Aching back

["Tom Brown" <tbrown@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Martin:

>Well, to my not inconsiderable chagrin, I can no longer avoid considering
that my R1150RA may be a factor in my back problems.  Has anyone else faced
this problem, and found something that helped?

I've heard a lot of good advice here.   My take is this:

1. Exercize is key.  I've actually found that riding my sport bike
strengthens my back...yes, riding my way-leaned over Aprilia Mille for an
hour or two every day really makes back pain go bye-bye.  It seems to work
the musles in the low back.    When I ride this bike, I make a point not to
lock elbows.  I spend a good bit of time when not on open roads at speed,
holding my torso up with my legs.

If I'm not used to riding this, my posture falls apart after an hour or so
and I start getting wrist problems.

2. I've got an RT.  I rode the hell out of it the first year.  I had got a
fracture of my L-1 vertebra in an accident at the Nurburgring race track in
Germany a couple years ago and have a tender spine.    Here's what's helped,
in chronological order.

First, I shimmed the front of the seat to make it level.  It was pushing me
forward into the bars too much and forcing me to lean on the bars.   This
was causing shoulder pain.

Second, I adjusted the shock so that the spring was doing the work of the
spring and the shock just damped.   No matter what shock you use, the rear
spring must not be set too loose compared to the shock damping setting.   If
your shock is set to really damp, the ride will actually improve if you set
the spring tighter.   If you have not enough shock and too much spring, the
ride will be plush, but you'll have ride motions that you don't want  ( a
baby buggy springy thing going on in back and a lot of squatting during
acceleration).

I found out an interesting fact by reading the little manual that came with
my bike.   The damping screw is fully undone at about 2 full turns from all
the way clockwise.  That means there are only two turns of adjustment.  If
your adjusting screw is out more than the two turns and you've been flailing
around with adjustments and not being able to tell a difference, that's the
reason.   You've been adjusting from minimum damping to minimum damping.
Tighten the screw in all the way, now back it out two turns, set the spring
fo a decent amount of sag...about 2 inches, and ride the bike.  What you
want is a bike that absorbes the bumps and has just enough damping to
control the ride motions.   It's a compromise and takes a littlle time to
get.

If you've never played with the damping adjustment screw, its a flat blade
screw on the left side bottom of the shock.   You may have to turn it most
of the way in to get it to damp properly, but again, if you overdamp for the
amount of spring pre-load you dial in, the ride will be punishing.

Third, I bought a Sargent Seat...big improvement. Spreads body weight over a
larger area...(big, flat seat), and has a nice lip at the back for sort of
resting the tail bone on...like a lumbar support, sort of.   The Sargent
allows you to move around and use different riding positions for different
situations where the Russel and Mayer seats are custom fitted to your
particular butt and trap you in one place more.   It's a different
philosophy.   For long days in the saddle, I've heard that the Russell's are
the very best.   I only do that 4 times a year and I'm in better shape now,
so I'm happy with my old Sargent.   Either way, an aftermarket seat is a big
improvement on most BMWs, especially on RTs.

Fourth, I bought bar-backs.   These are needed more with the Sargent because
you sit further back on the bike.

Fifth, I bought Ohlins shocks.   You can set these so they really control
the bike, but are never harsh.   I used to get one or two spinal
"compression" pain experiences on each ride minimum no matter how careful I
was to avoid jolts.   Now, I get one or two a year and I ride with wild
abandon.

Sixth, an Aeroflow windscreen was in there someplace, maybe before the
shimming of the seat, It makes a huge difference to ride comfort, but not
necessarily back comfort.   It makes the ride much quieter with fewer bugs
to clean off your helmet and jacket.

Seventh, I lost 20 lbs on Atkins.  It works.  It's pretty easy once you give
up the breads and pastas.   Giving up wheat gives you about two weeks of
withdrawl, but you feel better overall.   I'm at a good weight now and don't
really want to go back to eating breads etc because I feel better now and
digest food better too.

- -TB

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