Triumphrat

95bravo

I have noticed the muscles in the back of my neck and shoulders are strained after approximately 1 hour of constant riding. I am 6'1". Anyone else have this problem? What can I add to my bike to help avoid this?

Thanks

JMart121

Handlebar risers might help. They move the bar up about an inch and 1/4. Small but noticeable difference. http://www.newbonneville.com/html/handlebar_risers.html

No modification needed to the cables either.

Normandy

I have similar pain but have been giving credit to the sun. Was ok til the hot sunny weather. Try to cover up good too.

black-bonnie

Yes, the risers helped me very much with this problem.

You may want to look at a different helmet too, assuming you wear one. I went with one of the lighter full face helmets.

I also found that riding about 8 hours in a day took my neck muscles to get stronger. The more I rode, the stronger they got.

eagle

A screen would probably help - to keep the wind off which causes tired neck muscles. Being tall you'd have to go for quite a tall sreen though.

I have considered screwing a hook into the top of my helmet and attaching a bungee cord to the bars! That would take the strain off - but could be interesting in an accident!

Don't try this at home.... :???:

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derek985

That's a really good point - a while back I took a season off from riding. The next season I had neck pain for some time until they built back up.

I have also noticed that a lot of highway riding or riding on windy days still gives me some neck pain. I think it's because you fight the wind harder for a prolonged period of time. Sometimes, if I know I'll be doing a long trip, I down an Advil in advance.

D.

black-bonnie

A thing I read on another site is to watch how relaxed you keep your neck muscles when you're riding. If you are holding your shoulders up as you ride, eventually that adds strain.

As you're riding, catch yourself and see if you can relax your shoulders. If you find your shoulders drop, you then had your next muscles tensed.

Try to move your neck muscles sometimes while riding by moving your shoulders around with your hands on the bar and then taking them off one at a time. I just added a cruise control lock so I could take my right arm off and move it around on long rides.

Also, if you tense your neck muscles real hard for about 10 seconds at a time, and then totally relax them, they will relax more by tensioning them first as opposed to just trying to relax them.

mecscc

black bonnie is on to something. It is easy to ride way too tensed up. We tend to lean into the bars and grip them way too hard. And we also tend to either lock our elbows or to hold them locked in a "chicken wing" position with out shoulders all scrunched up (medical term). It is worse without a windscreen.

Try to achieve an arm position where you are just laying your hands on the controls gently and let the elbows fall straight down. There should be a significant bend of the elbow. In my case it is about 70 degrees, but everybody is built differently. If you can't do this with the bars you have then get some risers or some bars that will let you do it.

In the best of circumstances, and I am also your height, after a few hours I get pain in the lower part of my neck and at the top vertebrae of my back. Long before that it was time to get off and stretch out on the ground, or better yet, on your back on a picnic table.

Someone said that the more you ride the better it gets. I believe that because you simply CAN'T ride a lot all tensed up and you have to learn to relax more - or you simply aren't going to be able to ride much.

One more thing. A Throttle Rocker will help you relax your hand and the forearm muscle. And that helps because......."de leg bone 'connected to de hip bone, the hip bone 'connected to de............." Well, ditto with the hands, arms, neck and back..........

Monte :-D

[ This message was edited by: mecscc on 2006-07-05 15:06 ]

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derek985

I have a Throttle Rocker and it does help considerably.

D.

Binnsy

I agree with all answers so far, I have noticed a few things:

Tensed up: I try and lean back and hang off the bars every now and then to relax. I notice the difference immediately and it proves I am riding tensed up.

Aspirin: I have taken them before a ride sometimes as I have experienced headaches from riding. Found out it was due to a poorly fitting helmet, changed the lid and now OK. As a side note the other day I didn't tighten my chinstrap tight and was going a bit over the limit. I felt something touching my nose and it was the bottom part of the helmet! Had to pull over and get it sorted, the wind had pushed it up so far. Must have looked real stylish ?? :roll:

Wind Buffeting: When I changed my helmed this was greatly reduced, and I bought only a cheap FF helmet. Very impressed with the difference and reduced neck strain.

Neck muscles: I have a neck like a chicken so my head would flap in the breeze. I have no windscreen but have noticed after constant riding my neck has toned up and I don't notice the problem anymore.

Regards...........Binnsy

PS I like the bungee cord idea, possibly from the centre of the bars to chinstrap. :-D

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