So I have about 500 miles on my new toy now and I am starting to see what and where I need to tweak her. I absolutely need bar risers, I just hate the thought of the $280 price tag for em, anyone know of a good alternative source ? And my hands get cramped on the stock grips, they are just too small in my hands, what can I do to make the grips thicker ?
I just spent 3 weeks in Europe and came back to a nice treasure chest of VFR toys, new clear signal housings, new LED brake light for custom mounting under the rear plate, some clearbra from 3m for the solo seat cover and a used helmet for the wife so she can come along when the mood suits her. I am loving the variety of accessories that are available for the VFR !
[image: View Post]VFRCanuck, on Jul 8 2009, 06:42 PM, said:
So I have about 500 miles on my new toy now and I am starting to see what and where I need to tweak her. I absolutely need bar risers, I just hate the thought of the $280 price tag for em, anyone know of a good alternative source ? And my hands get cramped on the stock grips, they are just too small in my hands, what can I do to make the grips thicker ?
I just spent 3 weeks in Europe and came back to a nice treasure chest of VFR toys, new clear signal housings, new LED brake light for custom mounting under the rear plate, some clearbra from 3m for the solo seat cover and a used helmet for the wife so she can come along when the mood suits her. I am loving the variety of accessories that are available for the VFR !
Wrap it in electrical tape!
But seriously, you can get thicker foam padded grips just about anywhere. BMW dealerships tend to have them a lot, but any dealership should carry somethign that'll work for you.
Uhhmm......... buy thicker than OEM handgrips. There are thicker ones out there. One I've seen made by "Oury" seems to have thick blocks on it's rubber grip pattern. Had it years ago on my Hawk 647 GT and they seem to have been more comfortable than Honda OEMs You might have to cut holes on the ends to let the bar weights through though. At least I had to back then. It's a very simple mod. Another one that looks thicker than normal are the new"Spider" grips. those get a lot of good reviews from members here.
If those don't work, you can try the older brand foam grips called "Grab-ons" They are made of dense black close cell foam material that many serious bicycle (which they make grips for too) tourers used to swear by for comfort and road shock isolation.
[image: View Post]VFRCanuck, on Jul 8 2009, 03:42 PM, said:
So I have about 500 miles on my new toy now and I am starting to see what and where I need to tweak her. I absolutely need bar risers, I just hate the thought of the $280 price tag for em, anyone know of a good alternative source ? And my hands get cramped on the stock grips, they are just too small in my hands, what can I do to make the grips thicker ?
I just spent 3 weeks in Europe and came back to a nice treasure chest of VFR toys, new clear signal housings, new LED brake light for custom mounting under the rear plate, some clearbra from 3m for the solo seat cover and a used helmet for the wife so she can come along when the mood suits her. I am loving the variety of accessories that are available for the VFR !
Hockey tape baby, hockey tape!! What do we have to answer this from a fellow Canuck? :blink: :biggrin:
But, as it was said before, more seriously, any store will have bigger grip.
But seriously, you can get thicker foam padded grips just about anywhere. BMW dealerships tend to have them a lot, but any dealership should carry somethign that'll work for you.
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:+1: Cycle Gear has 'em for $22.00. I have them on the VFR and the CBR. The 919 will be the next to get them.
As for riser's , I just installed a set of Rod's Risers from this site, really nice units and cheaper than Genmars, I paid just under $100 Canadian and they were at my place in 3days from Scotland no less.
[image: View Post]300shooter, on Jul 9 2009, 06:04 AM, said:
As for riser's , I just installed a set of Rod's Risers from this site, really nice units and cheaper than Genmars, I paid just under $100 Canadian and they were at my place in 3days from Scotland no less.
I sent Rod a note last night to see if they were still for sale and how they measure up to stock. At 6'5" I need the max lift I can get.
[image: View Post]5thGenAchmed, on Jul 9 2009, 01:42 PM, said:
Now, work them abs and get the weight off your hands. :goofy:
I don't have to, I have no problem with leaning on my grips.... My stomach (gut) rest against the tank, and takes all the weight ;)
I'll tell you, my experiences are totally opposite. I bought a bike once (several years ago) that had large grips on it. I couldn't figure out why my hands would cramp after just a couple of miles. I replaced the grips with stock ones and the cramping went away. I've used stock grips ever since on all bikes and have never had a hand cramp again.
[image: View Post]Monk, on Jul 9 2009, 11:06 AM, said:
Grip puppy's
Get rid of those and buy a brand new set. All you are going to do with those grips is work on them more than you ride with them. They are antiques and should be thrown away in favor or new and more technologically advanced grips. Old grips are never going to come close to matching new grips no matter how much work you put into them.
I had the same experience. Throttle hand cramping up on anything more than an hour's ride. Year's of sitting in front of a computer has given me arthritis so the pain can be somewhat intense at times.
But instead of buying the grip puppies I bought the cramp buster. A doubtful looking piece of plastic for $10 from the motorcycle-superstore (I think shipping to canada cost more).
What a great piece of gear! I can now change my grip regularly while riding without effecting my speed holding abilities. The hold I particularly like is the 'hammer' hold. Where the tips of my fingers are pressed lightly into the handlebar. I don't know why but i can ride for hours like that and the reach to the brake is very fast.
Even in traffic I found that I was able to cruise at slower speeds more consistently.
I think it also had a controlling effect on my speed. Before this I would be driving at legal or just above legal speeds then throttle away at ridiculous speeds and then drop back down again. With the cramp buster I find that I am happy to cruise along at 120.
I tried the cramp buster and while it helped it was not a cure for me. I order up a set of Grip Puppies and "Ta-Da" problem fixed. My last ride we were out over 200 miles and no cramping, tingling or numbness at all, all day. Best 9 bucks I have spent in a long time. And, they are so cheap I am ordering another set to have in case these wear out. I cannot say enough about them. Good stuff.