Did 160 miles today on the '99

One word...OUCH. Most of the riding was on Skyline Drive which is 35-40mph for a couple hours, then another hour or so at 55 on the way back.

Oh my poor wrists. Way too much weight on my hands. I have HeliBars on order, hopefully they will get rid of that problem.

My butt! Fine for a couple hours, but holy cow things got serious coming back home. Again, probably need a Sargent seat, like the Mustang on my Magna.

Oh well, every bike needs to be tweaked. Interesting thing though, the previous owner rode the bike all the way to California and back from Virginia. My hat's off to that guy.

EDIT: And it's weird seeing 1/2 tank left after 120 miles on the odometer. I'm used to gassing up every 90.

 

whats wrong with your wrists ? when i ride for more than two or three hours my hands go numb ? do the Heli bars realy work ? i wish sargent made a seat for my 86 vfr700f

 

You will not go wrong with the Sargent seat. I just put one on last week and noticed an instant difference. I also put a little better grips on (ProGrips).

 

I put the ProGrips on already. The Honda dealer had them in the cruiser section. Considerably fatter than stock which is good since my hands are pretty large.

I'm really hoping the HeliBars will get rid of the numbness. If not I may have to re-think the bike.

 

Chris: Don't give up on the bike... if you haven't done 160 or even 100 at one go, then it's tough. Imagine being a couch potato, then suddenly going to the gym and working out hard for two hours, then wondering why you ache. It will take some time... neck, shoulders, wrists, butt... work up to it. You exercised a bunch of stuff that may not have been worked before, and going the hills on Skyline, on the breaks, with a passenger, is tough on lots of bigs.

My first week was tough on my 6th gen, but the dailey 100 something mile (60 mile one-way plus twisty breaks on the way home) commute to DC was cheaper than the bar-backs. Also, hugging the bike with your legs and using your back&abs to hold the upper body off your wrists helps. (edit to acknowledge MD got this point up sooner) I ride with the balls of my feet on the pegs to help "stand" my shoulders off the bars better. Moving your pelvis up against the tank will help too, but you need to raise up for bumps on the road.

The bar-backs will do the trick, but remember you are still *riding* the bike, not driving.

I haven't been on Skyline for awhile, but would be up for the ride out there if you go again.

 

I do actually have a throttle rocker, which helps some. Stole it off my Magna actually.

I don't know what I was thinking...should have taken it instead of the VFR on those slow roads. We took some pictures of my bike that I'll try and upload once my friend gets them to me. One in particular turned out really nice.

Oh, I was the only one on the bike that day, no 2-up.

 

You have to constantly remind yourself to use your abs to keep the pressure off your wrists. 350 miles (this number is different for everyone) with the stock bars and seat is cake with a little practice on your touring technique. Look up some sites like the Iron Butt Association and read their tips. Lots of good stuff to use.

Keep trying.