handle bar grips and weights

Hi,

I have now owned my 2007 Silverwing for 6 month and love it. This is by far the fastest and most comfortable scooter I have ridden. Had an Aprilia 300 and a Burgman 400 before. I have not done a great lot of modifications apart from fitting a Givi windscreen and Givi 55 litre top box and making a central mount for my GPS. I bought it with only 10 000 kilometers on the clock;and have changed coolant, engine oil and filter. Soon I will put new tyres on it to replace the original (?) Michelin.
I love going for short trips but have been suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome for a long time now. After 30-40 minutes riding I can feel my left hand getting numb, so long trips are not possible for me. This is not something unique to the Silverwing; I had the same problem with the other scooters and even riding a mountain bike.
I have read that changing to better grips and adding heavier handle bar weights ( I have the original 3oz weight on mine) could significantly reduce vibration on the handle bars. I don't mind spending the money; just don't want to waste it. Surely some of you guys must be familiar with this problem and I would appreciate any advice on how to overcome or reduce the effect of it.

cheers from a sunny Queensland, Australia

Some has made bar weight by using copper end caps filled with lead drilled a hold down the the centre and secured it with a longer screw. There might be some pics on this forum or try U tub on how to make end caps weights for motorcycle.

I wonder if Goldwings bar end weights will work? IIRC they are longer than the SW weights but the handlebar size (20mm?) is the same.

Tim

I find best rubber grips are......BMW mid 80's fitted to R80RT for example...... and don't hang on so hard.....even glove choice makes difference......and I get off/stop every 50 miles or one hour.

Running machines are going to have some vibes, regardless of what you do to dampen it.

G'day mate, this website maybe useful www.qwigloves.com. They do however seem to be having manufacturing problems.

I've moved this post out of the for sale and to Silver Wing Topics because I see nothing for sale in it.
gremlin have you ever tried Grip Puppies? I've found out if you use Grip Puppies a do as John said and don't hang on so hard I can go a lot longer before I have any problems with numbness.

A Crampbuster is cheap and does a lot to keep the strain off the fingers and thumb of the right hand. I've put on most of the bikes I've owned for the past ten years or so. With one you can hold the throttle just resting your hand on the grip. I often just rest my right hand palm on the grip with the heel of my hand resting on the Crampbuster, and my fingers more or less straight out laying over the front brake lever. Being able to do that as well as hold the right grip normally off and on makes a lot less discomfort for me.

I'm using the CB1 model with about half the tongue cut off on my GT. I like them cut off short because the shorter length is sufficient and doesn't snag on my gloves. That worked well for me on my Silverwings and Goldwings also.

http://www.crampbuster.com/

http://www.crampbuster.com/

Thanks guys for all the good advice. I will try to get some better gloves and see whether that is enough. I will also try a set of temporary, home made 18oz handlebar weights and buy a proper set if they work. Luckily my right hand does not give me any trouble at all.
I am amazed how some of you guys still do long trips, ride in wind and rain and manage to handle a SW at the age of 70+ and it gives me a lot of motivation to aim for many more years on two wheels.

gremlin wrote:

I am amazed how some of you guys still do long trips, ride in wind and rain and manage to handle a SW at the age of 70+ and it gives me a lot of motivation to aim for many more years on two wheels.

Don't be modest, we don't have to contend with excessive heat, bush fires, bull dust, kangaroos, road trains, Tasmanian Devils, camels, and putting zinc cream on our noses!

Meldrew, you might be interested to know that there are introduced colonies of wallabies in the Peak District in Derbyshire, Ashdown Forest in Sussex and on the Isle of Man.

It's easy at an advanced age, just ride a Goldwing until you're 71. Makes a scooter a breeze.

john grinsel wrote:

I find  best rubber grips are......BMW mid 80's fitted to R80RT for example...... and don't hang on so hard.....even glove choice makes difference......and I get off/stop every 50 miles or one hour.

Running machines are going to have  some vibes, regardless of what you do to dampen it.

I agree here. I just did install the BMW mid 80s ergo correct grips, ribbed. I think these came on the RT/ RS. It has been almost month and I really enjoy the new feel and I notice a reduction of about 1/2 the road tingle (which wasn't bad to begin with). Alas these to fit more snug and I don't think you could get a Vista lock on the bar.

Also 11' and newer owners, the throttlemeister wont fit. Maybe with extensive work but it sure isn't a slip on fit. I sent mine back. Also the cramp bust for 7/8 bar will not fit the bmw grips handily. Maybe the one inch will, Ill try later.

