beavers

On a slightly related note, I took a test ride on an R6 a few weeks ago. For the longest time I thought I would enjoy riding pure sportbikes (hadn't ridden one before), but boy was I wrong. Just too cramped. Maybe if I get my back muscles in shape and used to the position, and if I start doing alot of trackdays, I'd add one to the stable. But for commuting or weekend pleasure rides? Worst tool for the job.

Can't believe I ever wanted one of those things. Definitely gave me more perspective on the awesomeness of the VFR. :)

I have a Tourmaster Transitions Jacket. I can't speak for its durability because I have not had it long enough. I has great ventilation! but might be to hot during the summer months. Its a heavy jacket. Its an awesome jacket when it gets cool. Close all the vents and no wind gets through. I have ridden in driving rain in it and got a little wet, I have also ridden all day with off and on showers and have stayed completely dry. I would say it waterproof qualities are pretty good not great. I also scotch guard it for what it is worth. They come in a variety of different colors and you can get the pants to match. Worth checking out. I believe there are youtube videos also of the jacket.

+1 on the Tourmaster Transition, I've got the same jacket and it seems very durable, but only had it for two years.

Of course, others have mentioned AeroStich, who are well known for their high quality and durability, so you surely can't go wrong there either.

[ . . . ] if you try to hold the bars like a baseball batt it's going to miss-aline your wrist........ but if you change your grip angle on the bars to somewhere between a batt and a golf club, you'll have the best of both worlds. That's what I do and my wrist are straight(up/down/left/right).

Try out the grip puppies! I put some on, just to try, and really like them! You ordered them, put them on right away!

I followed Monk's advice (without moving the bars), and have been consciously adjusting my grip on the bars to be more golf-club-like. Just that change alone has improved the situation by about 80%. Much less pain. I quit using the crampbuster, since it was mostly just getting in the way.

So eventually I'll pop those grip puppies on and hopefully that'll be the remaining 20%. (Haven't ordered them yet, just stuck them on my Amazon wish list - my local cycle store doesn't carry them.)

What's the "stock" bar angle? Here's what mine look like now, they're pretty much rotated inward as far as they will go. The switchgear comes within less than an inch from the tank on both sides.

I'll probably try rotating them outward a bit this weekened just to see what the effect is on the wrists.

IMAG0033

IMAG0035

Two I would check into are grip angle and holding on too hard. Check the alignment angle of your forearm and hand. If there is a twist here as you line up on the bike, I can see that would be cause for pain, particularly if you are "locking out" your elbows.

I'll have to check on the bar angles, hadn't thought of that before. Thanks!

As far as your throttle being hard to turn (don't know which bike you have) try turning it with the key off and see if you can turn it with a very loose grip (that's what one that is working properly should be able to do).

Is there something that would cause the throttle to be tougher to turn while the engine is running? Can't think of anything off the top of my head, but I'll definitely give this a try.

(Strange, my user profile is all of a sudden blank. FWIW, I've got an '06.)

Another wrist-pain sufferer here, looking for relief. I've gotten control of my body position for the most part, relying more on my lower back muscles to keep my weight off the wrists, and that's helped some. Plus, I just test rode an R6 the other day and had no pain at all, so I'm tentatively ruling out body-position as the culprit.

I tried out a crampbuster for the past few weeks. That's helped some on the slab, but the thing moves around alot and tends to get in the way around town. I'm ordering a set of grip puppies, and have some hope that those will help, too.

Is there any way to install weaker throttle / return springs? I have it in my head that the grip is just too difficult to twist/hold.

These things only work when the wheel is spinning fast against with an imperfect centre of rotation. In other words, dynabeads won't work on a tire balancing machine because it's too rigid and they won't work on a static balancer because that's just mind numbingly dumb.

For dynabeads (or any similar technology) to work, the wheel has to be both spinning and bouncing up and down. It is the act of bouncing up and down that causes the beads to move around and settle in the position that causes the wheel to self-balance.

Color me skeptical, but a product that can't be tested empirically doesn't get my vote. I certainly understand why a static balancer wouldn't make these things work, but I'd think putting the wheel on a dymanic balancer and giving it a good spin would make them work as advertised.

Also, how do you know how much weight of these things to put in?

Shoei RF-1000. It's the only thing I could find that even remotely fit my head correctly, and it's very comfortable. My head seems to be longer front-to-back than average. I find it a little loud though, even with earplugs in.

Half-a-VTEC muffler? WTF?

+1

...and why'd they move it down? Get the thing out of the way of that beautiful wheel! Otherwise, what's the point of even having a SSSA?