touring

[Guest Eric123]

I have two questions. The first is what is the best settings for the rear suspension for two up touring. My girl and I went out this weekend and I adjusted the rear two one click each of the compression and the re-bound. I couldn't really tell the difference, but it seemed okay. She isn't that heavy and we didn't have any luggage. I am assuming with more weight the stiffer the set up?

 

Second, I have noticed that after the first half-hour or so, my palms begin to hurt (especially around my thumbs) and I have to stop and message them for a bit, and then seem to be okay. This weekend seemed to be especially bad. Should I invest in some type of new grips, or is the problem related to handle bar position. My back seems to be okay, but this hand pain is kind of a kill joy. I am going on a long trip in a few months and want to have the problem rectified.

[G.POLEGATO]

Hi,the handlebar vibration is a problem with my bike too. Try a set of a GEL handlebar grips, is not a total solution but your raids is littlebit good. #60

[Alex-Corsa]

: Try a set of a GEL handlebar grips, is not a total solution but your raids is littlebit good

 

Yep that's also grips I have,

[mdude]

I have two questions. The first is what is the best settings for the rear suspension for two up touring. My girl and I went out this weekend and I adjusted the rear two one click each of the compression and the re-bound. I couldn't really tell the difference, but it seemed okay. She isn't that heavy and we didn't have any luggage. I am assuming with more weight the stiffer the set up?

 

Second, I have noticed that after the first half-hour or so, my palms begin to hurt (especially around my thumbs) and I have to stop and message them for a bit, and then seem to be okay. This weekend seemed to be especially bad. Should I invest in some type of new grips, or is the problem related to handle bar position. My back seems to be okay, but this hand pain is kind of a kill joy. I am going on a long trip in a few months and want to have the problem rectified.

 

 

If you lean passively on the grips with the palm of your hands you'll cut the blood circulation to the fingers and go numb, that will be the result no matter how much you manage to get rid of vibes. Try to sit a bit more actively: real close to the tank, straight back, legs gently pressing against the tank and hold the bars a bit more gently with your fingers rather than grip them hard like a baseball bat. On the longer runs I have no more problems with numbness after I adjusted my grip and riding position.

Fatter grips might help also, but it really is mostly down to how you grip the bars.

Proper setup of TPS and TBs will help to reduce vibes.

 

With regards to the rear suspension, the right way to stiffen it up is to adjust the preload on the rear spring under the seat/tank (its fairly easy), turning up on comp and rebound will only make the damping stiffer and has no effect on ride height, which is the real issue when riding with pillion. Too stiff damping will make for a nervous and uncomfortable ride quality. Adjusting preload will also make the bike a lot more responsive wr. to steering inputs.

[waspp]

I found after adding a set of new higher bars the numbness in my hand has drastically reduced. Befor the new bars i could only ride 20 min and my hand felt like a huge numb lump! Now thats gone and I only suffer slight numbness after a an hour or so of riding. I couldn't believe the difference it was a real unexpected benefit of the bars, which by the way I got from a group buy on this board from Jean Marc. I think the higher position relieved some of the pressure on my palm, whatever it was it its a whole lot better. When I go two up with my wife I click my shock up about 5 clicks, but my bike is equipped with the Ohlins shock.

 

waspp

[richard100t]

I'd recommend the foam handgrips. They have a larger diameter & are much softer & help to reduce the vibes getting to your hands. The bonus is that they're relatively cheap @ around $10, so if you dont like them you can just throw them away.

 

I bought a set & I really like them.

[mdude]

I found after adding a set of new higher bars the numbness in my hand has drastically reduced. Befor the new bars i could only ride 20 min and my hand felt like a huge numb lump! Now thats gone and I only suffer slight numbness after a an hour or so of riding. I couldn't believe the difference it was a real unexpected benefit of the bars, which by the way I got from a group buy on this board from Jean Marc. I think the higher position relieved some of the pressure on my palm, whatever it was it its a whole lot better. When I go two up with my wife I click my shock up about 5 clicks, but my bike is equipped with the Ohlins shock.

 

waspp

 

the dark side of adding higher bars is that your bum will take up more weight/vibes. for some, read: for me, that will be a lot more painful than a numb finger or two. I find the sporting bars a LOT better on long runs than my previous sit-up-and-beg BMW, because the weight gets more evenly distributed between hands, bum and feet (and of course the gut, which rests nicely on the tank )

 

but actually, sitting correctly on a bike is a tecnique which has to be practised and tested. a lot of us men are sitting like a sack of beans: rounded backs, belly out, leaning on the shoulders (the gorillalook...). its a passive position, which make fast corrections slower. look at the women who ride bikes, they adopt nearly at once a more correct and less testing posture with a straight back and low shoulders.

why do I know? because I ride mountainbikes in marathons, and if your riding position gets wrong in a race (because of fatigue or injury...), it will make you cry in pain like a little baby after 30 miles.

