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I have been making a concerted effort to not strangle my handle bars,and I think I have loosened my grip, but, my hands still get numb while I'm riding, is this common?is there something I can do about it?

thanks

I find that occasionally just wiggling my arms - while holding on of course - like you are shaking them out will help you ease the death grip. I tend to do it at speeds over 45. I've only been riding for a couple of months. That and just keep reminding yourself to relax a bit.

I spent a lot of last summer without feeling in my outer fingers of my right hand when riding. I would lose the feeling within 10 minutes of starting a ride. I play keyboard instruments, and it would carry over there, too. Not good.

Turned out to be related to posture issues with my shoulder involving tension. Discovered this by trial and error. The adjustments in posture to release the tension were minor - I have a bad habit of hunching my shoulders a little when tense. When I became more aware of what I was doing with my shoulders, the problem gradually went away.

oxbow1 wrote:I have been making a concerted effort to not strangle my handle bars,and I think I have loosened my grip, but, my hands still get numb while I'm riding, is this common?is there something I can do about it?

thanks

most start out hanging on to the bars for dear life, its a typical natural response, it will pass right into the other extreme of taking your hands off the bars and sitting up right for a few secs (one of my bad habits as im approaching lights etc etc).

Depending on what my bike is doing, the surfaces im on, and amount of time riding, I can climb off with feeling in my hands and fingers like ive had an angle grinder in my hands for an hour. One of the curses of riding a V-Twin.

Ive been told, diff' gloves and diff' bar grips can make a difference, to how much vibrations transfer through your hands.

put very short thumb tacks inside of your gloves pointed towards your hand

I'm a new rider too, and had the same issue. I felt like I was going to bend the bars I was holding on that tight. I've been riding since May, but now, I'm not so bad. When I start feeling tense, I just take a deep breath in and tell my self 'I'm a hot biker', and relax. I know it sounds silly, but I really enjoy the scenery and watching people's eyes when they find out i'm an older woman riding. The problem I have is on the throttle. I tend to hold my wrist down and then let up to get it even. I'm not sure if this is a bad habit or not, but it's usually when I'm accelerating on the highway is when I notice it the most.

Hope this helps some. Just try to relax and enjoy the ride.

oxbow1 wrote:I have been making a concerted effort to not strangle my handle bars,and I think I have loosened my grip, but, my hands still get numb while I'm riding, is this common?is there something I can do about it?

thanks

I've got similar issues. But I think it is partially stress related since on some of my commutes (1.5 hours min) I don't have a problem at all.

RhadamYgg

Newby death grip is very common...you're on a Nighthawk, right? Grip the tank with your knees a little more, and that will help you take some weight off your hands and will help with the grip.

Every so often my clutch hand gets a bit numb and tingley but my throttle hand never has any circulation issues. Maybe because I keep on top of the clutch with an open hand position so than my left palm has to absorb some of the weight. But I can't complain because it's very easy to let go of the left handlebar and shake it out every so often. But if I focus on sitting up straight, tightening my core/abs, and gripping the tank with my knees, I lessen the weight onto my arms and wrists.

But after riding for a couple hours, I really begin to miss standard ergonomics.

Some bikes have a lot more buzz in the bars than others. If that is the case you can try foam rubber grips that helps some. If it is just a death grip time will take care of it. Posture is a really big one. The bike I am riding now has bars like a Texas longhorn and puts me in an oh so slightly off position that I am getting some numbness. Gonna go ride for six days next week that will tell the tale.