I have 2003 Sportster I bought last year. Went for a nice ride today but my hands kept cramping up around 60 miles into the trip. Am I holding on too tight? I tried to drink plenty of water before I rode today. Any suggestions from experienced riders.

 

ride more, it will build up Ur muscles.

 

Boy, there's a million ways to attack that problem. Like the above poster said, ride more. Then there are a lot of grip exercisers on the market. You could change the grips and or handlebars on your bike. You hit on one yourself, grip the bar less tight. Different gloves. The list goes on and on. Just experiment and see what works for you. Good luck.

 

eat bananas,,,,,,,,full of potassium, which is what you need to relieve the cramps

 

Stay hydrated, drink lot's of water.
Relax your entire body.
Get a rubber ball and exercise your hand

 

I'd say smaller diameter grips. HD makes them. So does Performance machine. I'm sure others do as well.
My PM's are perfect for me!

 

loosen your grip for sure and flex your hands whenever you can.

 

Next time you're out, consciously check your wrist position. If it's bent forward or back you can decrease circulation to the hand.

Experiment with different positions.

 

Cramping or Numbing ?

I get numbing ( prolly carpel t ) .. try a throttle rocker .. saves the day for me.

http://www.throttlerocker.com/

 

Carpal tunnel is too abused as an 'problem' and too many people think they have it when they don't. If one has carpal tunnel syndrome, you won't be able to do whatever it is that caused it...*ever again*...because of the agonizingly extreme pain it causes. Literally so agonizing that if you even try to *partially* do whatever caused it, you'll want to scream. It's caused from a repetitive use of certain muscles in the hands and arms in certain ways (no, no one really knows how or why it happens to only some folks). Mine was caused from tying wire when I used to work construction. We got on a job where the company decided we could tie the mats and everything else instead of hiring out to a company that does that kind of thing exclusively. After 3 days straight, literally 10 hours a day, of tying, one day I couldn't even pull the wire from the reel. My right hand, the plier hand, wasn't too bad, but my left hand, the wire reel hand, was so painful when I simply tried to pull wire from the reel I would scream . I couldn't tie wire ever again.

In other words, the OP doesn't have 'carpal tunnel syndrome', but should do as others have suggested and try all sorts of different things.