Hello I just purchased a fxdb used, it has 16" apes that a fairly wide, and has the stock seat and forward controls, after about 5 minutes of riding I get a painfull/annoying cramp on the inner of my thighs. I just need to pinpoint the problem. Is it me? is it the bars? is it the forward controls? I am 5'8, love the bike just that really is annoying. It would be great if someone could help

 

Are you a new rider? This happened to my when I first started riding.

 

Ya' gotta strengthen some of your muscles that haven't been used in a while. It'll get better the longer you ride. So, it's you!

 

Could just need to build your riding muscles as mentioned, but those bars sound tall to me for you being 5'8. Is the riding position comfortable for you before the pain starts or do you feel too stretched out? You could try rotating the bars to be closer to you or farther away depending on what feels better. Usually just need to loosen the bolts on the top clamp to try this. Just be carefull the bars don't swing down and hit the tank. A new seat is the next cheapest fix...something with more back support might be nice. Hopefully you can make the bars and pegs work as they are the most labor/cost intensive to swap unless you can do the labor yourself.

 

yes, I am new to on-road bikes, I tried tilting my pegs back and I have tried tilting the bars forward more I believe it is helping. the bars are 17" wide at the bottom which seem very wide but actually are comfortable. thanks for the help I guess I just need to keep messing with it and keep riding it

 

Its probably a little of everything you mentioned, and what others mentioned as well. The fatigue your body goes through while riding takes time to get use to. Mix in the possibility of bars, seat, and foot position being out of whack, and you're bound to end up with some sort of discomfort. my first thought with leg pain would be seat, or foot position, but certainly doesn't rule out your bars. reaching too far forward may cause your body to stretch in a way that stresses leg muscles. Try adjusting your bars first, they're easy to move around. The width of your seat, and the pressure points on your legs play a big part as well.

Over the years I have had a couple sports type injuries that opened my eyes to body mechanics. I have had hip / lower back pain that was caused by lower leg muscles, and foot pain that was cause by lower back muscles. Shortly after riding, I started getting pain in my *** and lower leg... Come to find out, the round food peg caused my foot to flex, and curl over just enough to irritate a tendon on the bottom of my foot. That tendon inflamed, and cause tightness in my lower leg, which then caused an *** muscle to tense up, and pinch a nerve. I ended up getting wider, flat pegs, and everything is fine now.

Crazy long winded chit, I know... Just try adjusting one thing at a time, and see how it goes.