Throtle wrist has struck!

[Greb]

I think the bar angle is a problem. I may remove the alignment pins to open the bars up a few degrees.

Angle discussion and fix

 

[FightOrFlight]

You are not alone. I agree that the bar angle might be the main culprit, although this may depend a bit on rider size. Vibration, bar height, bar angle, whatever. But it has certainly been an on-again, off-again frustration with my '08 for my two months of ownership. I have had many bikes and never experienced wrist soreness or hand numbness. It's a shame, too, because there are many things about the bike that I like - this forum being the main one!

It's not an issue of me getting in shape or getting used to riding. It may be an issue of me getting used to the bike, but that is not an ante that I anticipated nor did I read about it pre-purchase. Since one of my main criteria was a sporty bike with long-distance riding comfort, hindsight may indicate that it was not the perfect choice for me.

FWIW, Throttlemeister heavy, grip puppies, bars closest to rider setting, Smitty TBS, V-Stream (awesome farkle), try to practice master Yoda position.

Bike ran great today on a beautiful St. Louis afternoon. But after just two hours of riding mixed terrain, my wrist didn't feel great and my right hand got a little numb. That shouldn't happen.

FredW - give me some philosophy.

 

[Greb]

You are not alone. I agree that the bar angle might be the main culprit, although this may depend a bit on rider size. Vibration, bar height, bar angle, whatever. But it has certainly been an on-again, off-again frustration with my '08 for my two months of ownership. I have had many bikes and never experienced wrist soreness or hand numbness. It's a shame, too, because there are many things about the bike that I like - this forum being the main one!
It's not an issue of me getting in shape or getting used to riding. It may be an issue of me getting used to the bike, but that is not an ante that I anticipated nor did I read about it pre-purchase. Since one of my main criteria was a sporty bike with long-distance riding comfort, hindsight may indicate that it was not the perfect choice for me.

FWIW, Throttlemeister heavy, grip puppies, bars closest to rider setting, Smitty TBS, V-Stream (awesome farkle), try to practice master Yoda position.

Bike ran great today on a beautiful St. Louis afternoon. But after just two hours of riding mixed terrain, my wrist didn't feel great and my right hand got a little numb. That shouldn't happen.

FredW - give me some philosophy.

I cringe a little when I read "Get used to the bike." Ride More" "Do wrist exercises". Etc. , I owned many other motorcycles that don't hurt my wrist, and currently commute on my Versys with no wrist pain. When I compared the two handlebars angle I realized that the FJR does pinch a nerve or something in my wrist that causes pain.

Early on I started dismissing the pain as an old football injury. Granted this injury will haunt me the rest of my life, but nothing brings it out like the FJR handlebar does. It is not the weight on the wrist because I grew into the FJR from sportbikes such as the R1 and GSXR and they never aggrivated my wrist injury.

If I were able to make a recommendation for Yamaha's future FJR upgrades; adjustable bar angle would be one of them. We are all different so what hurts one might be perfect for another. The bar angle would be a nice touch to add to the adjustable seat and bar distance.

I am going to try this angle mod and see if it helps me out, at least my hands don't go numb like others have reported.

 

[Dr. Rich]

I too have had difficulty with gripping the throttle too tight. I changed the bar angle with a xxx clamp and added Grip Puppies. I thought about releasing the spring on the center, but got a chance to feel one on an 07 that had the spring unwound one turn and the throttle did not return completely.

I believe that my problem is not the bike but my body size and shape. I am an old football player, 6'2" carrying about 250 lbs. Most of my weight is in my upper body and I have a tendency to put my weight on my wrists and handle bars. I find this especially so when I am riding fast or in traffic. Coming back from NAFO going through the desert in the dark in the very early morning, I got a severe center right rear shoulder hot spot and the hand was going numb. I was not using the Throttlemeister because I wanted to react quickly if I needed to avoid a deer or rabbit. (I have to laugh because I ended up getting hit by an owl).

When I got home I started to experience some numbness in the tips of my fingers.

