Numb fingers .... HAVS etc .....

[jacro]

Had same problem. Reset your throttle by switchin on ignitionand turning throttle full open and close twice slowly then start bike.
I also pulled bars back about an inch and numbness went.

 

[TLSgazza]

As already stated a couple f times, Jono will set it up for you. I bet the tyres aren't helping. What tyres are on there?

I wondered about tyres as well
Just put TKC80's back on mine for the easter rally in Belgium
Makes everything vibrate like fook
Can barely read the clocks at 80 MPH.
As for low speeds its like riding over hundreds of mini speed humps.

 

[exit speed]

Interesting thread. I suffer from whitefinger which was caused by 20 years of operating single cylinder landscaping equipment. Cold and excessive vibes bring it on.It will be interesting to see how the fingers react to the 1150 after the silky smoothness of the Pan. (silky smooth but boring like all the Hondas I've owned)

 

[Bobbin-Man]

Update from me .... I've now found my underlying problem is Raynauld's Syndrome ..... it's closely related to HAVS.

Whether the bike has triggered it or not I don't know, but both my mother and brother suffer the same. I've investigated and discovered it's related to core body temp and on the bike it's quite easy to get cold - if my brain senses my torso is a little cool the blood vessels in my fingers go into spasm and restrict the blood supply, keeping the blood for the important bits! Reduced activity adds to the problem. Also doesn't help that I've lost a couple of stone in the last year and I need to adapt to wearing a little more when it's cold!

It's even been triggered sat at my desk late one evening when the heating in the office had gone off! Keeping my hands warm doesn't actually help - went skiing in Feb and found that as long as my body stays warm and active, it doesn't matter how cold my fingers get.

Result is that if I make sure I wrap up well on the bike - there's no issue. Going a little light on clothing and the tingling starts followed by full numbness - heated grips on full and winter gloves do absolutely nothing!

Stu.

 

[exit speed]

Update from me .... I've now found my underlying problem is Raynauld's Syndrome ..... it's closely related to HAVS.

Whether the bike has triggered it or not I don't know, but both my mother and brother suffer the same. I've investigated and discovered it's related to core body temp and on the bike it's quite easy to get cold - if my brain senses my torso is a little cool the blood vessels in my fingers go into spasm and restrict the blood supply, keeping the blood for the important bits! Reduced activity adds to the problem. Also doesn't help that I've lost a couple of stone in the last year and I need to adapt to wearing a little more when it's cold!

It's even been triggered sat at my desk late one evening when the heating in the office had gone off! Keeping my hands warm doesn't actually help - went skiing in Feb and found that as long as my body stays warm and active, it doesn't matter how cold my fingers get.

Result is that if I make sure I wrap up well on the bike - there's no issue. Going a little light on clothing and the tingling starts followed by full numbness - heated grips on full and winter gloves do absolutely nothing!

Stu.

Thanks this explains a lot for me. This is helpful. I have exactly the same experience with heated grips. I row throughout the winter and don't need gloves because my core is staying warm. I just need to get a heated jacket=sorted

 

[Myke Rocks]

Several items regarding your numbness.

On my previous bike, a DR800, I always found the little fingers went numb on long trips.

I studied the angle of the handlebars in relation to my hands in the clenched position, and noticed that all of the pressure was on the little fingers.

I removed the grips & levers from the bars, and slid a length of pipe over them to bend the tips of the bars back until my grip pressure was spread naturally over all 4 fingers of each hand.
(I rotated the bars in the clamps to get perfect contact in the other plane)

When I had done so, I found the bar position a little strange for around the first 2 hours, because I no longer had to lean forward as much.

To look at the bike, the change in bar position was not noticible.

The result was a transformation. I never subsequently suffered numbness.

A change such as this may help relieve your symptoms.

