness. Mind you, a numb hand isn't such a bad thing sometimes for us blokes!

Another solution, although highly illegal, is to fit a cruise control, kick back on hte pillion seat and blow a spliff while the world just rolls by!

Couldnt tell you where I grip the throttle... I just do... I find I get pins/needles and numbness in my pinky on throttle hand occasionally, but if I wiggle my fingers around when on the straights it sorts itself out soon enough

someone said it here once before.

between corners do the chicken dance on your bike to loosen up.

My missus has a better grip than i do

red_dave wrote:My missus has a better grip than i do

Even with all the extra practice you get?

red_dave wrote:My missus has a better grip than i do

She has sharper eyesight hey???

Yeah chicken dance to loosen up the elbows and shoulders.
But thats really a tight and twisty handling / posture trick. More than what you are describing. I used to get it and found it was from gripping too firmly. When your just cruising along open your hand and use your palm on the throttle in a more relaxed manner, or try the "Lygon street poser" posture with the left hand on your hip and the throttle gripped between thumb and forefinger.

Oh and dont forget when performing the chicken dance you have to hum along in your helmet

I have arthritis in my left wrist due to a poorly healed wrist fracture when I was younger. As a result, I also get pains and needles running up into my thumb and index finger, and pain on the inside of my wrist running up my forearm. I find that using a throttle rocker when on long straight roads helps, as does wrist exercises and stretches at rest stops.

Yeah I've tried wrist exercises too but I find while they are "satisfiying" they don't really assist with ridding at all

Bogan wrote:..........What's other people's gripping style?.....

Grip till ya Drip !!

(no shit, I found that on a Ducati Owners website !!)

Gosling1 wrote:

Bogan wrote:..........What's other people's gripping style?.....

Grip till ya Drip !!

(no shit, I found that on a Ducati Owners website !!)

so..they hold on to the throttle for abt 15sec then i guess...before it drips oil all over the ground??


SMILE...i have found that when im gripping too tight, a smile seems to relax the hands a little..dunno why..i reckon smitty (the silly old bastarge) told me that one years ago..and i still use it...

99 change hands????