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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 8:29 pm
by sirch345
'Stormin Ben' usually recommends moving the clutch and brake levers, so they are facing more down-wards. It means you can keep your fingers, wrists and lower part of your arm in more of a straight line if you understand what I mean. I did that on mine and it certainly does help :!:

Chris.

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 7:10 am
by Kitch
newbie2 wrote:can the handle bars be loosened and turned slightly towards the headlight so they are a little straighter ?
FireStorm ones have a lug that locates in a slot on the top yoke, so no.

VFR bars that fit are higher and have the lug on the other side, so you can tune their angle.

Bar risers have a slot built in to replicate the yoke.

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:17 am
by Fireman on a Storm
I've put Renthals on both storms I've owned due to a wrist opp and shoulder injury. Not that hard to do, just a slight trim on the fairing

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 9:38 am
by Stormin Ben
newbie2 wrote:can the handle bars be loosened and turned slightly towards the headlight so they are a little straighter ?
Simple answer - no
More involved answer -maybe, it depends on the state of your front forks

If they are standard then no, you are stuck with them as they are (unless you cut the lug off)
However, if you have fitted better springs & oil (or had them Rogered) you will be able to pull the forks up through the yoke by 5-10mm
This, couple with removing the circlip on the fork top, should give you just enough room to turn the bars round

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:15 am
by Stormin Ben
sirch345 wrote:'Stormin Ben' usually recommends moving the clutch and brake levers, so they are facing more down-wards. It means you can keep your fingers, wrists and lower part of your arm in more of a straight line if you understand what I mean. I did that on mine and it certainly does help :!:
Good call that man! :lol:
Certainly a large part of the problem can be alleviated by adjusting the levers so they are right for the way you ride
However, an equally large part comes from how you ride

I'm betting that those who have wrist pain on the storm are riding with locked elbows and straight arms
This puts unnecessary strain on the wrists as well as reducing the amount of control you have on the bike
The bars are for steering with and to hold the levers -NOT to take your weight
You should be supporting most of your body with your back with your arms bent and nice and loose
Your forearms should be pretty close to being horizontal
Not only does this mean you have less weight on your wrists, it also means that any steering inputs you make are much more efficient

Think about trying to move a heavy box across the floor.
Now imagine trying to do it by pushing at a 45degree angle to it -much harder isnt it.
Its the same when you are trying to turn the bars -if your forearms are horizontal nearly 100% of the effort goes into turning the bars
If you have locked elbows &straight arms only 50% of the effort goes into actually turning the bars, the other 50% is just you pushing down on the bars

You will find it odd & a bit uncomfortable at first as your back gets used to the extra work you are asking it to do and your triceps get used to supporting some of your body weight too. But long term you will reap the benefits and be able to be comfortable on a much larger range of bikes
I am not a lightweight by any means (over 14st on a bad day) but I have done some serious mileage on a 916 with no problems whatsoever

Here endeth the lesson :)

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 2:45 pm
by yanto
its not my wrists as much as footpeg location
think i will take it off the road and use one of my other bikes
and just use it for track days

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 9:16 pm
by Captain Shapeless
I find that in slow traffic the palms of my hands ache - my wrists seem to be strong enough to bear my weight. Dunno why :roll:

The moral of the story is, ride faster!

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:42 am
by yanto
FirestormMike wrote:I have a knee problem and used to suffer bigtime on standard footrests on long rides i.e. 350 plus. Since fitting the gilles adjustables, and putting them on highest and furthest back position, problem gone.
just tryed mine all the way back and middle seams ok but only done 7 miles but hpe it will be ok now as the z250 is to small the zr550 is boring and the gpz1100 dont handle so would prefer the storm