Numb hands

[yankeefan4life72]

When I ride for awhile my right hand becomes numb, it always goes away when I stop to take a 5 min break.......execpt for today.My right index finger and thumb are still numb and I havent rode in 5 hours.Do you expierience this as well?How do you prevent this?I have renthal bars and good renthal hand grips and good gloves.Would a steering damper help??Any suggestions are very welcome.Thanks again

 

[Rhodester]

I have a similar problem. You can either fill the hollow part of your bars up with silicone or buy a product I believe is called the Bar Snake. These are 2 tricks to reduce handle bar vibration.

 

[kirkray1]

I had the same problem discovered my gloves where to tight after searing the web found out mergrathhad the same thing happen to him tried it problem solved

 

[Green Hornet]

Stretch your writs, hands before riding. I believe your holding to tight. Ride slower at first to get the old man bones warmed up, like I do. Could be vibration, but more likey panic grip.
Hang Loose my Brother :)

 

[muddy226]

I think its just vibration, the same thing happens to me and I don't grip very tight. I filled up the bars with silicone sealant which has improved the problem somewhat, but interestingly this doesn't seem to be as effective on the pro-tapers I'm currently using as it was on standard Renthals. I think maybe the cross brace on the small bore bars might be absorbing some of the vibration which the single tube of the pro-tapers doesn't. Also, gel grips help, although I think the proper answer would be for all bars to be rubber mounted.I use a chainsaw quite a lot and since all have had anti- vibration springs or rubbers have had no problems with "white tip" or numbness.

 

[jakenepa]

this may happen to most riders, i find the more relaxed your hands are on the grips the less the numbness

 

[yankeefan4life72]

I know I have an "OH **** GRIP" but cant seem to stop it.any suggestions?

 

[dales298]

I went to Renthal full diamond grips in medium compound and found they helped grip my gloves so I didn't have to. Add a gripper seat cover and you won' have to worry about having to hold on so hard. Both are cheap to try out before you try more expensive stuff like bars and stablizers. They will help also but what worked for me the best (armpump is my problem) was the seat and grips along with learning when I needed to hold on and when to relax some.

Dale

 

[kdennan]

I forget the name off-hand, but Shane Watts runs some kind of "flex" bar. He's the badass Ausie who rips the enduro world on a KTM 200. He was plagued with injuries for the past two seasons and is coming back strong with the addition of the new bars. I read the article in dirtbike a few issues back. My buddy has a problem with his wrist and we have the exact same set up on identical 220's. (protapers w/ Doug Henry bend and the clamps turned around) I will look it up and get back to you.

 

[yankeefan4life72]

thanks for all the help

 

[kdennan]

dirtbike October 2005, page 88---- Article on Wattsy's ride. " Fasst Companies Flexx bar really suits Watsy. The damped handlebar (run with the softest durometer inserts) lessens the shock to his upper body." Watts then says; "After five minutes of riding with the Flexx bars I don't notice the additional flex in the bar. I definitely do notice the shock that is transferred when I go back to using "stock" bars."

 

[actarus]

Booh for carpal tunnel syndrome

I've experienced that my hands, after doing some grinding job for about a month, were getting numb. I refered myself to a doc and he told me I had the carpal tunnel syndrome. That syndrome is created due to repetitive vibration. I know that there's a wrist support that can be used in normal life but I don't know if it can be used to ride your bike ... FYI

 

[Green Hornet]

Oh Yeah, Grap the bike w/your knees also.

 

[jakenepa]

whats up with turning the bar clamps around, is this something i should do with factory bars?

 

[kdennan]

If you are pushing 6' or more than you definitely want to turn the mounts around. That will give you an additional half inch of room. Plus it raises the bars slightly since you are also moving up when you move forward. Another mod recommended from Canadian Dave's website for tall/aggressive riders is to get a Ceet, tall foam. It will fit under the stock seat skin. Just make sure you use T50 staples that are 6mm tall. I have ridden my new 220 set up stock and have done the bar spin and seat foam. BIG DIFFERENCE! The bike feels awesome and really lets me get up close to the tank to hammer corners. Make sure that the arrows on the clamps face the gas tank when you spin them. Tighten the clamp ends closest to the tank first, then the top ones to factory specs. I would also switch to new bars w/ CR high bend or Doug Henry (Protaper) while you have the kit apart. Don't ride that rig with out ditching the stock/steel bars IMOP.

 

[Lambkawi]

I believe that if there is to much pressure on a nerve in the hand that it can cause numbness. One of my riding buddies used to get this when we rode mountain bikes. Specialized puts out a glove to help this. Or they used to at least.

 

[OldDirtKDX]

NumB Hand

I had a similar problem for years. Numd thumb and first two fingers. Sometimes it would go away and sometime it would last days.Tried Multitudes of bars, grips, levers, Etc. Even filled one set with lead shot. The mass reduced the vibes to almost nill. At this point weight wasn't a concern anymore! Went and saw a Doctor and he said it was carpal tunnel syndrom. Did the arthroscopic surgery and never had the problem again! You might want to check it out.