numb fingertips - Ducati.ms

freezer16801 · May 7th, 2011, 9:43 pm

ever since I changed to zeta bars, I've been experiencing numb fingertips. After an hour of riding, I can barely use the brake because my throttle hand gets no chance to rest.

I've been making a point to keep a light grip. This has helped but not nearly enough. I also changed grips to rizoma copies. This also helped, but not enough.

Has anyone else had this problem and found a solution. I am planning a 5 hour ride in a week and I'd love to be able to make the trip more comfortable.

el tardo · May 7th, 2011, 9:47 pm

harmonic vibration. i heard of this with dirt bikes,how much lighter was the new handle bars? you might laugh but i heard of people filling the bars with silicone to take away the vibes,or some sort of bar weights

Shazaam · May 7th, 2011, 9:52 pm

Handlebar vibration dilemma - Streetfighter

Rob H · May 7th, 2011, 10:19 pm

I've had good results from Spider grips with my Zeta bars... Spider Grips SLR Grips - Street Bike - Motorcycle Superstore

zekiel · May 8th, 2011, 10:06 am

You could also get yourself a throttle rocker. It's cheap and you just rotate it out of the way when you're in twisties and then rotate it back into place for slabbing.

I have Spider grips too and between that and the rocker which I can mount and pull off in seconds, I'm all set.

AXE · May 8th, 2011, 10:16 am

On the Gen 1 Yamaha FZ1, we had buzzy stock bars. Someone came up with the idea to add some #8 lead shot used to reload shotgun shells into the entire length of the bar. It worked for that bike and definitely reduced the vibes and buzziness. If you can find someone that is a shotgunner (trap and skeet or hunter) that reloads you could buy about 20 ounces and filler her up. Also, the heavier bar ends were helpful.

There were a lot of other attempts such as the bar snake, filling it with expaning spray foam, grips, etc. They didn't work as well.

Out!

freezer16801 · May 8th, 2011, 11:22 am

I have the throttle rocker. I haven't used it in a while. I may throw that back on there for my trip. I will then try filling the bars with shot, silicone, or something. Everywhere I've been reading keeps boasting about the barsnake. I may try that eventually.

Sadly, I will part with the grips as a last resort. I only do a few long trips/year, so I would rather deal with numb fingers than have the foam grips.

finepooch · May 8th, 2011, 11:45 am

i battled numb hands for over ten years, on all my bikes. i tried everything:

vibes:
filled bars with silicone, not much improvement.
got heavy bar ends machined out of ss and that killed the bad vibes. i have since bought the heavy bar ends from luckybike.com. i love the heavy weight bar ends and now put them on all my bikes, needed or not.

grip:
oury grips, not much improvement but i like them anyway.
throttle rocker thingy, i like it and it does help because you can loosen your grip.

doctor:
and finally, my solution was seeing a doctor. i had carpal tunnel surgury and that fixedme up! woohoo!

freezer16801 · May 9th, 2011, 8:23 pm

I shouldn't have carpal tunnel. I will check luckybike's ebay store to see if they have any weighted bar ends that would work.

Can you find me a link with bar ends similar to what you are using?

zekiel · May 9th, 2011, 8:48 pm

dunno if this brand would work but they look pretty cool, the Motovation universal fit bar end weights. I'd post a link but I think the rules don't allow it.