[Guest Eric123]

the dark side of adding higher bars is that your bum will take up more weight/vibes. for some, read: for me, that will be a lot more painful than a numb finger or two. I find the sporting bars a LOT better on long runs than my previous sit-up-and-beg BMW, because the weight gets more evenly distributed between hands, bum and feet (and of course the gut, which rests nicely on the tank )

 

but actually, sitting correctly on a bike is a tecnique which has to be practised and tested. a lot of us men are sitting like a sack of beans: rounded backs, belly out, leaning on the shoulders (the gorillalook...). its a passive position, which make fast corrections slower. look at the women who ride bikes, they adopt nearly at once a more correct and less testing posture with a straight back and low shoulders.

why do I know? because I ride mountainbikes in marathons, and if your riding position gets wrong in a race (because of fatigue or injury...), it will make you cry in pain like a little baby after 30 miles.

 

I have been thinking that a lot of the problem may be due to improper riding position and that death-like grip I sometimesd put on the grips in certain situations. I noticed that the "gorilla look" was killer on my back--but when I was closer to the tank and more upright, I had no back pain at all.

[nose2wind]

I have been thinking that a lot of the problem may be due to improper riding position and that death-like grip I sometimesd put on the grips in certain situations. I noticed that the "gorilla look" was killer on my back--but when I was closer to the tank and more upright, I had no back pain at all.

 

I agree with most advise given here. I might add that if most of your discomfort is from riding with pillion not solo. Consider this. When I ride with a pillion sometimes the rider is leaning on forward and transferring additional weight to your hands. More so if you are riding aggressive and using the brakes at stops etc.. Something that has worked for me is to instruct the pillion to reach around your waist and put her hands on the back of the tank. This will remove and lessen the weight transfer when on the brakes or downhill etc..

She won't be able to do this all the time, just when riding aggressive.

 

Also adjusting the preload is very important as mentioned earlier. On my bike with pod filters I can just reach in and turn the spring.

 

Hope this helps

 

dv

[Orson]

A tall lanky guy will fit the bike better while a shorter person might have to stretch out more to reach the bars and place more weight on his hands.

 

In that scenario, bar risers might help.

[guido]

With the clip ons, if your hands or your back hurts, chances are you are going too slow for the sitting position.

On my V11 i need to do about 150km'h for the wind to take the weight off the steering. On my Breva, with high

wide bars, it becomes uncomfortable above 120 owing to wind pressure. horses for courses. I don't think this is caused by vibration.

[Guest Eric123]

A tall lanky guy will fit the bike better while a shorter person might have to stretch out more to reach the bars and place more weight on his hands.

 

In that scenario, bar risers might help.

 

 

well, I am about 5' 11'--kinda medium height I guess

 

I agree with most advise given here. I might add that if most of your discomfort is from riding with pillion not solo. Consider this. When I ride with a pillion sometimes the rider is leaning on forward and transferring additional weight to your hands. More so if you are riding aggressive and using the brakes at stops etc.. Something that has worked for me is to instruct the pillion to reach around your waist and put her hands on the back of the tank. This will remove and lessen the weight transfer when on the brakes or downhill etc..

She won't be able to do this all the time, just when riding aggressive.

 

Also adjusting the preload is very important as mentioned earlier. On my bike with pod filters I can just reach in and turn the spring.

 

Hope this helps

 

dv

 

 

Yeah, I did notice that my girl was leaning forward into me and that pushed me further into the bars. I am going to do some solo riding and see what happens with different body positions and lighter graps on the bars.

 

Thanks, all of the information has been terrific

[zoltan c]

We just got back from a weekend trip to Vancouver Island British Columbia and I can tell you that when you ride with a passenger on a V11 it won't be too comfy for either one of you. My wife figures that becase the seat is slanted forward and the passenger pegs are high it is difficult for her to keep from leaning on me. She tries to brace herself on the tank when she can but you can't maintain that for very long. The road to Tofino on the West Coast was very twisty, I got to ride it on the way there solo, and we rode it back two up. 140 km of motorcycle riding bliss.

[Guest Eric123]

We just got back from a weekend trip to Vancouver Island British Columbia and I can tell you that when you ride with a passenger on a V11 it won't be too comfy for either one of you. My wife figures that becase the seat is slanted forward and the passenger pegs are high it is difficult for her to keep from leaning on me. She tries to brace herself on the tank when she can but you can't maintain that for very long. The road to Tofino on the West Coast was very twisty, I got to ride it on the way there solo, and we rode it back two up. 140 km of motorcycle riding bliss.

 

 

I hate to admit it but you may be right. She has long legs and found them getting cramped after a while. She says that they are bent pretty good when she is up there. I have some more exploring to do to see if I can rectify this problem.

[waspp]

I hate to admit it but you may be right. She has long legs and found them getting cramped after a while. She says that they are bent pretty good when she is up there. I have some more exploring to do to see if I can rectify this problem.

 

Uhhhh.... what exactly are we talking about here?

 

waspp