Ergonomics

XT Fanatic

New Member
Joined
May 20, 2020
Messages
2
When driving long distances with my Super Tenere, it start aching between my shoulder blades. Just below my neck. Does anybody ever experienced some kind of aching when driving for several hours?
 

squarebore

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2013
Messages
887
Location
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
When driving long distances with my Super Tenere, it start aching between my shoulder blades. Just below my neck. Does anybody ever experienced some kind of aching when driving for several hours?
I don't anymore. On my gen 1 I changed to a different bar that had less sweep and the pain was terrible. I have mine dialled in now. Higher seat, bar risers. Ergos are great. It may only need a little change.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk
 

moto.monk

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2019
Messages
1,090
Location
los angeles
I have the same problem after I ride for more then 1 hour gets worse as I ride and if hitting the canyons. I have touratech rise in the past and now have the risers that also move back 1.5 inch and I still have the same problem. However I pay more attention on how tense I am on the bike and relax as much as I can. Also I ride more smoothly and avoid hard braking and accelerating. It's made a big difference . I try using a form roller on my back sometimes. Also I dont do back to back long distance rides/camping like before. Which on a good month I was doing 4k miles +.
 

Paul466

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2013
Messages
516
Location
Littleton, Colorado
I don't anymore. On my gen 1 I changed to a different bar that had less sweep and the pain was terrible. I have mine dialled in now. Higher seat, bar risers. Ergos are great. It may only need a little change.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk
I second that as far as bar bend, replaced with Pro Taper “raptor” higher rise (better for standing control) Less sweep (pain between shoulder blades gone)
 

Checkswrecks

Ungenear to broked stuff
Staff member
Global Moderator
2011 Site Supporter
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
11,489
Location
Damascus, MD
I have at times when I have not been riding for a while, such as coming out of winter. Riding distance takes a set of muscles that need to be developed.
 

squarebore

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2013
Messages
887
Location
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
I second that as far as bar bend, replaced with Pro Taper “raptor” higher rise (better for standing control) Less sweep (pain between shoulder blades gone)
Haha, yeah It was the protaper raptor that caused my problem. When I went back to oem bars the pain went away. We all different hey.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk
 

XT Fanatic

New Member
Joined
May 20, 2020
Messages
2
Thank you for the advice. I do have bar risers, but maybe I should get a riser that allows the bar to move back a bit. Then I gonna look for a bar with less sweep.;)
I appreciate the advice.
 

Kurgan

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2015
Messages
372
Location
SE Michigan
XT, do this exercise and see what happens:

Put your bike on the center stand.
Climb on and put your feet on the pegs, keep your hands in your lap and close your eyes.
After about a minute to settle in and keeping your eyes closed, reach out to where you think the bars/grips should be.
Hold that position and open your eyes. How different is that vs. where your handelbars and grips are? That will give you some idea of what changes you may want to try.

Also, you need to check your clutch and front brake lever positions in relation to your forearms and wrists: Grab the bars and rest your extended fingers on top of the levers. Is your wrist and forearm in a straight line or is your wrist slightly bent up or down? Ideally you want the forearm/wrist to be level so loosen and rotate those mounts on the bars to make that happen.

Small changes like this can make a big difference.
 

Kurgan

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2015
Messages
372
Location
SE Michigan
If anyone has purchased a bicycle from a decent shop you get fitted to the bike once they help you determine what basic frame size you need.

Adjust seat height to help optimize the angles your knees go through during a crank rotation.
Adjust seat angle to help with weight distribution for your sits bones in the pelvis.
Adjust seat position fore/aft if needed to help with the angle of your upper torso (I think?)
Bars and levers are adjusted.

They did all this for me when I bought a basic fitness/hybrid bicycle for $400.00 ! 15 minutes of tinkering and they said ride it, let us know what you feel, we can fine tune from there. When was the last time anyone offered that to you at a motorcycle dealership? Motorcycles are so much easier!

Adjust gear shift and rear brake pedal height (and rear brake light switch) for the rider with the boots he normally wears.
If the bike has clip-on bars / fixed bars, there's no adjustment other than clutch and front brake lever height to take any weird angles out of the wrists.
If the bike has conventional handlebars like ours do, the steps I outlined above to get a base line.

I used to do this for every bike I sold at the Triumph, Ducati, Aprilia, and MV Agusta dealership I worked at 20 years ago.
 

yoyo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2016
Messages
915
Location
Swansea UK
I do suffer some pain where my neck meets my shoulders, I have Touratech risers which helped a little but for me it's in posture and how tightly I grip the bars. I can go out for an hour and suffer pain, sometimes I can do 4hrs and not have it. As soon as I'm aware it's coming on I sit up straighter, relax the grip on the bars until I can find somewhere to stop for a bit, for me it's a surefire way to identify I'm getting tired, gripping too tight and slouching in the seat.

Sent from my ELE-L29 using Tapatalk
 

jeckyll

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 11, 2016
Messages
651
Location
Lotusland
My poor posture causes the same pain. When I slouch, it happens. If I sit up straight, and roll my shoulders back, it stays away.
I find that I need to focus on keeping my chin back. Otherwise I extend my head forward too much and the weight of the helmet along with my head being forward causes some strain at the bottom of the neck.

Rotating my handlebar back a tiny bit helped, for me, to put me in a more neutral position.

So tough to address over the internet, as mentioned above, fit is a very personal thing :)
 
B

ballisticexchris

Guest
I have at times when I have not been riding for a while, such as coming out of winter. Riding distance takes a set of muscles that need to be developed.
I only struggle the first day on a long trip. It's usually pretty tough. After that initial back in the saddle sore, it's pretty easy to peel off decent mile days. As I get older I don't enjoy the super long mile days anymore.
 

PhilPhilippines

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2020
Messages
952
Location
Philippines
Bars, lever adjustment, seat height, etc - all great stuff and major gains. Also consider deportment: relax your elbows to ''drop'' your hands onto the controls. Move around as you ride to avoid pressure points, move your arse/seat forward/back, feet on balls/arch/anywhere in between. All changes reduce pressure points. . Sitting with one position can create stress in the body.
 
Last edited:

sky4

Active Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2020
Messages
171
Location
Northern Colorado
If anyone has purchased a bicycle from a decent shop you get fitted to the bike once they help you determine what basic frame size you need.

Adjust seat height to help optimize the angles your knees go through during a crank rotation.
Adjust seat angle to help with weight distribution for your sits bones in the pelvis.
Adjust seat position fore/aft if needed to help with the angle of your upper torso (I think?)
Bars and levers are adjusted.

They did all this for me when I bought a basic fitness/hybrid bicycle for $400.00 ! 15 minutes of tinkering and they said ride it, let us know what you feel, we can fine tune from there. When was the last time anyone offered that to you at a motorcycle dealership? Motorcycles are so much easier!

Adjust gear shift and rear brake pedal height (and rear brake light switch) for the rider with the boots he normally wears.
If the bike has clip-on bars / fixed bars, there's no adjustment other than clutch and front brake lever height to take any weird angles out of the wrists.
If the bike has conventional handlebars like ours do, the steps I outlined above to get a base line.

I used to do this for every bike I sold at the Triumph, Ducati, Aprilia, and MV Agusta dealership I worked at 20 years ago.
bicycle fit is well known to be critical. it's crazy how much 1-2 cm changes can effect things too.

i'm always jacking around with adjustments when i get a new bike. some stuff you just need to get used to, but some stuff needs changing. Long rides really bring out issues. I think i'm gonna roll back the bars on the tenere a cm or 2 soon.
 
Top