The best setup I have found is the Spyder gel grips, thin crampbuster, and heavy Throttlemeister bar ends. The bars are butter smooth and 300 mile days are definitely do-able.

carpal tunnel help..Try keeping your wrist and forearm inline ,top and sides as best as you can ( allows blood to flow more freely) wear loose fitting gloves and try a cheap throttle lock (zip tie) .These items help my carpal tunnel immensely. Now 100 mile trips are easier @ 68 years old

As said, Grip Puppies are great. They are soft foam tubes you slide on the grip with a bit of dish soap and are very cheap. They change the diameter of the grip so your hand isn't curled up as tightly and the foam cushions a lot of the vibration.

I've said it before here and on other forums, my experiences of Grip Puppies are they're absolute junk and simply two pieces of glorified foam pipe insulation/lagging. I tried them for a few weeks and had bruise like marks in the web of my forefinger and thumb from the fatter grip. Being glorified pieces of foam pipe insulation they did their job well and stopped 90% of the warmth from my Honda heated grips getting through to my hands.

Since binning the offending items, I've had no more marks under the skin and the heated grips do their job properly.

Of course if you have hands like a Spear & Jackson Number 3 shovel and don't use heated grips, you may find them useful.

I disagree with what was said above. And they are cheap enough to try a set without being out much. It's one of the first things I add to a new bike. The change in diameter alone alleviates a lot of the pain of riding.

dalehazelton wrote:

I disagree with what was said above. And they are cheap enough to try a set without being out much. It's one of the first things I add to a new bike. The change in diameter alone alleviates a lot of the pain of riding.

Rather than retype the same basic thing I'll just agree with dalehazeltons post. And I'll add I wish I could find a distributor in the USA.

Searched on google and can't find them. I bought several pair a few years ago and just put the last set I had on the SW. I have these on another bike, but they were pricey ($25ish a set). They are a heavier rubber and can be put on a bike with Barkbusters because they are split and have heavy tape. Not a huge difference in the feeling between these and Grip Puppies in my opinion.

http://www.originalbeemerbuddies.com/Home_Page.php

I've had a couple of Goldwings that had foam grips. To me they're junk. If one needs larger diameter grips the Kuryakyn ISO grips are hard to beat. Especially if you get the Throttle Boss to attach to the right one. The grips don't need as much personal grip on the grip, so to speak, as the foam ones. They look good and last well. I've put them on the last three Goldwings I had but so far the grips on my GT seem to agree with me as long as I use a $10 Cramp Buster on the throttle side.

BTW - It looks like our sidecar equipped SW at the top of the page is sporting a Cramp Buster on its grip.

Old Brubaker has a set of Grip Buddies on his Silver Wing, they're also anti-vibration, have a grippy shark skin pattern on them, and very easy to fit as they have Velcro strips on them.

They're the invention of an American rider who also sells them they're and very popular with BMW riders. I'd have a pair if I thought I needed them as they don't block the warmth from heated grips.

There's a few YouTube videos about them too, I'm surprised no one one here has mentioned Grip Buddies before as it always seems to be Grip Puppies, or those half chromed monstrosities.

As for cruise controls, my Go Cruise is still new and unused in the lid pocket of my Givi E55. It must be four years since I put in there to slip on when I needed it for a long motorway or autobahn ride.

Heated grips?
What a load of rubbish - suitable only for namby-pamby riders.

It's the backs of the hands which are exposed to wind-chill.
I had them on my first Silverwing and wish I hadn't wasted money on them.
I gave up using them after day or two, finding the hand-guards did a far better job.

Muffs, hand-guards and decent gloves are what's needed, combined with cheap, soft foam slip-on grips: Grip Puppies are excellent.

I have had heated grips on many machines and found them to be no  more than useful.  It is always the ends of my thumbs which get cold and numb.  The only bike that prevented this was my Varadero which had handguards fitted but not heated grips.

I installed Oxford Heatzer when I first got my Swing,4 yrs ago here we get 8 to 15 C on most morning if you plan on a early morning rides most of the time.My heatzer comes in handy along with 2 pairs of light gloves, one pair of HD cool whether  ,and a 3 finger  work mitts . Most morning It's my Long Jon's ,jean's and wind pants for the bottom and up to 5 layers for the other  half have,and a face shield. By the after noon It's a strip down in the coffee shop parking lot .My under seat and Givi 55 top box is all the clothing needed for a day's ride.

I have the perfect combination, heated grips and Gerbings heated gloves. Last year cruising down the freeway on a 28F morning with both heat sources on it was great. The grips warm you palms and the gloves heating elements are on the back of one's hands and fingers. I also had my Gerbings heated jacket liner running on low too. It's amazing to be riding in cold weather and not feeling a bit cold. The SW has plenty of electrical power to handle all three heat sources, Gloves, grips and jacket with no difficulty.
On my GT I also have the luxury of a heated seat. The scooter's which heats mine. Lovely invention that I'll be using again in a month or so. In these parts we get a lot of cold, dry weather in the winter which means almost any day of the year can be good for scootin'.