Back ache

[chronyx]

Did 222 miles today - and my back was rather painful for quite a lot of them!

Has any one else had this? Did you have to make the bars higher? (This is a rough guess as to what the problem is)

The only other painful thing was my derriere The seat is fine for commuting but it feels like a 2x4 wrapped in cloth as the miles roll on!

[John]

I suspect that the seat is actually largely to blame for the back ache, as well as the arse ache.

Bar risers are a cheap and easy mod to try though (stick to 25mm if you want to keep the standard brake lines etc).

[Chad]

Did 222 miles today - and my back was rather painful for quite a lot of them!

Has any one else had this? Did you have to make the bars higher? (This is a rough guess as to what the problem is)

The only other painful thing was my derriere The seat is fine for commuting but it feels like a 2x4 wrapped in cloth as the miles roll on!

ive found that a lot can be down to posture as well after a while in the saddle i tend to slouch a bit . if i make a conscious effort to straighten up it helps a lot with the back ache

[Muckybill]

Yep i get back ache too. Like chad says i think it is down to posture.
I rolled my bars as far forward as i could and this helps me a bit.

Bill

[Muckybill]

Oh yeah, on long trips i do a bit of on bike exercise and stretching.
You know the stuff sticking your legs out and waving arms around ( i must really entertain other road users).
Even tried putting feet on pillion foot pegs to make a change.
Crash bars are great for change of leg position too.

Bill

[Chad]

Oh yeah, on long trips i do a bit of on bike exercise and stretching.
You know the stuff sticking your legs out and waving arms around ( i must really entertain other road users).
Even tried putting feet on pillion foot pegs to make a change.
Crash bars are great for change of leg position too.

Bill

yup you do get some strange looks when your doing MC aerobics

[BlindPugh]

From my experiences of big mileage days (700+) - a few comments.

The standard seat is rubbish - you must get something better either Corbin,Touratech, AQ or some re-uphostery done -check many other threads on Seat Modifications.

Bar risers help +25mm - cheap and easy to fit

Kidney belt - one of those neoprene/velcro contraptions which help with seating posture.

Standing up on the pegs for short periods helps - I usually save this for the 500+ mile trips. Build your confidence up at lower speed first before doing this on the Motorway at 70mph.

Use the pillion footpegs and crash bars as alternate positions for your feet. Move position on the saddle regularly. Everytime you stop for fuel stretch your legs and have a walkabout for a couple of minutes.

[Dilbert]

Just get off the motorways and onto some nice bendy A roads, the combination of moving round for the corners, braking, changing gears and exercising the right wrist make the miles fly and reduces the boredom level (which is why you start to slouch).

In the Clio I stick to the motorways put my right foot down and turn up the music, on the AT I stick to A roads and flip in and out of corners, overtake and zip along the straight bits.

Takes me 5 minutes longer to get to work on the AT plus 5 minutes at each end getting changed, but I have a grin like the village idiot all day

[africajim]

HI guys, ok, I'm running a Tiger now, but that's neither here nor there. I reckon five @T's and over ten years on them counts!

Here's my thoughts, since buying the Tiger I occasionally browse the Tiger forum, I think there's more of them in the States than here in UK! Now, the Americans keep going on about cruiser pegs, having a quick run on my mates chop the other day I was surprised by the comfort using forward pegs. I had a run on the Tiger over to Aberdeen, a fair distance from me and the idea came up to stick my heels into the crash bars! Quite comfy I thought, so much so I'm considering fitting a pair of these cruising pegs. I reckon for long hauls they would be handy, they fold up out of the way for normal riding then flip them down for cruisin!

I'll think more on it and let you know what I decide.

[robelst]

I think the straight-up riding position gives more strain on the back. I am quite happy with the comfort, even the seat is ok-ish, but if I need to travel further than 200 miles I always take the Buell: It has no wind protection but the more "traditional" riding position and better seat allows for far longer distances in comfort than the AT has on offer. Even my BMW R1100RT wasn't as good as the Buell and for the same reasons: riding position was straight up, made even worse by the shape of the seat allowing for very little variation. So much for mythical comfort of established touring bikes hey?