Hello Every1
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Posts
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What’s up? I just bought my first bike and took it out for the first time today. I had a blast but for some reason my right wrist is killing me now. Could it be because of over use since it is the throttle side? I do have carpal tunnel. In no way does this discourage me though. I cant wait to read about every1 elses adventures.
Many people grip the bars too tightly at first. Even during a crash you want to stay loose and try to land butt first. I practiced this a lot when I rode dirt bikes from 8 to 15 years old.
For my long trips 2-3 times a year, I take an extended release ibuprofen or acetiminaphen (Advil or Tylenol are the more expensive brands) timed release pills designed for arthritis use, to keep my back from getting as sore.
A friend of mine rides an R1 on long trips and does computer maintenance for a bank (lots of keyboard work), and had to have surgery in both of his wrists for carpal tunnel- a sport bike is harder on your wrists than a cruiser.
It could be you just did too much in one day for being new to riding.
Hi Newbie,
Jeff is right, you are probably gripping the bars too tightly. Even though that is the throttle side, you barely have to hold on at all to keep it where it should be.
If you relax your grip, and there is still pain make sure that you are not using your arms to keep you up, on sport bikes this compresses the wrists, causing pain, on cruisers this can over-extend the wrists, causing pain. It is best to use your core (abs & back muscles) to keep you upright. I don’t think this is the case since it is just your right wrist that hurts, but something to keep in mind.
If all else fails, look at getting a Cramp-Buster, I’ve heard varying reviews on how well they work, but they all say it works.
Enjoy the ride
If you are riding a sport bike, be sure to use your legs to help keep your body posture. Leaning to heavily on your wrists is going to cause discomfort. Also being new to riding, you do develop a bit more muscles to help stabilize yourself. Try and think of any other time in your normal life that you are holding into a bar for hours at a time. Make sure when you just start out to try and keep your rides shorter. Don’t try and get the iron butt award right when you first start!
Looking now at your profile pic I’m assuming you actually ride a cruiser (I’m guessing maybe a Honda Magna 500 or maybe a Suzuki Boulevard s40??? Too small of a pic to tell). So the sport bike advice isn’t going to help you, but maybe someone else will find it useful. So my best guess is that it is a combo of 2 factors. One, you unconsciously have a death grip on the throttle and are holding your wrist tightly in a bent position. Secondly, the vibration is numbing your hand and helping to make it more sore. You want to be loose enough while riding to be able to swing your elbows like you were doing the funky chicken at any time. When you are new to riding it happens all the time that you are holding on way too tight from nerves. For a while you will have to consciously remind yourself to loosen up. Slowly but surely it’ll get more comfortable.
Thanks for all the advise. it’s been more than a week and the pain is still there….not as bad but it still is. I have ridden one more time since then and I found myself doing just what bigguy suggested-continuously reminding myself to not grip so tight. It’s getting a little bit better. And the pic is of a suzuki gz250. It’s my first bike and I didn’t want anything too powerful. i looking into getting something bigger around July of this year.
Thanks again.
I learned on a GZ250.. awesome first bike (IMHO)..
I had the same problem NB. I found that I can actually hold the throttle in place using the palm of my hand while gripping with my index finger and thumb. I stretch out the other 3 fingers and it seems to help, both with not gripping to tightly and stretching some of my hand. Not sure if that helps, or even makes sense… Best of luck!
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