Sore necks, arms etc and riding position.

Saw the comment on the 20-21 tooth sprocket thread.
My riding style on my std 850 Commando roadster helps with the above. Around town, I can sit up straight. At highway/open road speeds, I slide my ass back [ where most of the cushioning is ] to reduce the pressure of my body pulling my arms out of their sockets. I suspect it helps with the neck problem mentioned in the other thread because I have never suffered from that. I am in my 70th orbit. The riding position also helps a bit with the BSA problem. [ well a little ].
Happy riding

Dereck

It’s a bitch. My neck hurts 24/7, even sleeping. I try to force good moto posture by stretching my neck while riding

If you do high speeds without a big screen, then it comes with the territory .
I used to have a homemade h/bar faring with a BMW screen on mine, could ride all day even at 80/90 mph with the full face visor up!
Try doing headstands at home and sitting further back on bike/ crouching down when riding high speeds, been there, and done that. .

I just need a redo of youth and to take better care of my carcass because now I reap what was sown..... Bilateral facets again on the 22nd and all of the thrilling aftermath of steroid reactions, but relief cometh soon thereafter.

Sliding back on the seat doesn’t really take the wind force off my neck. It does help on the rear after having been in the saddle for a few hours. For my neck issue it just needs some physical conditioning to increase strength.

I do understand the neck thing.
I have found a proper fitting, full face helmet cuts the wind better, therefore relieving tension on the neck.

Bernhard said:

If you do high speeds without a big screen, then it comes with the territory .
I used to have a homemade h/bar faring with a BMW screen on mine, could ride all day even at 80/90 mph with the full face visor up!
Try doing headstands at home and sitting further back on bike/ crouching down when riding high speeds, been there, and done that. .

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Sure the BMW R100RS was comfortable at high speeds, but this forum is about Commandos. ......and -1 style points for a commando with touring fairing.

Not very appealing with a tour faring... Downright hideous. They weren't made to be chunky chickens.

Motorcycles are much like shoes; you wouldn't go dancing in ski boots, you wouldn't run a marathon in slippers.

When I take my Norton for a long ride I pretty much stick to secondary roads. I use the freeways for testing, usually don't need more than 5 miles.

A few years back I had an R1200 GS, I used the freeways while in "transport" mode to get to where I really wanted to ride in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, but more than 150 miles of freeway left my neck , shoulders and arms wondering what the point was until I discover the AreoFlow fairing what a difference. A Norton wouldn't be a Norton with a huge fairing.

Nowadays I'm, probably, not good for more than 100 miles at a stretch; I can burn those miles easily on my Norton if I stick to the secondaries where my average speed is, probably, just under 50. With Euro bars and a Corbin Gunfighter seat I look forward to my next ride. The Commando wasn't built for all day Freeway travel, not to say that it can't be done. If you want to go far and fast get a different motorcycle. If you want to ride all day on a Norton consider the roads in England that they were designed to shine on. A good bagger doesn't handle for shit, but you can burn a lot of freeway miles very comfortably at any speed that doesn't encroach on hurting the machinery.

Best.

Exactly. Standard footpegs, Euro bars, and a Corbin seat. Definitely the most comfortable riding position for me. No ankles trying to disappear up my anus and not strung out like a lounge chair in a wind tunnel. My last trip away, I came back sitting on 125 kmh for about 200km. That's about 75mph and about 125 miles. I just turned 65 and having a bit of trouble pretzelising myself on and off the bike, but the riding position and the CNW starter motor have given me a degree of comfort to keep going a little longer. Praise be. My original Norton had an Interstate tank and I had to fit rearsets to gain some sort of comfort. The problem is that without a bumstop, the wind tries to evict you from the bike. Not so much a riding position problem as such. Corbin seats are great. +10 ! By the way, if you've ever wondered about my posts and thought I was a little strange, I've just been diagnosed with ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder. Strange but true.

The horizontal position of (most?) handlebar grips is unnatural.
It makes your elbows and upper arms turn outwards, and this puts pressure on your neck muscles. ( try it now..)
It would be better if the grips were vertical, like on some bicycles.
I believe Tony Foale did some tests with vertical grips. (can't find them, but maybe someone else can ?)
It helps to keep your elbows turned inwards and hold the grips as loose as possible to reduce the pressure on your neck.

My neck is OK, but this lower back pain is going to kill me. There is no relief.

illf8ed said:

Sure the BMW R100RS was comfortable at high speeds, but this forum is about Commandos. ......and -1 style points for a commando with touring fairing.

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As I previously stated on this website, I have a homemade widened h/bar fairing with a pattern BMW screen with a flip up at the top exactly 9 inches from the end of my nose, the top just slightly lower than eye level, nothing like ANY touring fairing, as its a one off.
All the other touring fairings as far as I can see fail for being too far away from the rider to be effective.

maylar said:

My neck is OK, but this lower back pain is going to kill me. There is no relief.

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Have you tried a rigid body belt ?

Bernhard said:

Have you tried a rigid body belt ?

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I did try a flexible brace of some sort with no noticeable improvement. Google shows me that there are lots of those things available, I wouldn't know where to start.

Discuss the use with your doctor.

99.9 percent of my bodily injuries are motorcycle get off related. The list is not short. That fact doesn't making riding a motorcycle anymore comfortable.

I'm no spring chicken. 7 decades in January. So what I do to keep in shape for living without too much whining that helps a little for riding is I ride a TREK 5500 on a stationary trainer. I put in 1 hour every other day like I'm riding a criterion. At my age that would make me dead last in a real competition, but I'm doing the best I can. The bicycle riding strengthens the neck, shoulders, wrists, legs, and endurance. All of it maps well to motorcycle riding.

Edit: Also good for the solar plexus.

Just something to think about, or not.

Ten 4 on bicycle rides , in winter (now) I walk several miles daily half uphill as I live on foundry hill , almost out my door is Victoria Park 1000+ acres of trails and woods , will be back in there once things solidify a bit more , still too muddy .... also do all work needed around our property and hire myself out to friends when they need chainsaw work done ....

I agree with @ludwig post #11. Had to replace the bars on my 72 Comando and 08 T100 Triumph with bars with more pullback to eliminate the pain in my neck and between my shoulders. Brings the elbows in, gets away from that elbows out dirt bike feel.

I am most comfortable with a slightly rearward footpeg setup. My Commando has Euro bars and the CNW rearset - very comfortable for me. Re fairings - I have a BMW R1200RS and have tried 4 different windscreens of varying heights and they all create turbulence at the helmet that is very uncomfortable for more than an hour or two at high speed.

I have no such trouble on the Norton or on my Kawasaki Z900RS Cafe. Go figure...