| Author | Message | ||
     Black_buelly |
So my wife and I took our first long trip yesterday. We were riding in a Harley group, so we were received well due to the Buell. Our trip was 280 miles. The bike was awesome, I found my self always down shifting to keep the motor from lugging to maintain the groups legal speed limit speeds. I have a 2 issues I need to work out before I do it again. After the first 50 miles, it hurt to turn my head before a lane change. The top of my back and my neck were very stiff. Will 1" bar risers help with this. Secondly, my and my wife butts were numb nearly the entire time. I have the Buell low seat on the 06 and we are under our average weight for our age. What can we do to fix this. I may have to move to a Glide before we do another long trip again. Thanks for the input. (Message edited by black_buelly on July 13, 2009) | ||
| Jlnance |
Hope you're feeling better today.  These things get easier after a while. You're using muscles that don't usually get used, and until you build them up, you hurt. You may find the 07 seat better than the 06 low seat. They are similar heights, but padded differently. As to your neck an shoulders, I used to have issues with that too (though I'm not sure it was always caused by the bike.) Once it was really bad, which prompted me to visit a chiropractor, to see what they could do. That helped me tremendously. Now when my back or neck hurts, I go. | ||
| Pso |
I use an Airrider seat for all day comfort on the 06 Low seat, plus I do not wear jeans nor scivees with seams on the butt. Also bar risers helped with the neck as does doing shoulder shrugs as an excersize with light dumbbells. | ||
| Babired |
I would try the 07 seat too. My seat is awesome never have a numb butt. But I do get stiff when riding long distances. Riding with HOGs on group rides is slow and frustrating. You got to move around every once in a while in the saddle to keep from getting stiff. Then when I ride long distances I use these....  | ||
| Danger_dave |
2,800 miles is a long...ish ride. :-) | ||
| Trevd |
Danger_dave, remember, he was with a Harley group, so 280 miles IS a long ride for them... Black_buelly, my experience has been that the more you ride, the less aches you have. If a guy rides 300 miles 1 day every 30 days, he gets sore. If he rides every day, his body gets used to riding, and 300 miles becomes a piece of cake. My arse is always more sore on the first rides of spring than on rides later on in the season. Your neck and shoulders pain - Could it be that you're too tense holding onto the bars? It's understandable if you're riding with a bunch of ill-handling bikes how you may be tense, but lightening your grip could do wonders. | ||
| Ronmold |
These sure help in the nether regions: https://ldcomfort.com/store/mens-dryline-shorts.ht ml And you can tell people you're wearing $50 underwear!  | ||
| Od_cleaver |
Black Buelly, My comfort mods have been: 1. ’06 standard (tall) seat – this removed 90%+ of the tendency for me to slide forward in the seat. It replaced the ’07 seat. I did not get a numb butt from either seat. After a multi day ride on the ’07 it felt as if my skin was being torn off. Fancy shorts and pants didn’t help. 2. 2” Rox Risers – some help in changing my seating position to be more upright. The ’06 seat above ate up about 1” of this rise. I may look for new handle bars this winter to gain back that 1” loss (or more). 3. Precision Engineering’s 2” drop foot pegs – doesn’t help the neck or back but sure gave me some knee relief. Note: The combination of the taller seat and maybe the new foot pegs has placed my knees out in the airstream. This has given me some heat relief. It could be that with the ’07 seat I would naturally hug the tank with my knees to keep from sliding forward. I am probably a little bit older than you, but the following has greatly improved my neck and upper back pains: Neck – First make sure that you use a pillow that provides some support and not some flatten thing at home or your rolled up jacket on the road. Next try some neck stretches. Every morning I look hard left and hold for 30 seconds, then hard right and hold and finally hard down and hold. Upper Back – I do shoulder rolls, forward and backward, while I do my neck stretches. This (in my opinion) is all a physical therapist would do. They recommend stretches and muscle use with light weights and many reps. Sorry guys but chiropractors = modern day snake oil salesmen. Chiropractors take a little bit of truth, hook you and then proceed to bleed you dry with their constant “adjustments”. My solution for your wife’s problem is to get that Harley Electra Glide. It worked for me. My wife will not ride on the Uly. BTW, the first time I sat on my Glide I knew it fit. It was so much better than the Goldwing I had. If I had the Harley first, I am not sure that I would have bought the Uly. I like the Harley that much. | ||
| Bienhoabob |
All of the above, with emphasis on more time in the saddle. Every spring I start off with short hundred mile rides and am sore. But after several of these rides, my body gets conditioned. Although it would be hard to do with a passenger, try moving around. I change foot positions regularly, driver to passenger pegs, rotate shoulders, flex hands/fingers, move head from side to side, etc. 280 miles in a HOG group is a tough ride. I bet most of the Harley riders were sore, too. | ||
| Hooper |
How many comments/questions did you get about the fan? About one question for every two Harley riders? Most common: "Does it always do that?" I'm with you on the neck thing - the wind does pressure my neck muscles, especially on sustained highway speeds. It takes a couple days until they get in shape. | ||
| Highlander51 |