I now use a spring loaded hand exercise grip while watching football or the TV at night. The other thing I am trying is... I consciously now try to focus on my grip when riding. I tried to figure out a way to hold the throttle with one finger and thumb and to rotate between fingers. Additionally I found that the Grip Puppies had an even gripping surface so I was applying too much pressure. My solution was to put some O-rings on the Grip Puppies. I now find I focus on which finger I am gripping with since it is associated with a ring. It hasn't solved my problem completely, but it has helped. I now find I don't grip as hard and I will change my finger positions every few minutes. Below is a picture of the grip with the O-rings on the Grip Puppies. I believe I used 1 1/4 inch ID O-rings.

 

[monk69]

Here's a link to alternative grips.

Check and size if they will fit,but they're out their.I've seen square ones on some bikes.

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yamaha-Hand...d=p4506.c0.m245

 

[Fred W]

You are not alone. I agree that the bar angle might be the main culprit, although this may depend a bit on rider size. Vibration, bar height, bar angle, whatever. But it has certainly been an on-again, off-again frustration with my '08 for my two months of ownership. I have had many bikes and never experienced wrist soreness or hand numbness. It's a shame, too, because there are many things about the bike that I like - this forum being the main one!
It's not an issue of me getting in shape or getting used to riding. It may be an issue of me getting used to the bike, but that is not an ante that I anticipated nor did I read about it pre-purchase. Since one of my main criteria was a sporty bike with long-distance riding comfort, hindsight may indicate that it was not the perfect choice for me.

FWIW, Throttlemeister heavy, grip puppies, bars closest to rider setting, Smitty TBS, V-Stream (awesome farkle), try to practice master Yoda position.

Bike ran great today on a beautiful St. Louis afternoon. But after just two hours of riding mixed terrain, my wrist didn't feel great and my right hand got a little numb. That shouldn't happen.

FredW - give me some philosophy.

I'll try... maybe not so much philosophy as just my experiences.

I thought the bar angle may have been a problem too. I have had heli bar risers on my '05 since about the 2nd week of ownership. I tried stacking a set of Lenkadapters on top of the Helis, which then allows infinite angular adjustment. I figured out that (for me) the angle wasn't a real problem.

I took off the Lenks and then this idea came to me: Most big windscreens cause a large vacuum behind the screen and many direct a hard wind blast up, over the top and back forward onto your back. This further accentuates and weight that you must support with your arms, or if following MYRP with the legs.

So I switched (back) to the stock wind screen mounted with a Rifle tuning block (equivalent to many other spacers). Now, when on the highway I can adjust the windshield down to allow a blast of air on my chest that helps push the torso up and back and instead of supporting weight on my hands, I'm actually holding myself from being blown backwards.

But the ultimate solution is in putting more miles on. The more I ride, and the more relaxed I feel, the easier it gets.

 

[Mackeroni]

I have been riding my new 08' for about 6 weeks now and just finished a 3 hour ride last weekend (brand new to riding, ride every day for a short time and am 54 years old). I am now have a very sore right wrist. I am 6'-1" 230lb and ride with helibar and bars in the rear position and also use a cramp buster. Was wondering if anyone else experiences this problem and also if the throttle spring release mod might help. At this point I think i just need to let it heal up beforre riding again. Kind of feels like carpal tunel syndrom. The Cramp Buster puts my wrist in a suponated (I think thats the right term...you know what I mean) position when opening the throttle at higher speeds which seems to be part of the cause of the problem.Please comment on the cramp buster and Throttle spring mod if you have had this same painful experience.

Thanks,

Greg

Do NOT unwind the throttle spring on your '08. Keep your Cramp Buster if you want, but you need to get a MADCo Sport Cam...or any throttle lock for that matter. Easy fix for cheap. I am 54 and have no problem with 800 mile days, as long as I can lock the throttle and rest my right hand from time to time.

 

[gsozz]

My new Corbin seat seemed to resolve the throttle wrist problem. The seat lowered my center of gravety and set me back about 2". This posiotion took the weight off my wrist's and I no longer have throttle wrist. At my age an aggressive riding position is probally a bad thing. I now feel like i am closer to a cruser position.

Greg