WTF is wrong with my fingers?

[Septimus]

After 500 miles of riding over labor day weekend, my fingers feel like they're going to fall off.

They were fine until the last day - the longest ride of about 170 miles at once, almost all highway. It's now a couple days later and if I close my hand into a fist, there's a sort of dull, throbbing pain. It's not at all serious - barely even a nuisance -- but has this happened to anyone before? I try not to have a death grip on the bike, but it seems like a couple hours of vibration could be responsible.

Am I doing something wrong? Or is this just something you get used to?

[jonnythan]

After 500 miles of riding over labor day weekend, my fingers feel like they're going to fall off.

They were fine until the last day - the longest ride of about 170 miles at once, almost all highway. It's now a couple days later and if I close my hand into a fist, there's a sort of dull, throbbing pain. It's not at all serious - barely even a nuisance -- but has this happened to anyone before? I try not to have a death grip on the bike, but it seems like a couple hours of vibration could be responsible.

Am I doing something wrong? Or is this just something you get used to?

I think it's a brain tumor.

[Septimus]

Oh, okay. So long as I'm not doing anything wrong I guess I'll just go about my regular busin

*thud*

[Ian522]

Is it your clutch hand or throttle hand? My right hand/forearm does get sore after a long highway ride from having to constantly hold the throttle open. You could get something like a throttle rocker to allow you to have a much looser grip.

If its your clutch hand thats sore, maybe your clutch cable could benefit from a good lube. Does the clutch feel stiff?

[Septimus]

It's both hands, though the clutch hand a little less so.

[jstark47]

At least "dull throbbing pain" is a feeling. Wait 'till you start getting pinched nerves in your shoulders and wrists, and end up with no feeling in your fingers!!

This is when you start repeating: motorcycling is fun, motorcycling is fun, motorcycling is fun.......

[Wrider]

It might just be a pressured nerve... Happened to me one time when I rode a friend's supersport, had a tingling that lasted a few days because the nerve was getting crushed...
Wrider

[Flesher]

I think it's a brain tumor.

It's nawt a tooma


It's from the vibrations, try some gel padded gloves, or just gloves if you normally don't wear any.

[flynrider]

I think it's a combination of the vibration and your putting to much weight on the bars. That puts a lot of pressure on the muscles and nerves between your thumb and fingers. A bit more padding in the gloves might help, but your best bet is to adjust your riding position to ease the stress on your hands. That shouldn't be too hard on an EX500, since it has a fairly straight-up riding position.

[Septimus]

Yeah, I think it's just me making sweet love to the handlebars a little more than is appropriate. It's strange - after riding every day for the last week and a half and putting 500 miles behind me, 2 out of 3 times I feel a healthy mixture of confident and caution on my EX. The other 1 out of 3 there's still a part of me going 'omg wtf are you doing where are the doors on this vehicle'.