Pain in wrist and thumbs.

[jerrsun]

Hi Folks,


Sorry for the n00b question but since i got my new Monster 696 about 3 week/400 miles ago, I have been experiencing wrist pain and pain in my thumb to hand joint on long rides (30 min plus). When I try to get into a more comfortable tucked position with my elbows bent i notice that my wrist are slightly below the handlebars, and that they get tired out real easy. If i try to ride with my back more straight, my arms straighten out and that riding position gets even more tiring. Also i cant tell if its due to the width of the grips or the angle of handle bars but when I use the clutch or brake i feel all the pressure right where my thumb meets my hand. My question is would changing out the handlebars and grip help my situation any.

I was thinking about getting the rizoma bars and sportline grips but was not sure that my problem would be solved with just those two mods. Also I have changed out the stock seat with the comfort touring seat and pain situation seems to be worse now that i am sitting relatively higher up to the bars then before (I figure better have pain in my wrist then my man parts  ).

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Jerrsun

[OT]

Check out p.104 in Lee Parks's book Total Control, where he addressed clutch/brake lever ergonomics....rotating the levers down may help.

Try to position your hands and arms so there is minimal/no angle across the back of your hand/wrist while riding - that is, the back of your hand, wrist, and forearm is one "flat" or straight surface.  Your wrists should not be lower than the back of your hand.

Also,the stock bar angle isn't for everyone - I found that a Spiegler aluminum superbike bar (a bit more swept back) fit me better and has cured the sore wrists... but 30 mins seems too short a time to cause wrist/thumb pain (if you had said 350 miles....I would agree on needing different positioned bars).

Finally, try resting your left forearm and elbow on the tank during long rides.  Work on ab and back exercises (i.e., core), and avoid taking a death grip on the handles....

[Slide Panda]

Check out p.104 in Lee Parks's book Total Control, where he addressed clutch/brake lever ergonomics....rotating the levers down may help.

Try to position your hands and arms so there is minimal/no angle across the back of your hand/wrist while riding - that is, the back of your hand, wrist, and forearm is one "flat" or straight surface.  Your wrists should not be lower than the back of your hand.

Also,the stock bar angle isn't for everyone - I found that a Spiegler aluminum superbike bar (a bit more swept back) fit me better and has cured the sore wrists... but 30 mins seems too short a time to cause wrist/thumb pain (if you had said 350 miles....I would agree on needing different positioned bars).

Finally, try resting your left forearm and elbow on the tank during long rides.  Work on ab and back exercises (i.e., core), and avoid taking a death grip on the handles....

Good call on the Lee Parks book.  In general it's a good read, but that section details some control set up issues.

Also +1 for the core strength work.  Additionally, more weight through your legs into the pegs and gripping the tank can help with posture issues and take weight away from you arms.

Many times wrist pain is a result fo too much pressure on the bars.  One trick you can practice is 'chicken wings' Basically no matter what your position on the bike you should have some bend in your arms, and there should not be so much weight one your arms that you cannot approximate flapping your 'wings'.  IF you try to flap, and you find your arms won't move, then you're too heavy on the bars.

By raising your seat, you are changing your weight bias forward - so you'll need to compensate for that in some way to fix your issue.  The free way has already been discussed (core, posture and position).  The $ way is higher bars/risers or similar fiddling.

30 min is way to short...

[stopintime]

(Yuu beat me to it, but here goes anyway....)

The fact that the taller seat makes the problem worse, points to the possibility that you lean on your arms too much.
Working on squeezing the tank with your thighs and holding your torso up by using the core muscles should help.

Straight wrists, as mentioned, is the solution. You can do that by pointing your elbows out. Hands will grip more naturally on the bars. BUT, this might very well cause shoulder/neck pain, which might be even worse.
So, for you, as well as me and quite a few others the solution is new bars with more sweep back angle. Rizoma is one option, but they are higher as well as more swept back. Suburban Machinery bars are probably one of the better choices. (search 696 & Suburban, you'll find member(s) who has this with good results. OT's Spiegler sounds interesting and he is right about the stock bars not being for everyone - certainly not for you from what you're telling us.
And there is the clip on alternative, with or without rise.

All I said and suggested will be worthless if you practice the "forbidden" death grip - are you sure your hands are gripping loosely on the bars?

[Slide Panda]

[quote author=stopintime link=topic=27768.msg483733#msg483733 date=1249502257
All I said and suggested will be worthless if you practice the "forbidden" death grip - are you sure your hands are gripping loosely on the bars?
[/quote]

You want to practice the 'Twinkie Grip'  As it was put to me, you want to have a grip on the bars (dur), but one that wouldn't smoosh a Twinkie

[jerrsun]

Thanks for all the advice,

I'll take a ride after work today and try the chicken wings, and twinkie grip and see if i need to loosen up my grip a bit. If not ill start trying out the more expensive alternatives to my problem.


Jerrsun