Getting comfortable on a VFR- Need Help

I bought a new 07 VFR. Since then, Ive put a Laminar Lip and a set of Gen Mar Risers on it. I am having trouble getting confortable on it enough for some serious miles. I ordered some Heli-Bar risers and am going to give them a try. There's just too much pressure on my wrists so my hands cramp up. Any advice? I'd really like to use this bike as my touring bike. I've done 800 mile days and need some degree of comfort.

Thanks,

Flash

 

Have you purchased a Sargent or Corbin saddle yet? That makes a HUGE difference! The stock saddle is verrry sippery and does not have any sweet spots - only sour spots. It tired me out after short rides - shorter than 800 miles, anyhow! ;-)

 

I am 41 and had the same issue and can only say a little time in the saddle will make it better.New bikes tend to make you a little tense at first and it will go away as you get used to it, the Heli bars wil help a bit to.

 

Spot on Reggie, more a case of conditioning here. big difference in being in shape vs not, so even though one may not be out of shape in heart and mind, motorcycle riding takes on a whole other set of muscles. Another thing that one might think about is your diet too.

 

Like you I had a lot of issues getting comfy on the VFR when I bought mine last year. My right arm kept going numb from the shoulers on down and I had a little bit of leg pain if I were to do any more than 20 miles or so on the bike. Some of my problems stemmed from being a lazy rider on my cruiser and some simply stemmed from the bike itself not quite fitting me. Topping it all off was my carpel tunnel. It was just killing me.

One of the first thing that I did was change the grips probably was the most important upgrade that I did for comfort. The best thing about it is that it was also the cheapest at roughly $9. This almost cured all of my problems but I still would get a little bit of leg pain and I still would start going numb after about 60 miles on the VFR. The grips that I used were the ProGrip 699's. They are significantly larger in diameter than the stock grips and have a ton more cushion. This helped reduce vibrations and not cause my hands to be so tight, thus reducing 99% of my carpel tunnel problems. For the other 1% of times I was lucky enough to have purchased the bike with a set of Throttlemeister bar ends already installed. Any time I start hurting I can simply set it to hold the throttle for 15-30 seconds while I give my hand a strech.

The second thing that I did was to buy a Sargent seat. While I didn't necessarily think that the padding itself was much better than the stock seat, it was the width at my thighs that made the difference. There is an almost sharp edge to the stock seat of the VFR and that was pinching something in my leg such as an artery or nerve. With that gone I was finally able to grip the tank with my knees like you are supposed to. When you can finally do this, you can support yourself a lot more with your legs and use your back and wrists much less. I still had the pesky tingling feeling in my right arm though after about 60 miles.

I was going to order a set of Heli Bars but I figured I would try to use the stock ones first. I simply loosened the pinch bolts on the clip ons and slid them up so that they were flush with the top of the fork tubes then removed the little rings while I was at it. Low and behold I can say that I rarely have any discomfort on the bike anymore. I think the furthest I have ridden without a stop since I've slid them up is about 100 miles, but I dont forsee any issues going further as comfortable as I am on it now. I'd say that it was a change of about 15mm or so. It was enough that I know I don't need a set of Heli Bars like I was thinking.

Do yourself a favor and splurge on the $10 set of grips. You'll be very happy that you did. I couldn't believe it but the cheapest thing I've done to the bike was the most important when it came to comfort. Make sure that you are using your legs (most importantly gripping the tank) to properly support yourself. If you aren't sure if the seat will be good for you, do some searching of members on here and see what you can find near you in SoCal. Surely someone on here would be happy to let you sit on their Sargent seat to see if you like it first... and probably be glad to meet ya as well. If you came from a cruiser like I did before I purchased the VFR, concentrate on your body position becuase you are probably slouching without realizing it. Try to keep your back straight and shoulders back a little. Basically you want to act like you are sitting straight up in a high back chair that is tipped forward.

There are some other things that you can do as well that would involve messing with the geometry of the bike a little bit. If you flip the triangle on the lower shock mount it will lower the back end a bit and will this change your position. This will put more weight on your butt instead of your wrists. You can also slide the forks down further in the triple tree to raise the front which will do the same thing. There are others on here that would be better at telling you how much to raise them combined with or without flipping the triangle. I'm not an expert on suspension and know little about it but I can tell you that if you do too much that you will lose some stability of the bike, change how response it is turning in, and how easily you hold a line in a corner.

Speaking of suspension, that might be something that could be causing your problems as well. If you find the suspension to be a bit bumpy or that you get harred around a lot, this can cause discomfort. If this is the case, you might want to adjust the preload on both the forks and rear shock, as well as the rebound on the rear shock. You would be surprised how much a full turn on the preload for the front forks can make, let alone a single adjustment can make on the rear shock. The rebound is even touchier and just an 1/8th of a turn can make a complete world of difference.

Some members say that the VFR causes them a little bit of knee pain because they feel cramped a bit. A member on VFR Discussion - Home offers a set of peg lowering blocks that will move your pegs down and back. I've heard nothing but praise on these and they are of top notch quality. Do a search over there for BLS Peg Lowering Blocks and you will find all the information you can want on them including pictures, specs, and how to order them.