Other thoughts.
BMW fitted a balance shaft to these engines, but even a primary schoolchild could work out that a single balance shaft mounted below the crankshaft cannot overcome the rocking couple generated by the crankshaft. It takes two contra rotating shafts (1 above & 1 below) to kill the rocking couple.
All BMW have done is to change the characteristics of the vibration.
The balance shaft fitted quarters the amplitude of the vibration, and multiplies it's frequency by a factor of four.

Myke

 

[ghiribizzo]

Get yourself an Exo2 vest. Keeps the core temp up so you don't have the cold body but toasted hands on the grips.
I mounted the controller on the lhs bar, never use it more than 6/9 even in -4C temp.
Cut out a lot of the wiring length so it plugs into a socket on lhs upper BMW socket. No probs running it through canbus wiring. PM if you want pics and buying details...

 

[Bobbin-Man]

Just Googled the EXO2 vest It's claimed to be waterproof so I'm actually tempted to get the full jacket version to fit inside my Dainese D-Dry jacket in place of the waterproof inner - might be a solution to keep the bulk down and warmth up!

www.exo2.co.uk appears substantially the best pricing.

Stu.

 

[hiup]

I was looking to fit some risers to my 2008 GSA to help cure problems I get in my right hand. I have suffered from completely numb fingers and that's just not safe.
I looked at different risers and came across Rox Bar Risers on the ADVenture riders site. Rox do a 2'' riser which is full adjustable to give you height and can bring the bars back towards the rider. They also do some which are rubber mounted to combat vibration.
Have a look here http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/31550745 and then look up 'Rox Risers' on the net and you will see the types that they have to offer. I found a UK outlet in Suffolk. Look up 'The Adventure Bike Shop' on the net.
I fitted the rubber mounted risers last weekend. So far I have only ridden for about 120 miles but the vibes have not been a problem. The risers fitted with minimal problems although I did have to adjust cable ties to achieve maximum 'give' for cables and brake hoses.
The anti vibe risers cost me £134.99 and I believe 'The Adventure Bike Shop' had more in stock.
(Note that I have no association to this dealer). I will post another report once I have ridden more miles with these risers in place.

 

[WindyChuffer]

Heated clothing plus handlebar muffs will keep you toasty. Would recommend Gerbing as their jacket has heated arms and collar too.

Your bikes clocks should not be vibrating so sounds like one or both wheels need balancing.

You might also want to get your riding position looked at. The are called grips, but you aren't suppose to grip them. Dropped shoulders, elbows in, loose upper body etc.

M.

 

[grumpy]

How about inserting a about 4-5 inches of solid steel rod into the ends of your handlebars, the rod wants to be a close fit and just tacked in with silicone sealant, I would sugest that the rod be drilled at one end and threaded so if you wish to remove them a bolt can be inserted and gripped to pull them out, this idea took out some of the vibes I had on a Harley

 

[Bendy toy]

Thread resurrection warning!

I also have problems with handlebar vibration. Has anybody tried Rox anti vibe bar risers or even Flexx handlebars. The latter look great but work in the vertical plane. Will that stop the vibration of an 08 GSA? They are a lot of money to just try and hope

Rox the lowest cost I have seen but for me they will need reduced height bar risers.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Rox-H...wmobile_Parts_Accessories&hash=item337e1dd92c

Shock absorbing handlebar looks great, but all the blurb is about off-road shock. Do they handle engine vibes?
http://www.fasstco.com/shop/flexx-handlebars-mx

 

[Mad_Accountant]

Well done!

What an amazing and informative thread.

I'm a St John Ambulance volunteer and the brevity of onset made me suspect circulation rather than vibration but I really didn't have a clue and have learned something from this discussion.

So a huge ( and genuine) thank you.

Ride safe (and warm)

 

[Bendy toy]

Hey thanks.

A few things not mentioned are shoulder and neck problems caused by the bike riding posture. The brachial artery and nerve trunks run over the first rib, under the clavicle and between the scalene muscles. This can impinge the nerves in a condition called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS). Tight pectorals can pull the shoulders forward making it worse.

