Total Motorcycle Community Forums

My bike is a small crusier a Kawa VN 500. I have a small windshield that is next to worthless. At speed I do get blown back, especially neck on up and shoulders/arms.

I was looking at my windshield yesterday and I think I can bring it up about 3/4 of an inch. Not much but its something.

The arm movement test is a good idea. We have regular gusts around me which don't help in the many open fields of corn/soybean that are just starting to get seeded. Not even a sprout yet so dust clouds are common.

Thanks for the ideas

I had the same problem, well, still do from time to time, but I was watching one of Nalian videos the other day and she commented on her friend doing the "Chicked Flap" with her arms, so i figured, what the heck, and started doing it the other day. I was really amazed at the difference it makes.
Going from a standard position to a sportier position, GS500F to a ZZR600, it really took some getting used to, but doing the arm flap thing, makes me work more on keeping my knees on the tank and my midsection a bit tighter than having all my weight on my hands and wrists.
Give it a try the next time you are out riding.

Crio

Buy a Powerball and use it daily. Helped me a lot. You don't need to buy one of the designer ones... just something similar.

darsek wrote:...grip hard with your legs...

Tight grip on a sportbike and a straight back are the best things in the world for comfort.

--Dave

Sorry, missed this prior to above post...

flw wrote:...VN 500....

I believe the VN500 has the same bars as the 454 LTD. They were a bit weird to get used to, but the bend in them makes wrist position fairly nice. You are likely just griping to hard. I still catch myself putting a strangle hold on the throttle.

Also, glove size can be an issue - see blues2cruise above - I have had gloves that were too short in the fingers, so when the "thumb crotch" was gripping the throttle, the gloves were pulling back on the fingertips. Try out some cheap mechanics gloves for a while. Make sure there is a bit of extra room in the fingertips and "scissor" your hands together between the thumbs and forefingers making sure there is no pulling at the tips.

Also on gloves, you might try finding something with a padded palm like bicyclists wear. Many lighter bikes (my 454 LTD and Ninja 500 included) can transfer a lot of vibration to the handlebars, which can make your hands numb on long rides.

--Dave