Topic: Left hand on throtle because right hand gets numb

[dave500]

brains,,brains,,brains!!where the brains thread?

[750K]

I've got an Aussie made Enfield that was my dads, but I highly doubt I can fire that one handed and ride. I'm going to do my restricted permit this year so I see a handgun in my future at some point

[Terry in Australia]

I've got an Aussie made Enfield that was my dads, but I highly doubt I can fire that one handed and ride. I'm going to do my restricted permit this year so I see a handgun in my future at some point

Yep that would be a Lithgow Enfield, yeah? They still make rifles for the Aussie Defence Force in Lithgow, but nowadays they're "Austeyrs", Austrian Steyr's made under license in Oz. Not a bad weapon for Zombies, (and public servants, who have similar characteristics) and if you had one, you wouldn't need a handgun.

[750K]

I've got an Aussie made Enfield that was my dads, but I highly doubt I can fire that one handed and ride. I'm going to do my restricted permit this year so I see a handgun in my future at some point

Yep that would be a Lithgow Enfield, yeah? They still make rifles for the Aussie Defence Force in Lithgow, but nowadays they're "Austeyrs", Austrian Steyr's made under license in Oz. Not a bad weapon for Zombies, (and public servants, who have similar characteristics) and if you had one, you wouldn't need a handgun.

Yeah Terry, it's a Lithgow made Enfield. Unfortunatly it was Bubba'd up a bit before my old man got his hands on it, I'd like to get all the wood fore stock and sight guards back on it and restore it to original condition. It's a beautiful rifle, have a vintage leather case for it I plan on strapping to my 750 and riding with it to a buddies cabin. I should get some looks around here with it strapped to my CB, haha.

[Terry in Australia]

I've got an Aussie made Enfield that was my dads, but I highly doubt I can fire that one handed and ride. I'm going to do my restricted permit this year so I see a handgun in my future at some point

Yep that would be a Lithgow Enfield, yeah? They still make rifles for the Aussie Defence Force in Lithgow, but nowadays they're "Austeyrs", Austrian Steyr's made under license in Oz. Not a bad weapon for Zombies, (and public servants, who have similar characteristics) and if you had one, you wouldn't need a handgun.

Yeah Terry, it's a Lithgow made Enfield. Unfortunatly it was Bubba'd up a bit before my old man got his hands on it, I'd like to get all the wood fore stock and sight guards back on it and restore it to original condition. It's a beautiful rifle, have a vintage leather case for it I plan on strapping to my 750 and riding with it to a buddies cabin. I should get some looks around here with it strapped to my CB, haha.

Ha ha indeed. Back in the 1970's I bought a couple of used military rifles from a gun shop in Melbourne and carried them home in their bags on a Train, if I tried to do that now, I'd be surrounded by the SOG (SWAT) and once the courts had finished with me, they'd heave me in jail and throw away the key! I've got an 1985 Mauser that someone in Germany or Austria "Sporterised" many years ago, which is a bit of a shame, but it does look pretty cool, just the same. Cheers, Terry.    

[camelman]

I see a bigger issue here.  If you are riding with a lot of weight on your handlebars, then you are doing yourself a disservice and asking for a crash if your bike ever gets out of control.  No one is perfect, and I regularly find that I am riding with weight on my handlebars, at which point I do me best to relax my arms and hold myself up with my body.  As soon as I do that, my hands feel 100% better and any numbness starts to wear off.  I'm willing to bet that you are riding with a lot of weight on the handlebars, which is causing your hands to go numb.  Changing where you apply that weight (throttle aids and big foam grips) can help alleviate that numbness, but the real issue of overloading your arms still remains.  That being said, a carb return spring can be too stiff, which will contribute to the issue.

Back to the issue.  You don't want weight on your handlebars when you are riding.  Handlebars aren't there to hold you up, but rather to hold the controls for the bike and to give you something to turn the wheel with when you are coming in and out of a turn.  If you keep your weight on the handlebars when you are turning, then you end up forcing the front end DURING the turn which is counterproductive to control, suspension and your safety.  This also applies to braking, which you should NEVER do with full force on the handlebars.  I'll explain the braking situation and let you figure out the rest of it on your own...plenty of good books out there about how to ride a motorcycle.