I actually sold my E-glide when I bought the 06 Uly. Opposite reason though, my wife now rides her own bike and I was bored on the Glide. I have the tall seat on now but the bike came with the low seat which I don't like. I'm 6' and I'm not cramped at all. I do think the risers would help the shoulders, and would be more comfortable while standing. I do a fair amount of off road with this bike and thats my only problem. Get the Ergo's right on the Uly and I think you will see a big difference. Mike | ||
| 4dwuds |
Make your handlebars fit your riding position. Have a friend straddle your front wheel and hold the bike up straight and steady, You sit in the seat and close your eyes, without touching your bars, reach your hands out to where you feel comfortable,( you can even hold on to a couple old grips) Now open your eyes and see what position your hands and wrists are in. That's how you need to bend your bars to fit. Yea you will need to remove the bars and bend and tweak and reinstall till ya get it right, I do this on all my bikes and never get the sore shoulder/neck. I have done 1300 miles non stop (except for gas n go),I didn't feel like a spring chicken when done but I was still alive and mobile. | ||
| Kevinaye |
Hey Od_cleaver, when you installed those 2" rox risers. Did you have to make adjustments to any of the cables on your handlebars? Or is a simple "plug'n'play"? Cheers. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Get an inversion table for your back and neck. Hanging upside down for 1/2 hour decompresses your spine and makes you feel young again. Gravity takes its toll on all of us and with an inversion table you can reverse the damage. My knees bothered me, especially the one that that was operated on a number of years ago. After I got the inversion table I notice that my knees didn't ache anymore. The truth. | ||
| Sayitaintso |
For me its a couple things.... Neck and head: To me wind is the big thing here. A big windshield will help a ton. I notice it the most when I wear my 3/4 helmet rather than a full face. The 3/4 has more resistance and makes my neck work harder, thus getting sore where I would have been fine with the full face. Back: To some extent its just the nature of the beast. Any bike will make your back hurt if you dont change positions a little bit. Try standing on the pegs occasionally to loosen up the muscles and periodically lean forward. Seat/butt burn: I too am not the tallest and went with an '06 low for 6 months or so. By then I was getting more comfortable being up on my toes while stopped and gave the regular '06 seat a try. WOW what a difference. Its better cushioned, blocks the heat better, and you don't slide around as much. I'm officially a convert and will deal with sliding off to one side to put my foot down at stops for the increased comfort. | ||
| Hooper |
Electraglider retires to his lair, after the long ride...  (Message edited by hooper on July 13, 2009) | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I kid you not, the inversion table is worth it. | ||
| Hmartin |
Precisely why I gave up on cruiser group rides fairly quickly. Some of the accordion-like traffic movement in the back can be downright dangerous. Sportbike group rides can be just as dangerous for the opposite reason. So, as a result, I pretty much go it alone, now, with our without my hot babe on the back. | ||
| Cyclone8u |
This echoes much of what has been said here, but this is the order of importance for me. Keep in mind we just got back from a 2500+ mile trip 6 weeks ago, and have since put another 1400 miles on just on a few day trips. 1. Physical fitness. As the rides become longer so does the necessity of being fit, both of you. If one or both of you become fatigued, neither of you will continue to enjoy the ride. 2. Ride your pace. If you are riding slower or faster than what is comfortable for both of you, the ride becomes very fatiguing. 3. Do what you can to optimize your bike for comfort. This is a very personal thing, and what works for me might not (probably won't) work for you. I would play with the stock bike first. Move the handle bars, adjust your suspension, etc. Then as you narrow down what areas need adjustment beyond what the stock configuration allows, then start shopping aftermarket. It's taken me over 9,000 miles on my Uly to find what I think is the optimum setup for me and my wife. Surprisingly the single best improvement I did for her comfort was getting her an Ipod...sometimes comfort is psychological. And always remember, it's a motorcycle. If you really want to be comfortable, stay home. my $.02 | ||
| Od_cleaver |
Kevinaye, No change to the cables to get the 2" risers to fit. I did route the brake hose differently (if my memory is correct). One hose clamp is gone. The hose is held in place by a zip tie. Bottom line, no other parts (except for the zip tie) were needed. You might do a search. I think that I saw a write up a year or so ago. | ||
| Kimberley |
You guys will laugh, but I have an inversion table and a hot tub. 2 ruptured lumbar discs from a work related injury. Had an '06 Street Glide. Figured it was too heavy. Traded it in on a Lightning. Great bike but killed my back. Traded that for an '07 Nightster. Couldn't take the bumps. Traded for an '08 customized Fat Boy. OK but wanted more. Traded that for my Uly. But I digress......check the internet for neck, back and hamstring stretches. Yoga is good too. Best of luck!!!! | ||
| Royintulsa |
Make a concentrated effort to relax. Loose grip, advil liquid gels starting the day before, plus frequent rest. I wear a tighter helmet on long distance trips than I do around town, that made a big difference. | ||
| Lens |
I read this thread and immediately ordered the Rox Risers. I've also found that I have less shoulder/back pain when riding 2-up and have something touching my back. It's not that I'm actually leaning back on anything, but just the fact that there is something there. Weird, I know. Next long ride I'm going to strap a bag or something to the pillion to give me something to press my back against and see if this is repeatable. |
