I'm looking to buy either an SGS or RKS this year. It's been 20 years since I've owned an HD, but I've kept riding a couple of times a year through HD rentals and Eagle Rider. My problem is that I get bad shoulder pain after riding more than an hour. The pain starts as soon as 30 min and gets so bad I have to stop after an hour. It's more on my left side than right, but the longer I ride the worse it gets and affects both shoulders. I've gone to physical therapy to see if they could help, but they said my range of motion was normal and that I just have a lot of muscle tightness in my chest and lats.

I figured everyone puts bars on their touring bikes for this reason, but I've ridden my buddies RGS with 12" bars and that didn't help at all. I tried a back rest and that seemed to help more than the bars, but still didn't take the pain away. What I can't figure out is I can drive in my truck for hours on end with zero shoulder pain. Does anyone else on here get shoulder pain? Is this a back rest thing, a seat position thing, a posture thing, a bar thing?

I don't want to drop $30k on a new bike only to have to sell it if I can't ride without pain.

This is where I feel the pain:

 

A lot of us, well me anyway, take a couple of pain killers ahead of a long ride. It's easier than giving up riding altogether. My shoulder pain comes in on the throttle side. I also try to change up the seated position every few miles. Motorcycles don't offer side bolster support such as a car does. So your body has to strain a little to stay upright which shifts the normal posture. An upper body/arm strength regimen may help you as well.

 

Riding position in a car or truck is a bit different than on a bike. You're probably leaning back slightly and have some of your thigh supporting you on the seat. Your arms are probably not on the steering wheel all the time like on the bars of a bike and you can switch hands on the steering wheel every few minutes.

Do you rest one arm at a time when riding the bike? I have an H-D adjustable backrest and I can lean back a little when riding which helps. The OEM bars on my bike gave me shoulder pain as well, but switched to a slightly taller bars. I can ride all day now w/o any pain.

 

I had horrid shoulder pain too after riding for an extended amount of time. Changed the bars and now that is never an issue.

 

some simple PT exercise will really help strengthen your shoulder, had to do this after surgery (and continue to do so). didnt think id be able to ride again due to fatigue and pain, but keeping up an exercise regime has pretty much eliminated the pain, and greatly reduced fatigue

 

Rotator cuff? They have a tendency to tear over time, and can cause a great deal of shoulder pain after riding a while. That was my experience, to the point that a pretty substantial tear in my supraspinatus was repaired two months ago. Been living with it for prob 30 years, finally got to be too much to take. An orthopedist would be the one to see.

UPDATE- I see the pic is not in the rotator cuff area. So- never mind!

 

If you're riding without some sort of windscreen, have you considered that the pain may be from your head bouncing around from buffeting?

 

I've noticed 3 things that helped to eliminate my neck, back, & shoulder pain.
1- Get a back rest, or at least get a seat that has better support for your lower back. (I won't even ride without a backrest attached, thankfully it's part of my Corbin seats)
2- Get highway pegs and adjust them to give your feet another comfortable place to extend your legs to once in a while. Don't forget to use them, especially on long rides.
3- Upgrade to taller bars. You don't have to get 16" or anything crazy tall, but you need to elevate your hands & elbows higher than what the factory bars can provide.

With the above changes to my bike, I was able to ride for 11.5 hours (only stopping for gas, restroom breaks, and quick meal), with ZERO back, neck & shoulder pain afterwards.
Good luck.

 

This is also worth mentioning a second time.
I had a short screen above my batwing fairing and my neck hurt all the time. I swapped out to a slightly taller version and the wind buffeting is GONE.

 

I take Aleve all day long while riding - this is about the only thing that makes it bearable. Would be nice to find another solution.

I do rest one arm at a time and this helps prolong the pain. Cruise control is a must have for this reason.

I can't figure out how taller bars can solve this problem? If anything reaching further out and higher up to hold the bars makes my shoulders hurt worse.

I'm doing this as well. Hopefully this will help over time.