Braking on a motorcycle can get dangerous if your front tire looses traction.  In that situation, the tire will slide.  If you have no weight on the handlebars, then the angle of the tire will remain constant in comparison to the motorcycle since there really isn't much of a moment to make it want to turn.  In this situation, the bike will stay in a straight line and come to a stop (unless you have it leaned over pretty far).  However, if you are leaning on the handlebars, then the wheel will turn immediately in whichever direction it is turned the most causing you to endo or high side the bike.  Similar effects cause discomfort and ambiguity in the handling of the bike when turning.  Any racer on this forum has learned this concept and will keep weight off the handlebars as much as possible.  Do this by clamping the bike with your legs, use your elbows on the tank, thighs on the sides of the seat, chest on the tank... you get the point.

A lot of riders talk about how many years they have been on a bike and how much they have learned.  However, if you aren't actively learning how to ride a bike, then you are just reinforcing bad habits every time you get on the bike, which doesn't help you improve.  Learning about body positioning and correct weight distribution on a bike makes the bike incredibly more safe, you more comfortable and the ride more enjoyable.

I hope this helps you figure out a solution to get over the numb hand issues.

Camelman

[Spanner 1]

Just another JOKE thread ... OP has not been back , has made only the first post and now @ 30 replies.... just what the jokester wanted... hehe

[Retro Rocket]

Just another JOKE thread ... OP has not been back , has made only the first post and now @ 30 replies.... just what the jokester wanted... hehe

Reply 12 as well Spanner....

[vance]

 http://www.casporttouring.com/store/merchant.mvc?store_code=CST&screen=PROD&product_code=168

Get one of these and be done with it. Problem solved.

[HondaMan]

I see a bigger issue here.  If you are riding with a lot of weight on your handlebars, then you are doing yourself a disservice and asking for a crash if your bike ever gets out of control.  No one is perfect, and I regularly find that I am riding with weight on my handlebars, at which point I do me best to relax my arms and hold myself up with my body.  As soon as I do that, my hands feel 100% better and any numbness starts to wear off.  I'm willing to bet that you are riding with a lot of weight on the handlebars, which is causing your hands to go numb.  Changing where you apply that weight (throttle aids and big foam grips) can help alleviate that numbness, but the real issue of overloading your arms still remains.  That being said, a carb return spring can be too stiff, which will contribute to the issue.

Back to the issue.  You don't want weight on your handlebars when you are riding.  Handlebars aren't there to hold you up, but rather to hold the controls for the bike and to give you something to turn the wheel with when you are coming in and out of a turn.  If you keep your weight on the handlebars when you are turning, then you end up forcing the front end DURING the turn which is counterproductive to control, suspension and your safety.  This also applies to braking, which you should NEVER do with full force on the handlebars.  I'll explain the braking situation and let you figure out the rest of it on your own...plenty of good books out there about how to ride a motorcycle.

Braking on a motorcycle can get dangerous if your front tire looses traction.  In that situation, the tire will slide.  If you have no weight on the handlebars, then the angle of the tire will remain constant in comparison to the motorcycle since there really isn't much of a moment to make it want to turn.  In this situation, the bike will stay in a straight line and come to a stop (unless you have it leaned over pretty far).  However, if you are leaning on the handlebars, then the wheel will turn immediately in whichever direction it is turned the most causing you to endo or high side the bike.  Similar effects cause discomfort and ambiguity in the handling of the bike when turning.  Any racer on this forum has learned this concept and will keep weight off the handlebars as much as possible.  Do this by clamping the bike with your legs, use your elbows on the tank, thighs on the sides of the seat, chest on the tank... you get the point.

A lot of riders talk about how many years they have been on a bike and how much they have learned.  However, if you aren't actively learning how to ride a bike, then you are just reinforcing bad habits every time you get on the bike, which doesn't help you improve.  Learning about body positioning and correct weight distribution on a bike makes the bike incredibly more safe, you more comfortable and the ride more enjoyable.

I hope this helps you figure out a solution to get over the numb hand issues.