This covers about everything except buffeting and windshields. The stock screen simply doesn't cut it for some but I am happy with it for now. I don't mind the wind on my helmet so much and the stock screen makes the air come up and hit me square in the chest. The wind actually helps me sit up and take a little pressure off of my arms and wrists. I haven't had a chane to really hit the slab and put some serious miles on so I can't really say if this is going to bother me on longer distance rides. Others don't really like the stock screen and have tried out many of the various aftermarkey options out there. I can't really recommend one over the other here but if you some browsing around the forums there is a ton of information on just about every option available for the VFR. The important thing to remember is that each screen will affect every person differently just because of height. I'm somewhat shorter at 5' 11" so someone shorter than me could be getting blasted right in the face while someone taller could be getting hit in the belly.

Hope all of this helps!

 

Holy shit! I wrote a hell of a lot more than I thought I did. Sorry for the long read.

 

800mile days thats serious dailymilage for a VFR, a FJR1300, ST1300 or R1200RT may be the better choice for you if that is a regular requirement. My max one day ride on my Gen 5 was some 850miles over 15 hours and while wrists weren't a problem my arse and knees were sore enough for me to rate the VFR as more an easy 500>550mile a day machine.

Have you tried riding with the original screen, I find the standard screens airflow helps unload the wrists with my VFRs standard clip ons at speed.

 

Don't lean on the grips. Concentrate on laying your hands gently on the grips like they were eggshells. After a while you'll do it automatically. Worked for me. I've done back-to-back 850+ and 750+ mile days and the only thing that got sore was my arse, and my neck got a bit stiff, but no biggie. And I'm an old fart.

 

the heli bars from what i have read here and a good seat like sargent or corbin changes everything..myself when she is finally paid for i am going with the convertibars they raise higher up and back more then any other...there was also a thread on here where someone put on dirtbike type bars with a riser and looked like it would change your riding postion....good luck..

 

Thanks for the great replies. Definitely some great info. Has anybody tried the GanMar risers versus the Helibars? How do they compare? Which gives more lift?

Thanks again,

Flash

 

Dang Meatloaf, that was a great post...thanks. It was like you were talkin to me...I just got a 2004 VFR in Asphalt Black as well, and my other bike is a Vulcan 900 Custom (I still love it too). After reading on here some, I went ahead and ordered the Sargent seat and those 699 Progrips you mentioned. Neither has arrived yet, but I'm stoked to install when they get here. I posted elsewhere that my new bike has some issues with the speedo not reading and the FI light on solid, but getting some help with that. I too was looking at those GanMar risers mentioned...I think I'll hold off for now and go do some crunches and leg lifts!

 

Havent tried either one but in doing my research the Heli's offered more lift over the GenMar's.

Glad I could help. Dont forget that you can raise the stock clip-ons up on the fork tubes as a free mod. You don't get much out of it but it might be enough to suit your individual needs such as it was for me. Just loosen the pinch bolt on them, slide em up the the top, and tighten em back down. You can also play with the angle of them too. Just make sure you dont lose the rings that are under the stock clip-ons and that after adjusting things you can turn the bars from lock to lock without hitting the fairing or windscreen. There are only two possible outcomes for doing this. Either A) you love it and you just saved yourself some money or B) You don't like it, just wasted five minutes of your time, and have to waste another five minutes putting it back to stock in just a few simple steps.

Like others have said, there is some adjusting to get used to, especially for those of us that came from a cruiser as there is a MUCH different riding position and style involved.

 

I had the same issues when I got my 07. Heli bars solved the problem immediately.

 

The GenMars raise the bars about an inch. The Helibars raise the bars about an inch, and also bring them back about an inch. Also, if you want an inexpensive way to lower your foot pegs, get Buell foot pegs. They drop the pegs about an inch.

 

I think the viffer is comfy for what it is (extended range sportbike), but i what i found funny was the riding position was more comfortable with no seat, it felt more natural lol. Of course i wouldnt roll around with no seat buit heck it felt pretty nice.

 

Flash:

By my look at their number, GenMars bring the bars up 3/4 inch and back 1/8 inch. Helibars raise the bar 1.25 inches and bring them back 1.5 inches. The Helibars in concert with a Throttle Rocker completely solved my arm comfort issue. I went from my right wrist remaining sore for a day or two after a one hour ride to no issue at all. I'm one of many highly satisfied Heli Bar customers on VFR's.

I also completely concur with the advice to ride the bike a bit and let your body get used to it. After one or two thousand miles (not all on one ride!) I wouldn't be surprised if things that were annoying you initially don't matter anymore but some other issue (like the desire for a Sergant Seat) may come up.

Ride safe (and comfortably), have fun
Bob S.

 

Wow, I was actually thinking it was a bit too upright. Of course this is my first VFR and my other bike is a Daytona 675and a ZZR600 and prior a gsxr.

May be leading off topic but are there any bars that will actually DROP an inch or so?