Re: Elbow and wrist pain in Duke 390...

Thread approved.

Re: Elbow and wrist pain in Duke 390...

You could have mentioned your height and weight for better understanding. From what I have experienced, KTM bikes have ridiculously short riding distance (distance from rear end of driver seat to the handlebar) so anyone above 5'8" will be extremely uncomfortable on them. If you are taller than that then that could be the reason.

Still you could try a few things to alleviate wrist pain. First of all HUG the fuel tank really tight with your thighs/knees while riding. Try it while riding at high speeds and leave the handlebars, you will notice that the bike is still balanced and stable. Now put only 2 fingers on the rubber grip lightly and use counter-steering technique (kindly check youtube videos on counter steering). KTM bikes are a lot of fun once you get a hang of counter steering. Eventually you will notice that even 2 fingers are enough to steer the motorcycle while hugging the tank and using counter steering. After that, keep it in mind that your hands should be rested lightly on the handlebars just like you rest it on a car's steering, you are not supposed to put any weight on the wrists while riding pure sports motorcycles.

Second thing you could try is sitting with a straight back and not leaning forward. Due to the wide handlebars in Dukes, leaning forward puts more weight on the inner (thumb side) side of the wrists. So sit as far back as possible and don't lean forward.

I am only trying to be helpful by providing, I don't mean to be condescending. You need to stop sitting on KTM bikes like you used to ride P220, you need to learn the proper way of riding sporty motorcycles. I know that you are an experienced rider, but sometimes we keep making minor changes to our habits/postures while driving without noticing and then we can't figure out how and what has changed so much.

Re: Elbow and wrist pain in Duke 390...

I'm 5.9". I used to do decent cornering in 220 as in scraping the stand whole solo, but wasn't able to ride it with no hands on the handle bars, even now I can't do that after this much of riding :facepalm

have seen videos telling to balance the bike with your knees but however in traffic I won't have the patience to adjust and start riding like I'm used to.. from past 6 months I'm trying to watch video as in how people hold imthe handle bars but still end up riding my usual of holding it tight ...

Thank you for your advise atleast from now I'll try to change my riding style.

Re: Elbow and wrist pain in Duke 390...

I faced the similar issue after I switched to Duke, but wearing gloves gave me relief.

Re: Elbow and wrist pain in Duke 390...

Lately from 2 weeks I'm learning to ride with minimal grip on the handles, now the pain is almost gone.