Anyone here ever suffered from throttle thumb? I call it that for lack of a better term, but basically my throttle thumb hurts regularly now. It sometimes feels like it pops out of joint, and for some odd reason, it mostly hurts at night and when I wake up in the morning rather than after a ride. I'm trying to pinpoint the underlying cause...I know it could be the bike, but it's just so bizarre that it never hurts while I'm riding (or even just after a ride). Anyway, I'm just wondering if:
a) any of you have ever had throttle thumb issues
b) what was the pain/discomfort like
c) what did you do about it?

Thanks a ton! Allyson :thumbup:

If the pain is low in your thumb, the heel, your gloves may be too tight. Pay attention to your grip as well.. relax on those bars :D

You also need to stretch your hands by opening and closing them whenever you get to a stop light or stop for a break. That is a good time to stand up and stretch the rest of your body as well.

Allyson - I have gamekeeper's thumb - basically the ligament from your wrist comes up across your palm and wraps around your thumb towards the index finger and attaches near that last knuckle - I get very sore in the base of my thumb/palm area as a result of this. I couldn't ride for more than about 30 mins before it would tart to cramp up on me. The solution? I swapped out my levers with pazzo levers and relaxed a little not constantly covering the brake like I did at first. Now it's not a problem at all.

Also, make sure you're not using your wrists and hands to support your forward leaning weight. That's the job of your abs and back muscles. If you lean too much on your wrists and hands you can strain the tendons and cause pain later. :)

It may be arthritis in that joint as it doesn't hurt when you ride and hurts when you wake up. My arthritis are the worse when i wake up and all stiffed up from the activities from the previous day.

My throttle hand cramps up alot when Im riding. Mostly because I stabbed myself in the hand about a year ago. I still get a little discomfort in my hand when I use it a lot, but its been getting better with time. When I first had my stitches removed and I tried to use my hand it would feel like my fingers were being ripped off my hand. I think the best thing to do what was said earlier, open and close your hand and move it around a bit at when ever you stop.

Two common noob habits:
- gripping the handlebars too tightly
- supporting your upper body with your wrists/arms/hands

I'll bet you a beer you're doing at least one of those.

Wes

I'll bet you a beer you're doing at least one of those.

Well, I would never take you up on that because I still catch myself doing those after riding for 2 1/2 years... (has it really been that long???)

I always have to remind myself... Light touch! Lose arms! Let the bike work!

I always stretch at lights. I also move around on the seat a lot. That helps both my bum and my arms, as I'm sitting at different angles all the time...

Sometimes, I even get soar legs from using them to help hold my upper body up :)

I've also had gloves that were too tight. First thing that happens is my thumb would start to throb... But that happened while on the bike, not the next day...

The solution? I swapped out my levers with pazzo levers and relaxed a little not constantly covering the brake like I did at first. Now it's not a problem at all.


Thank you all. Can you describe pazzo levers?
Thanks for all of the wonderful advice. Arthritis does run in my family, but at 30 years old and in the best shape of my life, I definitely don't want to start feeling odd aches and pains now. I went on a ride today and focused on loosening up my grip as well as putting less pressure on my arms and wrists. Hopefully that will help. I also had been covering my brake more than was necessary, and doing so less made the ride much more comfortable.
I truly appreciate you all taking time to offer advice. :) Have a wonderful downhill to the weekend! Ally

*Motorcycles don't leak oil, they mark their territory. :-) *

Ally - if you look in the tech section or the wiki, I posted up articles on the installation... basically they are replacements for the clutch and brake lever that are adjustable - you can dial them in closer to or further from the handlebar as you like - and as an added bonus, they come in all sorts of great colors- I have blue :)

Arthritis does run in my family, but at 30 years old and in the best shape of my life, I definitely don't want to start feeling odd aches and pains now.

I'm only 36 and the arthritis started in my finger joints in the early 30's and am a healthy person in very good shape. I have to say i've been wearing a copper bracelet with magnets and that has helped the flare ups to a miminum and almost never now that i wear it day and night but only on the hand that i wear it. As Noche said the Pazzos would be a must have.

Thanks Blue Raven and everyone! :) Ally

I experienced this yesterday when driving on the interstate. I played with the positioning of the hand from shifting most of the weight off the hands to putting the thumb on top of the throttle. The position that I noticed the quickest regain of feeling in the thumb was when I rotated the hand a few degrees counter-clockwise, pulling pressure off of the metacarpal region( between the Thumb and Index fingers). I hope this helps. :thumbup:

IMO, I think if you'd want to cover a lever you might want to try to cover the clutch lever instead of brake. This way that hand will get a little more exercise and if you get into a squeeze you'll be able to quickly pull the clutch in and shift gears if necessary (trying to recall information from MSF course :)) ... Hope the thumb's feeling better! :thumbup:

Sometimes I unconciously place to much pressure on the hands/wrists when riding and have to ease up and place more weight on the legs. I have only had my clutch hand sometimes cramp up after a long day of stop and go traffic , but stretching out my hands/wrists/forearms, when at a stop or one at a time when riding helps a little. Never felt the throttle thumb effect though.

