how can I make this bike comfortable?

[quiktrp]

It's a 1979 GS750E, 13984 miles, always stored indoors until I took ownership. Stock rear shocks, changed the seals and fluid in the forks. Tires are metzlers, were near new when it was parked 6 years ago. Have not vacuum sync'd the carbs yet only bench synch'd.

The bike hurts. It's great until I've been in the saddle for 100 miles. Then my rear end starts to hurt. As I ride longer, the pain spreads to my legs and lower back. I tried adjusting my handlebar angle, which helped some. It's still pretty bad though. I got a set of superbike bars next, which I read that tall people seem to like more. Within 10 miles of riding it feels like I have broken both wrists, and my neck is killing me. My butt doesn't hurt anymore though. played around with angle for a bit, didn't make a difference. The stock bars are back on for now. I'm 6'3", 230 lbs. 34" inseam. I have chicken legs, and most of my weight is in my shoulders, chest, and arms. I am growing a bit of a belly now too.

I bought the bike for $300 bucks in a non running state, am about $1200 deep so far and have it running great. But am about a week away from selling it and searching for something I can put some serious miles on without pain. I don't think it's an issue of getting used to it, I've put nearly 3000 miles on the thing since the beginning of july.

What can I try before I ditch it? Bar risers on the superbike bars? New seat? Help me out guys, I want to keep it

Oh, what's a give away that I need a full synch? I'm just getting tired of spending $$$ and have yet to buy the synch kit. Any reason I can't use a regular vac gauge to synch the carbs?

 

[ron bayless]

you can go to denis kirk or bikemaster and get some "trooper style" bars for about $20.00.and add genmar risers for $98.00 if the bars alone arent enough.gelpads for $60.00 each make the seat feel good.I make some highway pegs that give you about 13 1/2 inch more legroom once you get going.i use mine as soon as i shift into second and for sure constantly once i am in 5th and cruising/touring.I expect they will cost aboyt $79.00 and i will post a picture soom.I just have had technical difficulty doing so.I wont have them finished, they will be raw metal.For a cheap price and ease of installment you can paint them or chrome them or whatever you want easily enough.You can go to the thread here that says pix of ron bayless forward controls and see the basic setup, only these pegs i make dont have any forward controls setup.i have some for my bike, but the making of them costs more than anyone wants to pay, and there are many variables from bike to bike.home email is crusierlover02@aol.com

 

[KGB]

You say it's upper body, arms ,shoulders neck.
Is it because too much pull as in holding on ? Or too much push as in
you're too close to the bars?

As to the seat, any interior shop can re-foam your seat for around $100.
I had mine done about 2 years ago, a local guy did it. He used triple density foam on it, 300 mile days are fine.


So back to you arm/neck/wrist problem.
Which is it? Holding on tightly? Or pushing away?
The GS750E is a pretty standard type bike. YOu can change the bars, as Ron said, with risers or a different bar. Problem with that? The control cables, throttle, brake lines etc may not have enough slck or length
for a taller bar or the risers. Not trying to shoot the idea, trying to prepare ahead of time.

Maybe a small wind deflector or windshield will/could help?
Or go faster and find the balance of where you're just barely holding on with the wind in your chest balance? :-D
Mine is around 75-80 range.......

 

[quiktrp]

You say it's upper body, arms ,shoulders neck.
Is it because too much pull as in holding on ? Or too much push as in
you're too close to the bars?

As to the seat, any interior shop can re-foam your seat for around $100.
I had mine done about 2 years ago, a local guy did it. He used triple density foam on it, 300 mile days are fine.


So back to you arm/neck/wrist problem.
Which is it? Holding on tightly? Or pushing away?
The GS750E is a pretty standard type bike. YOu can change the bars, as Ron said, with risers or a different bar. Problem with that? The control cables, throttle, brake lines etc may not have enough slck or length
for a taller bar or the risers. Not trying to shoot the idea, trying to prepare ahead of time.

Maybe a small wind deflector or windshield will/could help?
Or go faster and find the balance of where you're just barely holding on with the wind in your chest balance? :-D
Mine is around 75-80 range.......

With the superbike bars on, it seems like all my body weight is on my wrists so I guess that would be pushing away. The angle my torso is at in relation to my neck so I can stretch and reach my bars is enough where it will make my neck muscles sore pretty quickly, and then unfortunately a headache will usually set in. With these bars, I also won't find my balance until about 70-80 mph and in illinois the max speed is 65 on hwy.

With the stock bars on, I don't have any problem with wrists or neck. But it seems that I am sitting so far upright that all my weight is on my butt. It's fine for my run to work (5 miles), but when I get out and cruise I find myself limiting range so I don't have to ride in discomfort for an hour to get home. Is it just bad riding posture maybe?

Should I try the superbike bars again, but make a 3" riser for them?

With the stock bars, my torso is pretty well bolt upright. This is not correct posture, is it?

I'll include a quick diagram I just painted to help illustrate my riding posture with the different bars.

I can go with either bar, superbar I need to correct wrist and neck discomfort. Stock bar I need to correct tush region.

Ron, I will look into your suggestions as well. Thanks for the help guys.

