Numbness Vibration....NO FUN

once youve made sure its not a mechanical issue ive used a fishing weight on a piece of line dropped down into each side of bars before .leave the line long so it hangs out end of bars and tape it before reinstalling grips or controls then you can experiment with the weight in differant locations in bar by pulling line out further

Last year I road my kz1000r every day (except 3 snow days) to and from work and after a 10 min ride my back was killing me and my hands were almost sized with arthritis,

It was a problem even when I went out for a ride I would come back after a short ride due to the discomfort.

This is what inspired the front end conversion,
I wanted a sporty yet stocky and strong set of forks hence the upgrade to busa forks.

i also replaced all wheel bearings
swing arm bearings
steering bearings
you can just rebuild your forks not replace them.
replaced engine mounts
put on a set of bars off a dirtbike.

conclusion i wish i had done it years ago!
i hadn't replaced any of the parts above in 19 yrs!
its so comfortable, ride is smooth and sporty.

Yes I have some fingerless gloves with gel in the palms they do help. Mine as spikes on em for smaking little old ladies. lol

try going up a tooth on your front sprocket it will lower the rpm when your at crusing speed and maybe taking the engine out of that rpm range that causes the buzzyness. i use two seperate sizes of gearing depending on what i'm doing with the bike. one for riding like a tool and one for long rides and crusing around. the difference at 60 mile an hour is almost a thousand rpm makes a huge difference on your hands and overall comfort.

I would agree with checking the tuning of the engine first for vibration issues. Ensure that the carbs are synchronized properly and that all of the valve clearances are equal.

I recently checked my valve clearance and found several to be on the tight side, resetting the clearance did result in noticeably less handlebar vibration (KZ900, stock bars in my case).

also if you are leaning forward putting alot of pressure on your palms it might have something to do with it. when i ride my mountain bike my hands feel like they are falling asleep. just another idea.

I have clubmans on my bike.
A couple of ways that my hands go numb are due to jacket , clothing cutting off circulation to the hands (due to bunching at the elbow) and the fact that all of your weight is forward on you hands.

I would try the lead weight solution if eveything else checks out fine. At least you can play with it a bit to suit your liking.

KR

timebomb33 wrote:

try going up a tooth on your front sprocket it will lower the rpm when your at crusing speed and maybe taking the engine out of that rpm range that causes the buzzyness. i use two seperate sizes of gearing depending on what i'm doing with the bike. one for riding like a tool and one for long rides and crusing around. the difference at 60 mile an hour is almost a thousand rpm makes a huge difference on your hands and overall comfort.

Timebomb,
What is the gear ratio you run on long trips, you posted it a few months ago but I forgot

Old post and probly ignored, but, numbness in my case is more due to wrist angle and weight distribution than vibration, to witt: I can ride my triumph, BSA, Matchless, "til by butt burns and vision blurrs, yet hands are OK. and yet, 4-5 miles on a smooth running sport bike can cause numb hands and tight neck. when riding position requires constant weight upon hands. just a thought. g

wes_scooter wrote:

also if you are leaning forward putting alot of pressure on your palms it might have something to do with it. when i ride my mountain bike my hands feel like they are falling asleep. just another idea.

All good advice but sometimes the rider is gripping the bike to hard and this will intensify the problem. I always try to remind myself to relax (especially, bar grip)when I ride. It does help. Although a solid mount motor does seem to add to the problem.

Kawickrice wrote:

My 650, 900 and GS1100 all do it to some extent. Usually around 4500 RPM is when mine is noticeable and tingly on the finger tips. I use fingerless riding glove with the padding on the palm for long trips and it help alot..... I haven't identified the reason on mine but most likely is I need to do some maintenance, but I ride frequently and rack up miles so I will do a valve adjustment soon and address all the yearly maintenance issues at once.... I also noticed when my fingers tingle I have a strong tight grip on the bars, if i loosen up it will go away. The position of your hands from drag bars also contribute. The position of your bars bending "UP" a little would kill my wrists because of the angle. Have you tried them pointed down to see if the angle of your wrist is more comfortable?

My gs 1100 doesnt do it, but my 82 ltd 1000 does.. ive got those same grips on my 1100