Numb thumb

[Andi_Archer]

Yea Grip buddies/puppies or their many name like kindred may help as a larger grip will make it easier to hold the controls thus reducing your grip of death.

http://www.grip-puppy.co.uk/
http://www.nippynormans.com/grip-buddies

[daytona-supersport]

Had this with both my last 2 bikes, my throttle thumb goes numb after about 2 hrs riding, pins and needles type numb.
Current bike is gs800, tkc80,s hyper pro 50mm lowering springs, 20mm bar risers, last bike was a transalp700 on conti trail attacks. Heated grips don't seem to make much difference and different gloves haven't helped either.
Wonder if its cos I'm a short arse and stretching a little to the bars??
Also any suggestions fr cold feet, nowt I've ever tried makes any difference

Dear Short Arse,
The throttle cruise control do dads work well, especially on long rides. I use one of the clip on plastic jobbies, modified by trimming off the extended blade bit on the side. Gloves that are too tight not only make your hands ache at any time, but are rubbish in cold weather. Set the bars and levers so that they are right for you when riding. Bars at the wrong angle or levers that do not fall correctly to hand make riding uncomfortable. First get the bars set right, then set the levers so that they fall just under your fingers. If setting for an off road bike set the levers a bit lower to allow for your being in a standing position. If you are still having serious problems, check with your GP. He may have some ideas.

Yep, I also have two dodgy wrists, (hence my limited love life), One healed fine as it was a simple fracture. The other is shit, No radial movement at all. It was really smashed up and the bits pinned together when healing. Sodding hell that hurt. The last time it was x-rayed after a bump, the doctor in the A&E could not make any sense of the remaining bone structure. He spent quite a while muttering about it not looking anything like a wrist joint. It really was quite funny. They wanted to plaster it up, but the bloody minded patent refused this and said they would bind it up tight. I neede it to ride the Stella in a weeks time, The compromise was a removable sort of case splint thing. I used a tight compression bandage for the ride up the hill. Lucky it was not on the throttle side eh. :laugh:

[Hoggyf]

Gloves are quite loose, if anything I'd prefer tighter gloves and definitely don't have a death grip, think the docs is the way and try the grip puppies!

[SteveR]

My twopennyworth! I suffer with hand cramping on my RH when riding and have used a "rocker" for a good while now. Great on any road bike, but maybe not so wonderful off-road!

Grip Puppies are brilliant, but not so good with heated grips I found. So think heated gloves, and if you go for a setup with a heated vest, you can feed both the gloves AND heated insoles for cold tootsies from the vest!

Have you had your circulation checked to see if you have Reynauds disease/syndrome? I had a work colleague 10-12 years ago and she just used to go to pieces in winter weather. I pointed her towards heated gloves and they transformed her outdoor work. Modern ones would be even better.

[Hoggyf]

For sale - set of grip puppies, used once!
Well that didn't work, they were far to big a diameter, I can hardly span the clutch now and ended up with both thumbs going numb after about 50 mins ?? What a pain in the arse they were to fit too! Might be because mine already has Oxford heated grips which I believe are bigger than standard.
Back to plan F or G or what ever, I'll try altering bar layout and see what that does.

[steve_h80]

Stop arsing about trying to treat the sympton. Go see your doc and treat the problem.

[Cone]

I have the same but little finger too as well as thumb, goes white almost like white finger.

I have had extensive carpal tunnel surgery in my left wrist as it got to such a point where i could not pull the clutch in after 30mins riding.

but I have also been diagnosed with Raynauds Disease which is poor circulation to the extremities, they can give you pills for it but i found they didnt make much of a difference so dont take them.

I would get it checked out but unlikely to be carpal tunnel as that is pressure on the sleeves which hold your tendons resulting in pain (as i understand it) more likely Reynauds which is quite common.

[Hoggyf]

My Chiropractor has looked at it quite a bit and can't find anything, loathe to go to the doctors as ours just f**k you off if your not dying but I might go and see them just to try to rule it out, alternatively I could go and buy a supermoto, half an hour on that would be enough for anyone!! :woohoo:

[92kk k100lt 193214]

My first bike was in 1972 and writs/position/smooth controls has always been an issue for me.

A good lever angle position is important. I ended up rotating them on the bars over a long period to find the optimum angle. It's personal but for me I like the levers almost horizontal and they fall then exactly where my extended fingers comfortable rest on them. Check where your hands find their comfortable position and work from that.

Lubed up cables, throttle mechanism and cable are very important. These deteriorate over time and you don't notice because it's happening slowly.

The throttle buddy is a great move.

Staying arm is so important, as in the whole bod

[92kk k100lt 193214]

My first bike was in 1972 and writs/position/smooth controls has always been an issue for me.

A good lever angle position is important. I ended up rotating them on the bars over a long period to find the optimum angle. It's personal but for me I like the levers almost horizontal and they fall then exactly where my extended fingers comfortable rest on them. Check where your hands find their comfortable position and work from that.

Lubed up cables, throttle mechanism and cable are very important. These deteriorate over time and you don't notice because it's happening slowly.

The throttle buddy is a great move.

Staying arm is so important, as in the whole body must be warm. An outer windproof layer helps enormously, that's how sailor guys stay warm. A bike isn't much different, its wet, windy etc

Gloves are so very important, I have a lovely pair of armoured leather gloves with a fleece lining. In cooler weather I use rain over gloves which keep the wind off my hands and stop them cooling too much. Hand guards are a big help. This sounds bulky but with lubed and well positioned controls they work very well.

A more upright riding position with no weight on the wrists is important, bar risers and even set backs may help. A change of bars may help, I changed bars on most of my bikes to get a good position. May involve a change of a clutch cable or throttle cable but a lot of the time a stock cable from a different model bike will do it so you don't run a risk of a breakdown.