Camelman

You're right on the money there, Camelman: this is the biggest reason the once-popular handlebar-mounted fairings have all but disappeared today. They had as high a fatigue rating as no fairing, added noise into the rider's face to boot, and wore the steering head bearings (balls and races) VERY quickly. When I worked on lots of touring bikes, I always noticed that the Bates fairing-ed bikes, a popular (spelled CHEAP) handlebar type, always accompanied loose steering bearings, a cracked windshield, and nearly unused front disc brakes on the Fours. Riding behind one unnerved me, after I started with the Vetters. The frame-mounted ones cause almost no handling input (but for the extra 12 lbs), and stabilize the bike in Kansas-like crosswinds very nicely.

[Terry in Australia]

Hmmmnnn. While I agree that a "natural" riding position with no weight on the handlebars is ideal, nowadays, unless you ride a "cruiser" style bike (which presents it's own set of problems) it's slightly unrealisitic to assume that you can even buy a bike where you won't be placing some weight on the 'bars.

Ride any modern sportsbike and you'll be placing a large amount of weight on the bars, you can't avoid it, your high "rearset" footpegs and low bars dictate the seating position, and while they're a pain (literally) at slow speeds around town, the wind pressure at highways speeds (and race speeds, of course) forces your body back, and takes a lot of the weight off your wrists and shoulders. Still not ideal, but better, and modern sportsbikes handle so much better than our old beasts, there really are no comparisons to draw.

BMW was the first manufacturer to mass produce motorcycles (the iconic R90S) with a handlebar mounted fairing, which produced no "odd" handling traits, and (to my knowledge) no early wearing out of steering head bearings, but of course, BMW have installed tapered roller steering head bearings, wheel bearings, swingarm bearings, etc since the 1940's, so this may well be the reason. I took the large frame mounted fairing off my R100RS and installed an R90S fairing one summer, and liked it so much, it stayed on the bike until I sold it 8 years later.

Heavier frame mounted fairings are largely responsible for steering head bearing wear, collapsed fork springs, blown fork seals, excessive tire wear, and if the fairing wasn't designed for a particular bike, quite often "quirky" handling, particularly in high sidewinds. Cheers, Terry.        

[Retro Rocket]

Gday Terry, have you ever ridden a Katana for any period of time, my wrists ached from riding from Cronulla to Tilba Tilba on the NSW south coast, all your weight is on your hands unless doing stupid speeds....My GSXR1100 was far more comfortable, if thats what you could call it....

[Terry in Australia]

Gday Terry, have you ever ridden a Katana for any period of time, my wrists ached from riding from Cronulla to Tilba Tilba on the NSW south coast, all your weight is on your hands unless doing stupid speeds....My GSXR1100 was far more comfortable, if thats what you could call it....

G'Day Mick, no mate, I wasn't a fan of the big Kats when they first came out, although I've grown to like the styling. My GS1000S "Wes Cooley Replica" with it's handlebar mounted fairing and "Superbike" handlebars was one of the best long distance (and city riding) bikes I've ever owned, and handled better than any big Jap bike of the 1970's. Sadly I sold it a year or two ago, but I've still got my GS1000E, and it's pretty much the same bike. I'd love an old GSXR1100J or K, along with an FZR1000, ZZR1100, etc etc, I just need another garage to store them all in, ha ha! Cheers, Terry.

[grachman]

Hmmmnnn. While I agree that a "natural" riding position with no weight on the handlebars is ideal, nowadays, unless you ride a "cruiser" style bike (which presents it's own set of problems) it's slightly unrealisitic to assume that you can even buy a bike where you won't be placing some weight on the 'bars.

Ride any modern sportsbike and you'll be placing a large amount of weight on the bars, you can't avoid it, your high "rearset" footpegs and low bars dictate the seating position, and while they're a pain (literally) at slow speeds around town, the wind pressure at highways speeds (and race speeds, of course) forces your body back, and takes a lot of the weight off your wrists and shoulders. Still not ideal, but better, and modern sportsbikes handle so much better than our old beasts, there really are no comparisons to draw.
     