The muscles tend to get stronger due to wind load on a biker's head this and the fixed often hunched over posture wont help. Add that to vibration and cold and those arm nerves can get pretty jangled.

Surgery is used on the carpal tunnel to release pressure on the nerves but many have a double crush going on. Quite often manipulative treatments on the first rib can improve the nerves and blood supply to the arm. Stretches for the muscles help some more. Manipulative therapy on the neck helps to avoid any crushing going on the in the spinal nerves roots.

I have problems with my neck and some signs of TOS on the left. So I'm keen to avoid vibration through the handlebars and avoid riding upright with too much wind pressure. The GSA is reasonable for wind pressure and turbulence but vibration is still an issue.

So I'm still looking at anti vibe handlebars etc. Rox are an option but I suspect too soft with the leverage on the long GS handlebars.

 

[Bobbin-Man]

Bendy, just to recap ..... only addition I've made to the bike is to inject silicon into the bars to try to deaden vibration coming from the engine. I'm also now running without the Grip Puppies I tried previously because I just couldn't get used to the increased grip diameter.

But ..... Jono at the Adventure Bike Warehouse has done a fantastic job of reducing "buzz" from the engine just by setting all the clearances and balancing the throttle bodies. They're not really so far from you so worth giving them a call. I've also found the bike to be less vibey since de-catting the exhaust, notably a big improvement in top at around 75-80mph.

My Raynaud's Phenomenom is still an issue, it'll never go away and therefore needs managing, but this time of year more knowledge about it and careful use of layers to keep warm has made riding a pleasure again.

Stu.

 

[Bendy toy]

Thanks for the tuning tip. I have some new headers and exhaust can to get fitted. After that I'm planning on a Hilltop remap.

In the case of my Yamaha Diversion 900, balancing the carbs helped but it still buzzed at most of the speeds I use. The GSA isnt so bad - ok at 60 and at 100 but an hour at typical UK M-way speeds gets uncomfortable.

Not yet being fully used to the new riding position I also noticed how harsh the front end can be on rough surfaces. The wheel tracks fine (way better than any other bike Ive used) but there seems to be some road shock fed into the handlebars.

I've got some plans to use my Rox anti vibration bar risers. They were great on the 900. But I suspect the GS with its long lever bars might not be so happy.

Bobbin Man
have you seen this? http://www.medicinenet.com/raynauds_phenomenon/article.htm

 

[Dellis]

I've done over 80,000 miles over two 1200s and yes you can get numbing secondary vibes and to avoid this glove choice is key! Try your spare gloves and you'll have a different experience...... just try it!

Dave

 

[Bendy toy]

So far had summer gloves - zero padding
Same with waterproof over mitts - much the same as gloves alone
Winter weight Hein Gericke - Not too bad
Hein Gericke two finger average.

Thicker gloves help but after a 2 hours ride my hands are buzzing. Half an hour locally no problems with any gloves so I think its the constant buzz of the motorway.

To be honest I'm not blaming the bike. The standard Diversion was MUCH worse but the anti vibe handlebar mounts gave such a big improvement I want to do something similar.

 

[Sgt Bilco]

I get a bit of numb finger on long trips but not too much of a problem. I regularly flex my fingers when riding and it goes away pdq. I use Heidenau K60 tyres which rumble a bit and I put it down to them

The remap should make it a wee bit smoother but I think you would benefit more by getting it set up nicely in the first instance. As already mentioned, Jono at ABW will do a cracking job and you will notice a difference I'm sure

 

[Bendy toy]

If the remap is likely to take a while or if they don't do things like checking throttle body balance, I'll get on up to Jono at ABW.

On the Diversion I used the listening tube method to balance the carbs. When it was professionally checked they were spot on. But its quite easy when all four intakes point up at you. The GS will need proper vacuum gauges.

In the past I have tried foam grips that looked much like grip puppies. Not impressed TBH but they were not the real thing. Does anyone know of a gel sleeve that can fit over the standard grips?

Hey just found this http://www.sorbothane.com/custom-parts5.php