Don't worry Nate, it's actually a riding technique thread.
I don't have a ton of experience but I've been riding for about seven years. All of my bikes to date have had bar ends of some sort that is about equivalent to the girth or the grip, or the Hyper that has the wrap-around protector/mirror/blinker assembly. I always have my pinky (or just the right side of my hand) on the bar-end or against the Hyper's protector bracket, I seem to use it to steady my hand. I only recently became aware of this as I was sitting on another person's bike and realized there wasn't really a bar end at all. Since then I've tried to ride without touching the bar end at all and I find myself extremely jumpy, hit a bump, the throttle gets twisted and the bike lunges. I'm not riding with locked elbows or anything, nice and loose on the Hyper. What can I do / what am I doing wrong / will I just get used to it with more practice?