Motorbike good, numb tingly fingers bad!

Phoen1x · 23 Mar 2009 at 07:03

I had a day of DAS training on SAaturday which was fantastic, except that from halfway through the day i couldnt feel the thumb and forefinger of my right hand....I put it down to the vibrations through the bars and me gripping too tight.

The trouble is that the tingling and numbness is still there, and it's 2 days later...any bikers had similar problems, and if so how did you get rid of it?

Fireskull · 23 Mar 2009 at 07:36

I had this and it was gripping too tight, so instructors told me to relax and you hardly need to put a lot of pressure on the bars anyway.
It could also be down to gloves, if your fingers are pushing on the end, or you have the strap too tight on your wrists.

Shoei · 23 Mar 2009 at 07:48

What fireskull said.
Grip and gloves.
Tight gloves could be the main culprit.

Then again used to get that problem all the time when i had the "powervalve", just put it down to natural buzz of a 2-t.

Phoen1x · 23 Mar 2009 at 08:08

Thanks guys. May main worry is that it hasnt improved in the sleightest after 2 days, surely if it was caused by gloves or wrist straps etc it should have faded fairly quickly?

PardonTheWait · 23 Mar 2009 at 08:09

I'll just echo the above really, teach yourself to relax a bit. When I first passed my test I spent ages just riding around but it did make my hands hurt, once I relaxed a bit it stopped happening.

I read in Bike that a good idea is to find an empty road, then practice speeding up and slowing down without using your hands to stop your bodyweight shifting. Obviously they have to be on the bars, but use your legs and your stomach muscles to keep still.

MXers do it too with their legs, you get it much worse on an MX bike, your arms really pump up and hurt

Fireskull · 23 Mar 2009 at 08:26

Good point mohinder!

If you can get some practice in like mohinder said, in your own time practice stopping starting with out much grip on the handlebars, then move on to turning around figure of eights etc and it will get easier, my hand used to be white when I took my glove of lol, I used to grab the clutch side so hard haha

Flukester · 23 Mar 2009 at 08:29

As others said here deffo holding bars too tight maybe coupled with tight gloves, I get this when it's really cold out and if you have bad circulation it makes it even worse.

Just relax when on bike, and newer gloves will give and soon loosen up within a few hours...

If you not ridden a bike before and clutch is heavy non hydraulic type it will take a while to build up muscles in grip... until then it will be hard work in traffic.

Phoen1x · 23 Mar 2009 at 08:42

OK will live with it for the time being and try and relax more on my next lesson

its really annoying as holding anything is difficult and typing feels really wierd!

Nebzor · 23 Mar 2009 at 09:34

As a quick fix you could try and get some of those weird hand exercisers that you squeeze. It will allow you to take more pressure on your hands and so should relieve you of any associated handlebar and lever pain.

Of course the long term fix is to learn to have your arms completely relaxed on the bike whilst holding rather than gripping the bars. All weight transfer should be going through your legs and stomach onto the frame rather than through your wrists onto the bars (both for your joints' sake and for bike stability).

Dano · 23 Mar 2009 at 10:12

While it has been caused by either grip or gloves etc I'd suggest you go see your doctor as it hasn't gotten better in two days and that is not good and should certainly not have lasted that long.

(Google HAVS and Carpal Tunnel Synrone, and I am in no way saying you have it which is why I suggest going to see your Doctor)

Phoen1x · 23 Mar 2009 at 10:15

Yeah it's the time it's lasted that's worrying me, i have booked into the quack's tomorrow morning, hopfully its a trapped nerve or something that can be physio'd out...

Dr Jack · 23 Mar 2009 at 10:21

Phoen1x said:
I had a day of DAS training on SAaturday which was fantastic, except that from halfway through the day i couldnt feel the thumb and forefinger of my right hand....I put it down to the vibrations through the bars and me gripping too tight.

I hate to say it, mate, but that sounds like a medial nerve problem. Go and see your doctor.

Good news: it's probably mendable with a course of physio.
Bad news: if the bike is giving you that kind of problem; you might have to stay away.

Good luck; I hope I'm wrong

Magic_x_uk · 23 Mar 2009 at 12:08

Mr Jack said:
I hate to say it, mate, but that sounds like a medial nerve problem. Go and see your doctor.

Good news: it's probably mendable with a course of physio.
Bad news: if the bike is giving you that kind of problem; you might have to stay away.

Good luck; I hope I'm wrong

Ditto the above. See the Doc. Just to be sure.