vibration and back woes on V Star 650, input?

[KingElvis]

I found floorboards helped with the positioning of your legs. If you buy the extra long ones you can change the angle of you legs once in awhile to relieve it.

I went from the Vstar without floorboards to the RoadStar with and I feel like I can ride forever now.

[canuckerjay]

Have you tried deading the handlebars? If you go to the local hardware store you can find some spray foam insulation for sealing cracks etc. around the house. If you take off the grips and fill the bars about 1/2 full of the spray foam insulation as it will expand as it dries it will greatly reduce the effects of vibration felt in your hands. P.S. be sure and throw a drop cloth /towel over the rest of your bike before doing this. Hope this helps.

How does this compare with filling the bars with bb's?

[blues2cruise]

I ride a V-Star, but it doesn't cause me any grief even though I have an existing hip and back problem. It may be because I am tall so I don't have to over extend my arms to reach the handlebars.

Would a Crossgel seat placed on the motorcycle saddle help to reduce vibration and also give a bit of added height to reach the handlebars?

If I was a short person I would consider having the handlebars changed to something that would be easier to reach.
Also, a 5'2" person may have small hands. The reach from the grip to the brakes may be long or the grips may be too big in circumference for small fingers.

[Sev]

Honestly you might consider a different style of bike. Like was mentioned above it's a result of the way you sit on the bike. With all of your weight straight up and down, which means every bump you(she) hits will literally compact her spine. This will be the worst at the base of her spine because of the added weight coming down.

The easiest solution would be to change the way she sits. Lower handlebars, pegs closer to her knees. But doing that sort of a thing on a cruiser isn't always an option. Ideally you'll find a way for her to be leaning forward, even if it's just a little. This will alleviate most of her lower back problems.

My aunt rides a v-star 1100, and she had the same problem. After installing a custom seat she still found that it hurt a lot to go on longer rides, but when she borrows my uncles goldwing (they take turns driving it on long trips) she doesn't have the same problem.

When I had the savage I'd start to get lower back pain after about 3 hours in the saddle. Now that I have a Hornet my "O Ring" starts to hurt after the same amount of time, but that's because of crappy padding