Hey guys...been a long time. I have a little bit of a problem, and I'm hoping some of you can give me some advice/instruction.

I have had the same grips on my bike since I bought it 6 years ago. I had the dealer install them when I purchased the bike. They are the 'knurled chrome, narrow band' style. They are absolutely my favorite in terms of looks. I have the matching pegs, shift peg, and brake lever....even the matching front wheel axle nut covers. So needless to say....I like them.

But here's my problem. I have normal size hands, but my fingers are a little on the shorter side. Combined with the taller mini-apes, and solid as a rock polyeurethane bushings...my fingers tend to numb up pretty quick. This isn't too much of a problem on back roads, when I can release my hands, twist the fingers a little, get the blood flowing again, and I'm good. But on the highway, it's torture. I know, I know...no "death grip". But I'm really not holding on for dear life. I even have one of those throttle rocker things, and the throttle wing nut extension thing....so I can lock the grip (sorta a primitive cruise control).

In any event...I'm still suffering every time i get out on the highway. So I'm trying to decide what to do. I hate to lose the look of my current grips...they really do look killer. But there comes a time when function must come before form...that's definitely the case.

So what I'd like to know is...can I remove the current grips without destroying them...I might want to put them back on at some point....who knows. It's my understanding that the newer HD grips don't require glue. I've looked all over the web, and can't find a good video tutorial.
The other question is...Do you guys find that changes with grips can really make a significant differnce (or am I wasting my time?) I'm currently looking at the nice simple contoured/chromed grips (narrowest diameter). Now I've heard that there's something called "get a grip" grips...which really look promising to me....but availability is questionable, and can't be prucased online (at least not from HD's website)

Any help would be greatly appreciated...particularly video tutorials...I work best with those...and yes...I do have a shop manual...just too lazy to take a look.

I look forward to your replies.
As always...thanks for your help.

Todd

 

Hi Todd.
Yes you can remove them without destroying them. Please refer to my writeup.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/sport...ay-how-to.html

 

I get the same thing, my fingers go numb very quickly. My bars don't vibrate all that much, but what I did recently, is I took a piece of pipe about 12" long with the same inside diameter of my bars, put it upright in my vise and melted lead into it until it was full. Then I split the pipe open with my angle grinder and removed the lead slug, cut it in half and pounded each piece into the end of my bars. I've only ridden once since then, but it did make a huge difference.

I can see more clearly in my mirrors now, so the vibration is definately less. Even though I can hardly feel any vibration, my fingers still went a little numb after a while, but it did help a lot.

I do have ISOgrips, but I might go to some with a smaller diameter and see if that makes a difference.

I've also ordered a throttle lock so I can take my hand off and wiggle my fingers now and then.

I don't think there is just one solution, but a few things that you can do that all help.

As far as removing & installing your grips, I used to glue my left grip on with the glue that comes with them, but one day I was riding on the highway and my left grip came right off. I didn't have any glue with me to glue it back on, so I wrapped a couple layers of electrical tape on my bar end and jammed the grip back on. This held the grip much better than the glue ever did, so now I never use the glue, just electrical tape under the grip, and you can still get it off by twisting it without ruining the grip, and it won't pop off in your hand like mine did.

If you find any other solutions that help for the finger numbness, please post them, as I'm sure many of us have this problem.



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I have the Willie-G grips from H-D. They are the larger diameter ones and my hands still get numb on long runs. I think my problem though is that I can't find gloves that have long enough thumbs and they all apply pressure to the ends of them. That causes them to go numb and spreads though out my hands. Also, the Willie-G grips do not use glue on the clutch side at all. What holds them on is the switch housing themselves. The housing is what also prevents them from twisting. You will find several of the H-D grips are that way. You can go to their site and look at some of the grips and click on the "download instructions" link and it will show whether or not that particular grip requires gluing or not.

 

I even have one of those throttle rocker things

I had one of those on my old bike. Helped a little, but it's NOTHING like having cruise control.

What a pleasure it is to be able to shake out my right hand when I need to!!

 

I know what you mean regarding the numbness during long distance riding and it gets worse if the weather is cold and there is a safety issue with all this. You're going to have to find a glove/grip combo that will fit your hands. I got a set of those Kuriakin (sp?) iso type grips that the H-D shop are the most popular. Seems like they are on many bikes. Compared to the stock grips that came on my softail heritage (2007) there is a BIG difference. I have large hands and long fingers therefore needed a little bigger around grip. The idea is to insulate your hand from the road vibration and it helps if the handlebar angle/configuration/etc. is correct so as not to stress nerves and muscles. The next thing is gloves. Some are better than others. Just wearing leather gloves may be OK, but there are some that have a little insulation that will cut down some vibs and keep you warm. This is a matter of degree. However I think you need enough what I call feedback feel for good control. To me grips on a bike are like having the proper grip on a hand gun. If the grips are not right on a pistol it hinders accuracy. Same with a bike.

 

Just my experience.. I switched from the hd stock grips to the ISO grips and it made a huge difference. They also make all of the other covers and accessories so you can complete the look. You could probably sell all of the set you have now on the classified section and recover some of the cost. Also using the throttle set screw (cruise control) helps especially if you replace the stock wheel with an extended lever so you can adjust the tension on the fly easier.

 

I honestly don't think you are going to get rid of the numbness thing no matter what you do. I've dealt with that on every bike and different grips I've ever owned. I've just chalked it up with riding. Just have to wiggle the fingers every once in a while to get circulation moving right.

 

The problem is probably the mini-apes not the grips, try bars that bring your hands even or lower than your heart and see if that cures it.