I have clubmans and rearsets, with wrist and back problems.  This is why I like my tank bag so much.  When I got it for a trip up the coast, I decided to leave it on all the time.  It's the perfect fit to lay my chest on.  Between my tank bag and my throttle lock, my riding position is so comfortable I could easily sleep in the position...which might be a danger in itself.  I actually don't have much weight on my bars at all, and my wrist and back feel fine on day rides.

As for freeing up your hand for rifles...can't ya'll shoot left-handed??

[redgalvin]

On long rides I regularly use my left hand on the throttle, no problem, even in turns. Trust your brain. Even an old brain learns fast.

[Terry in Australia]

As for freeing up your hand for rifles...can't ya'll shoot left-handed??

Yeah, but those ejected cartridge cases are frickin' hot when they go down the neck of your jacket!

[750K]

As for freeing up your hand for rifles...can't ya'll shoot left-handed??

Yeah, but those ejected cartridge cases are frickin' hot when they go down the neck of your jacket!

I'm a lefty actually, so shooting zombies from a bike will be easy as pie. The wierd thing is I can shoot a handgun equally well with my right as with my left, bolt action rifle now that's a different story.

[rhinoracer]

As for freeing up your hand for rifles...can't ya'll shoot left-handed??

Yeah, but those ejected cartridge cases are frickin' hot when they go down the neck of your jacket!

I'm a lefty actually, so shooting zombies from a bike will be easy as pie. The wierd thing is I can shoot a handgun equally well with my right as with my left, bolt action rifle now that's a different story.

I can't believe you guys talking about shooting zombies from a bike.



Everybody knows zombies move real slow so you could actually be standing and use both hands to shoot (provided you have two guns).

[Terry in Australia]

As for freeing up your hand for rifles...can't ya'll shoot left-handed??

Yeah, but those ejected cartridge cases are frickin' hot when they go down the neck of your jacket!

I'm a lefty actually, so shooting zombies from a bike will be easy as pie. The wierd thing is I can shoot a handgun equally well with my right as with my left, bolt action rifle now that's a different story.

Ha ha, my wife can shoot a handgun equally badly with her right as with her left mate, but I'm thinking that once the Zombies rise to threaten the living, one of those WW2 German half track motorcycles with a Spandau machine gun (or GPMG M60) fitted would be ideal, particularly if the highways are blocked and you need to go cross country?

I must visit some museums around Melbourne and locate one so I know where to go when Hell opens it's gates and unleashes the Zombie hordes against the righteous!

And Rhino, this is a bike related thread, so please try to stay on track mate, I hate it when someone hijacks a thread!  Cheers, Terry.    

[rhinoracer]

And Rhino, this is a bike related thread, so please try to stay on track mate, I hate it when someone hijacks a thread!  Cheers, Terry.

    

[scrapvalue]

The early harleys were all dead man throttle, no return spring.
You twisted back to go and twisted forward to slow down.
If your bike has the 2 throttle cables then it has the push pull system already in place.
The push cable was installed so you could shut the bike down if the spring broke.
So anyway, just remove the spring and you will be golden, or dead. 

[Old Scrambler]

This thread has more curves than the Dragon...........but I like curves!

I have used my left hand for a throttle-break from time to time......but prefer using a lighter spring on the carb and the throttle-tension setting on the bar.  I have tried the the hand-rests but always think they will be in the way if I have a panick moment.

In the early '70s I became quite good (1 out of 10 vs 0 forever) at shooting a 22-cal wheel-gun with my left hand while riding an SL350 in the upper Mojave in California. More than a few rabbits and one sidewinder felt hot lead while I was riding my iron-horse. I wish I could say I learned to shoot by watching Jingles through some lead on the TV westerns, but actually it took a few boxes of ammo before I got my first rabbit........and the snake was coiled after I rode over it and I had stopped about 20-yards away......but it was still a good shot!

Terry......some of those WWII crawlers may have been a Zundap......but the Africore used all BMWs.

And now back to the main theme........If your not hugging the tank when riding with low bars your asking for trouble. I don't TURN my front end, I navigate corners by leaning and weighting the foot-pegs. Counter-steering should be natural and hardly felt.....very little weight on the bars.  Suggestion to the auther, if you don't ride everyday, maybe squeezing a tennis-ball during phone calls would help.