Installed clip-ons and now I am CRUSHING the tank with my thighs

[csorin]

I just updated my front end with SBK forks and below-the-triple clip-ons.  While I love the look, I am having a hard time finding a good position. 

I've always ridden with no weight on the front bars.  With the stock bars and body position, this is easy to do.  While braking, you only need a slight squeeze with the knees to keep your body held back.  During normal riding, I didn't even have to think about keeping the weight off the bars.

With clip-ons, everything has changed.  I am now constantly fighting a falling upper body.  With my back arched and my arms in a decent, relaxed position, I have to retain an uncomfortable amount of pressure on the tank with my thighs.  I am talking constant, pretty damn tight muscle pressure with my inner thighs to grab the tank with my knees.  Braking exacerbates things, and only during hard acceleration can I slightly relax my lower body.

Is this just the new reality I have to live with for clip-ons?  Is there some kind of secret ninja body position I am just missing?  How do you keep your upper body held up, lean waaay over the tank, and all the while retain a relaxed lower body? 

My shifting and rear braking has gone to shit because I am constantly squeezing my knees.  Hopefully I'm missing something, but shit, if this is what riding a sportbike is all about, count me out.  I'm hoping this is purely an effect of placing clip-ons on a bike not designed for them.

I feel like riding the bike has turned into work.  Maybe the clip-ons are sublime in the twisties, but in the real world, the bike is next to unridable.  Is the Monster seat/fork relationship not ideal for this setup?  Not even marginally good?  Am I doomed to hate sportbikes from now on? 

[stopintime]

The long reach is a Monster issue.

Rearsets (actual REARsets) will open up your hip joint, which makes thigh squeezing easier and lower back work better.

You might get used to your set up, but if you don't - maybe clip ons with a rise. WoodCraft?

[csorin]

I'm going to try moving the clip-ons to above the triple clamp tonight.  If that doesn't work out, I'll either be on the look-out for some Speedymoto Tall-Boys, or a set of their riser triple and go back to stock bars.

My wife is at least pretty cool about the whole thing.  "Now you know"

[csorin]

Clip-ons got moved above the triple at lunch.  MUCH better than below.  Next thing is a set of Tech-spec tank pads.

[stopintime]

Clip-ons got moved above the triple at lunch.  MUCH better than below.  Next thing is a set of Tech-spec tank pads.

... and when you start wondering if their new design is better than the Snake Skin, it's not. Tech Spec told me that Snake Skin is still the most agressive pad.

[Raux]

actually i only arch my back when tucking

i use my core to keep myself upright and my arms loose on the bars. I sit farther back in the seat and have aftermarket rearsets that sit higher and further back. i keep the ball of my feet on the pegs and only move forward for shifting/braking.  in fact i noticed i rub my left heel on the swingarm a bit.

I do grip the tank but no harder than usual.

if i need a break i actually scoot up in the saddle and sit more upright barely grabbing the bars.

also, you might want to adjust your brake and shifter to a better angle for your foot now that you sit differently than stock.

[$Lindz$]

actually i only arch my back when tucking

i use my core to keep myself upright and my arms loose on the bars. I sit farther back in the seat and have aftermarket rearsets that sit higher and further back. i keep the ball of my feet on the pegs and only move forward for shifting/braking.  in fact i noticed i rub my left heel on the swingarm a bit.

I do grip the tank but no harder than usual.

if i need a break i actually scoot up in the saddle and sit more upright barely grabbing the bars.

also, you might want to adjust your brake and shifter to a better angle for your foot now that you sit differently than stock.

This.

After I put on clip-ons, I felt like the bike was HEAPS better. After-all, the Monster (original) was a SBK-derived frame with relaxed ergos (and lowered rear height). After clip-ons, the front end felt much more stable (Monsters are notorious for their floaty front end). Then I raised the rear about an inch and it made worlds of difference as well.

[hillbillypolack]

Though you didn't note it in your original post I'm guessing you're close to 6'. 

This, in a nutshell is an excellent example of how a bike looks vs. how it feels in the real world.  I have under-the clamps clip ons on my M900 and can't ride it for very long either.  Despite using my core to keep weight off my wrists it's still not as intuitive as riding a motorcycle should be.  It's always repositioning or thinking about access to controls, brakes, shifting.  The bike looks great (to me), but as you described it's not 'fun'.  The M900 also has rear sets, which (somewhat) make that bike a bit more of a handful.  High ankle position, low bars.  That must look weird from anyone else's perspective.

On the S2R, it's stock and I'll keep it that way to avoid what I did on the M900.  My reach is 33/34 inches, so I'm not short of arm and the controls STILL feel stretched out at times.  I am trying to adapt, keep the bike from growing upward with risers but I can see their value if you spend a lot of seat time on it.

It's been noted above that Monsters were derived from an SBK frame, with an afterthought to the tank contour (how many times do you slide up on it when hard into the brakes?), lowered seat and ligt feeling front end.  Perhaps the new Monsters were considered as a whole but the previous gen. bikes were a collage of bits that don't work well together. 

Hence this thread, and the spectrum of aftermarket stuff we have to 'remedy' what we perceive as shortcomings of the bike.