I'm probably one of those n00bs that both grips the bars too tight and puts a lil too much weight on them. If I'm riding over about 20 mins, the fingers on my throttle hand start to go sleep, starting with the little one; haven't had my index finger go to sleep on me yet though. I just work the hand & fingers around @ stops and make good use of the throttle lock (for 5-10 seconds at a time) I installed a couple months back for long highway trips.
Haven't had issues with the thumb, but considering Pazzos after seeing/trying Kim's and realizing how far I'm actually reaching.

Yea, I have that problem with my throttle hand, it seemed like my glove was too tight but my left hand is fine... Maybe I am gripping with my right hand too tight...

This happens tome too and I've decided it's definatley down to having too tight a grip.. Have tried several pairs of gloves and its the same with each.. when I manage to relax it's ok otherwise I get cramp after 20 mins... Have got some adjustable levers waiting at the post office for me (the Cycle Control ones...) and I think they should help too...

Bending your elbows and doing the chicken dance helps.

one easy thing that I do to make sure I don't have too much pressure on my wrists is to arch my lower back like I was trying to stick the girls out.... on country roads it's a great way to get pressure off my wrists and put the weight on my core... squeezing the gas tank with my thighs while I do this is also really beneficial.... as an added bonus, I find that it's much easier to lean her over in the curves that way!

one easy thing that I do to make sure I don't have too much pressure on my wrists is to arch my lower back like I was trying to stick the girls out.... on country roads it's a great way to get pressure off my wrists and put the weight on my core... squeezing the gas tank with my thighs while I do this is also really beneficial.... as an added bonus, I find that it's much easier to lean her over in the curves that way!

So that is why you're called Noche Caliente.

Don't have too much fun there!

http://www.throttlemeister.com/

not cheap and you can remove your hand from the right side handle on long stretches of the road.

for people that have the problem with their hands/fingers going to sleep, make sure the wrist strap velcro is not too tight. I had problems until I made sure not to make the wrist retainer too tight when putting on my gloves.

I'm chuckling at the ads I'm seeing when visiting this thread.

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=10&pictureid=1930

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=10&pictureid=1931

I had pains in both my hands when I started motorcycling. What I find helps with the right hand, is to hold onto the very end of the handlebar and "lock" the throttle whenever I don't need to give input. In that position, my small finger and index finger will be wrapped around the end of the handlebar, and my palm, thumb, index and middle finger will be on the throttle. "Locking" it like that takes less force than holding the throttle in place when the whole hand is on it.

Here's the throttle lock I use; very satisfied for the price.
http://www.soundoffrec.com/products/cruise.aspx
Model # MCUVOO

Hadn't thought about the glove closure beign too tight; will have to check that next time I'm out

I have carpal tunnel in both hands and have problems with my right hand falling asleep when riding. I don't velcro my wrist strap so i know it's not too tight. I tried a trick on sunday and it worked. When my fingers start to fall asleep i squeeze the tank with my knees and voila. Can't remember who told me this but i'm pretty sure it's one of you.

I have the throttle thumb issue... Same thing -- it feels sore in the mornings when I wake up. I grip way too tightly and I'm working on it. :P

I just picked up a crampbuster for about $10 and they claim that it's suppose to help with cramping in the hands and help stop your hand from falling asleep. Will try it on my next day trip as they recommend you only use it when touring.

I just picked up a crampbuster for about $10 and they claim that it's suppose to help with cramping in the hands and help stop your hand from falling asleep. Will try it on my next day trip as they recommend you only use it when touring.

Cool! Lemme know how it works!

Went on ride today and have to say that the crampbuster is worth every penny and more. My hand didn't even start to fall asleep or cramp up. The only thing is when i was in town i had to watch that i didn't use it because i had set at the height of the cruising speed of 50-60 mph. I placed it at the very end of the throttle so i had some room for my hand to use the throttle without having my hand on the crampbuster. I give it a :thumbup:

Good to know! Thanks! I may very well invest in one of those myself.

my gloves are too tight and i know that has some odd effects on my hands, make sure your gloves arent too tight or too loose.

i have two pairs and don't tightened the straps. One pair fits perfectly and the other bigger and always had the problem of my hand falling asleep. Went on another ride tonight and i can't believe how well this crampbuster works. It's nice to ride for hours and not even think about my hands and just enjoy the ride.