I wonder if my seat foam is just worn out from age. It is pushing 27 years old soon (five years older than I am )

EDIT: At 20 bucks a bar, I am even open to collecting a whole range of them. I can turn the rest into "wall art" for my apartment

 

[bwringer]

I added a slab of Supercell foam from Sargent http://sargentcycle.com/ (call 'em up and they'll sell it to you for $20 a square foot) to my GS850 seat, and it made an IMMENSE difference in all-day comfort. I didn't change the shape of the seat at all, just replaced a thick layer of the hopelessly pitifully sagged stock foam. A 600-700 mile day is now no problem.

Before surgery:

Supercell foam in place, ready for the cover:

I used an old electric knife from Goodwill to cut and rough shape the foam, and spray contact adhesive to stick it in place. Final shaping was with a sanding block.

New cover installed from B&H: http://motorcycleseatcovers.com
DO NOT get the textured material pictured -- get standard or heavy duty vinyl and you'll be happy. The textured material is full of holes, which I found out too late. It's a bit wrinkled in the photo because I had to add waterproofing to the perforations which caused these areas to become more stiff. I've since re-stretched it and it looks much better.

 

[ron bayless]

I added a slab of Supercell foam from Sargent http://sargentcycle.com/ (call 'em up and they'll sell it to you for $20 a square foot) to my GS850 seat, and it made an IMMENSE difference in all-day comfort. I didn't change the shape of the seat at all, just replaced a thick layer of the hopelessly pitifully sagged stock foam. A 600-700 mile day is now no problem.

Before surgery:

Supercell foam in place, ready for the cover:

I used an old electric knife from Goodwill to cut and rough shape the foam, and spray contact adhesive to stick it in place. Final shaping was with a sanding block.

New cover installed from B&H: http://motorcycleseatcovers.com
DO NOT get the textured material pictured -- get standard or heavy duty vinyl and you'll be happy. The textured material is full of holes, which I found out too late. It's a bit wrinkled in the photo because I had to add waterproofing to the perforations which caused these areas to become more stiff. I've since re-stretched it and it looks much better.

i LOOKED ON THE SARGEN SUPERCELL SITE,DID NOT SEE BY THE FOOT ENTRY THERE.hOW DID YOU FIND IT?

 

[beby99]

i LOOKED ON THE SARGEN SUPERCELL SITE,DID NOT SEE BY THE FOOT ENTRY THERE.hOW DID YOU FIND IT?

I added a slab of Supercell foam from Sargent http://sargentcycle.com/ (call 'em up and they'll sell it to you for $20 a square foot)

:-D............

 

[KGB]

Quik,

You sound like you're built similar to Cragantler.
At least hieght wise.

He added risers to his stock GS1100E. A bike similar to yours in
riding position. Give that a try.

Just remember different size.shaped bars may require different length
cables for brake and clutch. Don't stretch them !

 

[quiktrp]

Quik,

You sound like you're built similar to Cragantler.
At least hieght wise.

He added risers to his stock GS1100E. A bike similar to yours in
riding position. Give that a try.

Just remember different size.shaped bars may require different length
cables for brake and clutch. Don't stretch them !

I will consider that also.

BWringer, that looks like the 1.5" thick stuff, right?

 

[Pacman]

With the superbike bars on, it seems like all my body weight is on my wrists so I guess that would be pushing away. The angle my torso is at in relation to my neck so I can stretch and reach my bars is enough where it will make my neck muscles sore pretty quickly, and then unfortunately a headache will usually set in. With these bars, I also won't find my balance until about 70-80 mph and in illinois the max speed is 65 on hwy.

With the stock bars on, I don't have any problem with wrists or neck. But it seems that I am sitting so far upright that all my weight is on my butt. It's fine for my run to work (5 miles), but when I get out and cruise I find myself limiting range so I don't have to ride in discomfort for an hour to get home. Is it just bad riding posture maybe?

Should I try the superbike bars again, but make a 3" riser for them?

With the stock bars, my torso is pretty well bolt upright. This is not correct posture, is it?

I'll include a quick diagram I just painted to help illustrate my riding posture with the different bars.

I can go with either bar, superbar I need to correct wrist and neck discomfort. Stock bar I need to correct tush region.

Ron, I will look into your suggestions as well. Thanks for the help guys.

I wonder if my seat foam is just worn out from age. It is pushing 27 years old soon (five years older than I am )

EDIT: At 20 bucks a bar, I am even open to collecting a whole range of them. I can turn the rest into "wall art" for my apartment

Are your arms straight and elbows locked with either bars? If so then that might be a good and cheap place to start. With the stock high bars try riding with your upper body leaning a little forward and your elbows bent. This will help move your body weight to partly between your butt and arms. That way neither takes the full weight.

With the lower bars do the same. This will not move your weight but will help to cushion your wrists so the bumps aren't so harsh. Or put a tank bag on and kind of lay a little bit on the bag. For long rides on a bike with low bars I used to switch from more upright with bent elbows to laying on the tank bag and back again. This would give my wrists and back a rest.

BTW, I'm 6'4" and 235 and will be having the foam in my seat replaced with new denser foam as the stock foam is just not very good. So, I would still look into having the seat redone anyway. But, still try bending at your elbows as that is a more comfortable riding position and gives you better control of the bike too.

Chris