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My aching hands!

By Bil,
in CRF450X

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Bil

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Just bought lightly used '05 450X and love it.. Rode a lot when younger, but very little in the last 10 years (I'm 38). A couple of questions, my hands (not so much my forearms) get very tired when riding. Never remember this when riding when I was younger.. I pay attention that I am not griping the bars too tight but I guess the soreness comes with age. It is to the point I have to rest them while riding.. Anything I can doto help with this?

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Blue Hawaii

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Agreed about the suspension upgrades. I've also had a bit of success with fitting a 12" piece of 3/8" i.d. flexible hose to the end of a tube of clear silicone sealant in a caulking gun. I stuck the end of the hose halfway into the bars and started filling, working the hose in and out slightly while filling the entire inside of the handle bar with the clear silicone. Repeat for the other side. Over fill the ends of the bars and trim them flush when the silicone hardens. If you have bark busters, stop filling where the inserts go.

Edited by Blue Hawaii
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Grand Master

FORMA MOTO

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Just bought lightly used '05 450X and love it.. Rode a lot when younger, but very little in the last 10 years (I'm 38). A couple of questions, my hands (not so much my forearms) get very tired when riding. Never remember this when riding when I was younger.. I pay attention that I am not griping the bars too tight but I guess the soreness comes with age. It is to the point I have to rest them while riding.. Anything I can doto help with this?

If you haven't been riding for a while, you will need to re-condition your hands. If I stop for a few months, it takes 3 rides to get my hands back to a reasonable level.

If you have stock suspension, you are probably holding on tight enough to keep the bars from wrenching out of your hands....when you hit square edge bumps, and g-outs....that the suspension is not taking care of.

At least change the 5 year-old fork oil, but ideally, re-spring and re-valve the suspension for your riding type and weight. Sounds expensive, and it isn't exactly free, but it will transform the bike.

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mzeroultra

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...

If you have stock suspension, you are probably holding on tight enough to keep the bars from wrenching out of your hands....when you hit square edge bumps, and g-outs....that the suspension is not taking care of.

...

+1 on the suspension. I was in a similar situation. Finish a ride and my hands were sore and numb at times from the jarring and hanging on for life. After getting my suspension worked... rides are comfortable, less (almost no) arm-pump and my hands no longer ache.

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BajaBoundMoto

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Not an inexpensive upgrade, but the Fasstco Flexx handlebars are amazing.

IMO they are on par with suspension upgrade and possibly better depending where you ride and your size/height.

After 36 years of off-road abuse (43 now) my wrists aren't great. Those bars are like getting 20 years back. When I ride a Taper type bar for a few hours my wrists ache for at least a few days. With Flexx, nothing.

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dakynz

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1. ride more

2. pillow top or renthal kevlar grips are my favorite

3 when riding you are probably gripping to tight. Make a effort to release your grip when you ride as many times you will stay Clinched for long durations and it builds up lactic acid thus causing cramps and/or fatigue.

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Grand Master

kanyonkritter

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So what's the trick for not feeling like your sitting on a saw horse all day?

Standing......and for the arm pump...seat time, seat time, seat time and try griping the bike with your legs more and relax your grip but it really boils down to seat time.?

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BigRichard

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Just bought lightly used '05 450X and love it.. Rode a lot when younger, but very little in the last 10 years (I'm 38). A couple of questions, my hands (not so much my forearms) get very tired when riding. Never remember this when riding when I was younger.. I pay attention that I am not griping the bars too tight but I guess the soreness comes with age. It is to the point I have to rest them while riding.. Anything I can doto help with this?

I know exactly what you are talking about. I rode very little in my 20s (service and then college). When I got back into it, I noticed I couldn’t hold onto the bike for very long. My riding ability hadn’t changed and I wasn’t out-of-shape; yet I could only ride hard for about 15 minutes before I needed to rest my hands. It probably took me a year of riding to condition my muscles before I felt comfortable on long rides.

Working out doesn’t hurt, but it is no substitute for riding. It’s the same thing with arm pump. People that ride once or twice a week never complain about arm pump.

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upcominZ

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If you have the cash, I would get a steering damper. I just installed a GPR V4 damper, and it really helps with the hands and forearms. You don't have to grip the bars as tight b/c they are not bouncing around as much. And, you don't get all the vibrations, the damper stops them.

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Fisher Seats

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So what's the trick for not feeling like your sitting on a saw horse all day?

? They do resemble a saw horse. We rework all kinds of dual sport seats for that reason. You can soften the saddle by installing new foam inserts or drill large holes on the bottom of the foam. Most comfort comes from rounding the edges and widening the mid to back area.

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dolfinfan

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So what's the trick for not feeling like your sitting on a saw horse all day?

A new seat. There are some cheaper options highly toted on TT and some not so cheap but seem sweet.

A few links I got from TT.

http://www.crfsonly.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/138_139/products_id/1846

http://www.durelleracing.com/pb/wp_3db425b1/wp_3db425b1.html

http://www.corbin.com/honda/crf450x.shtml

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dolfinfan

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I had this on my first ride last month. I had been down since last April recovering from a bad broken hip. After the first day of riding my hands were killing me after ever 15 minutes of hard riding. I finally took a brake let my hands catch up and then just worked on not gripping hard and also trying to let go completely when the trails allow. After a day of riding I was ok due to the change of grip style and getting used to it. So there you go, saddle time and maybe checking how your holding on too.

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