Excessive vibration

I recently purchased a 1996 VFR with ~16,000 miles. It is quite the the bike. I have never owned a bike with this caliber of performance. I'm currently having one issue with it and would like to get the opinion of more experienced owners.

After riding for only 15 to 20 minutes my right hand goes numb. I assumed it might be a handle bar vibration issue and installed a new, heavier set of bar ends. Each end weights approximately 16.5 ounces. This cured the vast majority of the problem but there is still some vibration occurring because my hand still gets "tingly" after a while. You can not see the bar vibrating nor can you feel it. So I'm wondering if there is some type of adjustment that might have to be made. Do motorcycle tires go out of balance? Is there some other issue inherent to VFRs that may be causing this? Any input is very much appreciated. Thanks.

Mark

 

You could try a steering damper

 

Welcome to the world of vfr...

Are you wearing gloves? Try some gloves with a sorbathane or gel type palm insert to damp out the vibration.

How many years old are ya, and how long ya been ridin motorsickles? It may be some type of carpal tunnel onset.

Is any certain speed or engine rpm seem to be worse for wear? Got any idea on the frequency of the vibration? Wheel imbalance vibration is a low frequency on the order of 15 Hz, engine mechanical frequencies are higher, e.g. 6000 rpm is 100 Hz.

 

I have the same issue, Right hand gets tingly & goes numb.
I contribute it to possibly sub-conciously holding the bar/grip to hard, or age, so when it happens I will move my thumb over the grip & move the fingers till I get normal feeling again, & try to hold the grip lighter.

 

That wouldn't help in this case.

 

Kennybobby -

I'm 56 years old and have been riding for about 15 years. Most of my other bikes have been Honda CBs with the exception of a Sabre and this condition has never happened before.

I have not tried wearing gloves but intend to try as soon as I have time to get out. I found gloves on line from a company called QWI that claim to have gel strategically placed in the palm to dampen vibration. Have you heard of this?

If I had to guess, I'd say the vibration is mechanically in origin.

 

Hey mthomas i'm in your same age bracket and wrist condition. About 5 years ago started getting the numb thumb and nerve tingle in wrist when riding the ducati 916, but the seat is higher than the bars on those torture racks. Some bikes are worse than others, but it's probably not the bikes fault so much as the age of the pilot...

i have heard of the vibration damping gloves but i don't know any specifics, but i always wear motorcycle gloves when i ride and that helps, especially the thicker gloves in the winter. Raise the bars and get the weight off the hands if possible.

 

Hey Mark

I too had a similar problem with my last bike (a 97 VFR750) and it had Heli-Bars installed by the previous owner. On the suggestion of a friend, I removed the bar weights and filled the cavities of the Heli-Bars with sand. I was able to remove the bars from the fork tubes, turn them so the bar end side faced up and then poured in the sand. In order to not add too much sand I checked how much room I had left by inserting a small screwdriver through the threaded hole to ensure I had enough room left to thread in the bolt for the bar end. I also used a dab of gasket sealant in the positioning holes for the bar controls so that the sand wouldn't leak out and in to the controls. The sand absorbed almost all the vibration from the bars and made a world of difference. The only down side to this is that if you ever need to remove the bar ends in the future, be sure that you remove the bars from the tubes first and remove the bar end screws (gently tap the bars with a screw driver to dislodge any sand from the bolt threads) when the bars are oriented vertically. If you leave them on the bike, the sand gets stuck in the threads and then you have a whole other problem on your hands (go ahead,....ask me how I figured that out). I'm not sure if the stock bars are also hollow but if they are the same idea might work.

 

LOL, what did you come from? Harleys?

Anyway, try using a throttle rocker. Crampbuster Motorcycle Throttle Cruise Assist Rocker 2 | eBay

 

Zoom-Zoom:

Thanks for the response. It seems a logical solution.

Mark