Why Your Hands Go NUMB On A Motorcycle

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[MotoJitsu]

If you can't "play the piano" while riding, you're too tight on the bars. Remember, the more relaxed you are with your hands and arms, the more control you have. MotoJitsu.com

[mto]

What I learned from Dave Moss that was really helpful for me was to make sure to adjust and turn down the brake and clutch lever to align with my arm/wrist angle to be ergonomically correct to eliminate unnecessary strain in the joints.

[FirinMahLazer]

My hands went numb on my Rebel 300 because the grips vibrated more than the shoebox under my wife's side of the bed.

[teljla]

Great advice that is even more pertinent as you age. My 72-year-old hands can go numb quicker than my 25 year-old hands could when I first started riding.

[sandyshelton]

I ride a 75 mile round trip daily commute. Hand numbness was a big problem for me on my FZ6R. The 3 things that worked for me was more pressure on the tank with my knees, a throttle lock or crampbuster and "playing the piano" every few minutes. Now the only time my hands get numb is when temperatures drop into the 30's and my heated grips can't keep up.

[Lord-of-Cats]

I just got back into riding after 2 years with an old standard. I found that my hands were extremely numb and painful after a short time because I was so tense and sitting too far back. Once I made an effort to relax and sit properly, I felt completely fine for hours.

[shashimenon]

All things considered, if are not adequately hydrated, your arms will tire and you can experience numbness and/or cramping of the fingers. My medical hydrate, especially if riding continuous over an hour or two. Also, if you have significant cervical spondylosis, because of compression of the brachial plexus, you can get numbness or paraesthesia in the arms and hands. You should take a break and mobilise your shoulders to loosen the neck tissues. All the best and as ever, thanks for your videos. Totally useable tips.

[MoparStephen]

I just got my temps today, geared up and went on my first ride that was longer than 1/4 mile. I had to come back after less than 15 minutes because my arms and wrists felt like I'd been lifting. I didn't realize how scared (therefore tense) I was. Loving these videos, I have an entire month to prepare for my beginning rider course. I'm trying to watch everything I can on low speed control and how to properly turn.

[prka]

Since I’m a noob, I’m doing better at keeping my hands loose on the grips and scooting forward on the seat. This video just validated this for me. I was so tense when I started out riding and would come back come with really numb hands.

[badassat]

I was riveted. That's because you are an excellent communicator, Greg, because I already knew that, on an intuitive level. But you brought it to the surface of my awareness, enough for me to now make multiple decisions during a ride to loosen my grip. Keep the teaching going because it is precious stuff.

[dugbucky]

Great advice Greg.
Here's one for you, I found out my gloves were making my hands numb. Get the right gloves!

[tamaride]

Great topic and I think you nailed the real issue - it took me several month once I realized the more relaxed my hands and arms the more control I have and my hands don't go numb so fast - I also added a wrap to may grips which seems to help.

[montgomery]

I thought I was the only one with this problem, thanks for addressing it. Several reasons why this may occur is 1. If you are driving a smaller displacement bike and you are forcing it to keep up with traffic. In such a case, the steering will begin to vibrate and you compensate by “holding on for dear life”. You then tense up and restrict blood flow to your fingers and hands with that tiring “ death grip”. 2. If your bike is light, or if you ride a taller bike at higher speeds, you will face problems with wind pressure. I personally never had numb hands when I drove my 750cc standard type bike. The problems began occurring when I sized down to lighter and taller bikes. Sometimes, what you like isn’t always appropriate for what you are using your bike for.

[anettedouglasdotter]

Oh, this is just so good! ✨️ And so true! 👍
As a complete newbie, I hung on to my life in the handlebars.... Stiff, all the way up to my hair roots!!! 😮I had that "Lion King look" - but not cool at all though, ....! 😅 But I took your word for it - and started to play the piano! 🎼 My instructor at school, , loved the metaphore - when I told him what made the huge change in my whole drivning position! ❤ No more numbness, easier to ride - and so much more joy! 🫠
Thank you so much, Greg! ✨️

[stugatz]

I've found that installing the "foamy" grip sleeves really help with minimizing the numb sensation in my hands to the point that it's very infrequent compared to not having the foam sleeves. they do increase the grip diameter, but you get used to it.

[ThreenaddiesRexMegistus]

I’m 64 now and have arthritis which varies day to day from years of heavy trade work and combat sports. Fitted all 3 bikes with coca-cola barrel grips now which alleviates much of this problem. Bent arms helps and having the grips at an angle rather than horizontal is useful too. I have clubman bars on my CB1300 which seem to work well, my Triumph Sprint GT is already ergonomic, but the real surprise is the 8” ape hangers on my American export Triumph T-140 which are incredibly comfortable - hands are at about a 30 degree angle. I also cover the brake with one finger practically all the time but generally maintain a relaxed grip. Small parallel grips (the usual standard options) are the devils work. I’m now a fan of the more forward riding position though as this improves control and reduces wind buffet. But some days suck (yesterday on the 1300 after 100 or so miles) and you just have to shake it off and continue. It’s not a good thing when you can’t feel your hands on the twisties so I’ll likely put the small reflexed levers on to minimise the reach.
Well done for covering this common issue! 👍🏻

[kurasaki]

Not to knock out Greg, but also get checked out. I have followed his instructions, and it makes a difference. Sometimes, it was not my hand that went numb, but my forearm and my hands would follow. Turned out I had impingements in my muscles. I ride a cruiser, and it should be the easiest ride. It wasn't. I got treated and followed the motojitsu training, and I've improved

[sqward]

One of your old videos helped me a lot with this problem. Ever since I started covering brake and clutch with two fingers problem disappeared.

[curtislow]

Great advice. Every time my hands go numb it's because I'm riding too tense and I have to consciously loosen up.

[SGTvolcan]

I got into road motorcycling a few months ago (I primarily ride dirt bikes, so being on the road is odd to me) so i still have my beginners permit. I'm so deathly terrified of losing control due to a tar snake or pebble that i death grip like i'm cutting fire wood. I kept wondering if it was the gloves i bought, but even without gloves my hand would still go numb.

When you're chopping wood a numb hand really doesn't matter so i learned to ignore it. But riding a motorcycle is a different story. Thanks for the video, it's just one of those things that i'll have to fix over time.