Pins & Needles

JohnnyCrash

Hi guys, a quick one. Just back to biking after a lay off of approx 26 yrs.Prob is, I get bad pins and needles in my hands after a short while. Thought it might have been tight gloves so bought another,softer pair.Still the same.Tried bare handed,still pins and needles.Any ideas???? Bike is a 97 Fazer 400

MikeC101

Is it in both hands equally, or noticeably worse in your throttle hand?

Might be you're holding the throttle too tightly if it's worse in your throttle hand. Could be you're holding too tightly with both hands, try and relax your grip as much as possible.

Could also be your seating position - you might be putting too much weight on your hands / wrists, and that could be the cause. Solutions could be gripping the tank more with your knees to take some of the weight of your wrists, and / or adjusting the clutch lever and brake to give you a better position, raising / lowering the seat (maybe getting an aftermarket one) and raising the handlebars.

If it's excessive vibration that's causing it, you could maybe add aftermarket foam grips to dampen it a bit.

Rosahane

26 years layoff, same as me when i started back eight years ago:D

The pins and needles are down to either vibration in the handlebars or bad blood circulation.

If it's the circulation, try doing some hand and arm exercises as you go, wriggle your fingers and flex your arms.

However, it's more likely to be vibration coming through the bars. Can you feel vibration at a certain revs - probably the revs you cruise at in top gear. If so try cruising at higher or even lower revs and see if this makes a difference. Change your riding position slightly to vary the pressure on your wrists. If your insurance covers you, try riding somebody's elses bike to see if it makes a difference.

Sids Not

If none of the above works for you.......you're old, get over it.....:D

Then go and see a chiropractor..;);)

Ratchet

softer grips maybe and more bike trips

blackbird98

I'd agree with MikeC101, bend your arms slightly at the elbows relaxing them, don't keep them straight. I'd reckon that you're putting too much weight on your wrists/grips

JohnnyCrash

Cheers for replies guys,much appreciated.Was aware that i might have been holding on too tight,but even when i just rest my hands open on the grips,still get them. As for vibration,cant feel any noticable. Thats not to say there isnt any though!! Gave a mate of mine a spin, and the one thing he did say was that the bike was a bit "LUMPY". What does this mean in lay mans terms??? Could this be causing the problem??? Cheers again in advance.

honeybadger

same thing happens me when im out on my bike when im wearing gloves,,my right hand goes numb and gets the pins and needles but when im riding without the gloves on,it dosent affect me at all

Ratchet

JohnnyCrash wrote: »

Cheers for replies guys,much appreciated.Was aware that i might have been holding on too tight,but even when i just rest my hands open on the grips,still get them. As for vibration,cant feel any noticable. Thats not to say there isnt any though!! Gave a mate of mine a spin, and the one thing he did say was that the bike was a bit "LUMPY". What does this mean in lay mans terms??? Could this be causing the problem??? Cheers again in advance.

you will also get pins & needles when using e.g. orbital sander ......it would happen less if you were suing it more often....may sound funny but its true

i get "pins" after long drive from my Vtwin vibration but brothers YZF just sends more vibration through foot pegs instead of handle bars...it feels like foot massage....but I dont notice it anymore

bike can run lumpy on tick over or when driving and can happen up to certain RPM....it may give you impression that not all cylinders are firing o or there is bit of hesitation or jerk

scudster

If you dont have bar end weights or if you do they might be too light. Try a heavier set and see if that works. I lost one of mine a while back and there is a noticable difference from one hand to the other.

JohnnyCrash

Cheers again for replies. Yeah,bike doesnt take off cleanly,but when opened up its fine. Whats the cure??? Also,Scudster,re bar end weights,are they fit on the ends of the grips?? So thats what they are,ha ha

af_thefragile

Reminds me of the Top Gear episode where the guys go from London and Edinburgh and towards the end Hammond gets completely wrecked on his Vincent Black Shadow...

Wossack

can try a few things alright

heavier bar end weights as suggested

I presume the stock bars on a fazer4 are steel ones? An alloy bar (renthal, LSL, rizoma etc) have a tiny bit more flex, so dont transfer as much buzz into your mitts

If its your seating position putting too much weight on your arms / gripping too tight, you can try a different position (if possible), sitting further forward -into the tank- etc. The old chicken-arm-dance is a good indicator if your hands are gripping too tight (basically, you should be able to loosely 'flap' your arms/elbows at any stage of your riding, even during breaking and cornering). Possibly need to squeeze the tank more with your knees to transfer weight off your hands - theres a product called stompgrips which is supposedly the dogs doodlies for helping with that


your mate saying the bike is lumpy, is probably refering the fueling causing the bike to deliver power a bit unevenly - as in in 'lumps of power'. When was it last serviced? Does it have an aftermarket exhaust on it?

skelliser

Not to be alarmist but i would go to the doctor and get yourself checked out. Pins and needles in your hands could be a sign of many nasty things and if your health is ruled out as the cause then you know its the bike or your sitting position.

JohnnyCrash

Skelliser- im in pmo,:D
Wossac-dont know when it was last serviced,but im getting it done anyway. Aftermarket exhaust,im not sure. "Looks" like the one should be on it!!

razor_ryan

JohnnyCrash wrote: »

Hi guys, a quick one. Just back to biking after a lay off of approx 26 yrs.Prob is, I get bad pins and needles in my hands after a short while. Thought it might have been tight gloves so bought another,softer pair.Still the same.Tried bare handed,still pins and needles.Any ideas???? Bike is a 97 Fazer 400

@JohnnyCrash
White Finger is what it's called quite common with people who use any type of machinery which cause's high vibration's look it up on Google plenty of info about this problem

mattblacktiger

one other thing to consider is hunching your shoulders on the bike or what your riding position is.
I just did an Iron butt ride of 1500 miles in 36 hours here stateside and suffered from the same problem.
The nerves in your shoulders can become compressed and it can lead to tingling in your hands or hand.
The nerves for your hands and fingers pass through a small opening in your shoulder and staying either tensed for too long or hunched over can compress the muscles down and squeeze the nerves and lead to tingling.
I ended up massaging the neck and shoulder muscles and it hepled a lot but still took a week to fully go away.
Try doing some stretching when you get off the bike and even before you go for a ride and see if that helps.

razor_ryan

skelliser wrote: »

Not to be alarmist but i would go to the doctor and get yourself checked out. Pins and needles in your hands could be a sign of many nasty things and if your health is ruled out as the cause then you know its the bike or your sitting position.

@skelliser

Drama Queen

CrazyRabbit

Quite common for new motorcyclists as far as I know. Had the same issue myself for the first 2 weeks or so. I guess the hand just isn't used to vibrations and pressure, but quickly adapts.

I'd only worry of the pins & needles remained for some time after you have stopped driving.

JohnnyCrash

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

Quite common for new motorcyclists as far as I know. Had the same issue myself for the first 2 weeks or so. I guess the hand just isn't used to vibrations and pressure, but quickly adapts.

I'd only worry of the pins & needles remained for some time after you have stopped driving.

They dont remain,no. A couple of fist clenches and they're gone. Im prob stuck with them so:eek:.I only use the bike on the odd occasion,I like the comfort of the car too much:D