Five tips for dealing with back ache…
Jul 1st, 2009 by Leo
The summer riding season is in full gear and that means TRAFFIC. And for city sportbikers (and some chopper riders) that also means back ache, wrist ache, and general questions of “am I too old for this?” For sporty bikes equipped with low “clip on” handlebars, the problem is that the forward lean is nice when you’re accelerating, but not so nice when you’re going slow or standing still. So what to do?
If this is the main type of riding you do, then the answer is as simple as “change the location of the bars.” Just google “bar riser” along with the make of your bike and with a little searching you should be able to find a few brands of bar risers that let you adjust the position of your handlebars. You don’t hear scooter riders complaining of back aches, and there’s a reason for that. An upright bar position doesn’t stop you from leaning forward (when you’re accelerating) but at the same time it let’s you sit like a human when you’re not. Installation is reversable, and it shouldn’t hurt the resale value of your bike. But if back aches are only a problem some of the time, and you don’t want to use bar risers, then here are some tips to save your back from summer traffic torture.
1. Put it in neutral (at stop lights). Sit up whenever you get the chance, even if it’s only for a few seconds.
2. Change your speed. Most cars tend to speed up and slow down in traffic rather than cruising at the right speed. I always found that annoying, but in this case it’s your friend. The time you spend accelerating (while not good for fuel economy) is good for your back. Make sure to point your toes downward when you accelerate so that you’re using your feet (and not your arms causing tension in the torso) to keep you in place.
3. Change your position. Fine art models will tell you that any position, no matter how comfortable at first, becomes a pain after a few minutes. You have to keep changing position in order to keep from getting muscle aches. Sit up with one hand on the throttle on a safe stretch, lean over, look back, try not to get stuck in one position for too long. This doesn’t help much once you begin to get backaches, but it can hold them off for a bit.
4. Use your legs. Bumps in the road do a bit to contribute to back aches when you’re hunched over. Use your legs to absorb bumps rather than letting your back take the hit. Also experiment with different foot placement: heel on peg, middle of the foot, toes, to find better support while cruising.
5. And last but not least, stretch and take breaks every hour or so. A MotoGP race only lasts around 40 minutes. Some bikes were made to ride in relatively short intervals (by touring standards). So planning breaks once an hour (before anything starts to ache) can go a long way.
Got any back health tips? Share the wealth… Comment below!
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Aggressive riding positions that strain the back can lead to a muscle imbalance between abs and lower back muscles. This can exacerbate problems beyond what you would normally expect from prolonged riding. Keeping your core in comparable shape doesn’t take much more than twenty or thirty sit ups or v-sits in the morning and can help a lot.