Occasionally i experience numb hands while riding, years of playing guitar has given me carpal tunnel issues. Usually it doesnt bother me to much, but the past few rides my hands have gotten so numb, that it puts me into almost a panic attack feeling. How do I get over this? I find myself fixated on my hands now, instead of just riding.

 

I've been finding that the older I get, the less tolerant I have become of riding position deficiencies. If the grips are too low or too far forward, it can cause numbness. It could be as small as a 1" difference. I've been fine tuning my Triumph Bonneville for a while. I had it just right, then changed seats. A little thicker seat, and then my bars were too low. By swapping out riser spacers, I've been able to fine tune that bar position without spending a bunch of money.

Other things....
Loosen up on your grip. A too-tight grip will cause trouble. I also use a cramp-buster. On a long steady-state ride, using that and simply resting my hands on top of the grips allows the blood to circulate.

I tried the gel palm gloves. They didn't do it for me. But certain riding gloves seem better that others. You'll just have to experiment.

The grips themselves are also an area to look at. I like the Kury Iso Grip and the Avon grip with the rubber center section. Both dampen a bit of the bar end vibration common in Sportsters

 

Grip size is also a contributing factor. If they are the narrow style and your hands are to big for them expect some cramping and or numbness. Some Sportsters come with the narrow grips. On my latest purchase the 15 Electra Glide Ultra Limited Low, it came with the narrow grips. After several runs and experiencing the cramping on my hands, I went and changed the grips to wider ones. No problems since.

 

As said above .....loosen your grip.

 

I have (had) carpal tunnel in both hands and I find that thick grips make it worse, we are all different and things affect us differently.

I finally had the operation to release the carpal tunnel in my right hand (my right is worse than my left) about 6 weeks ago and I cannot tell you how amazing it is to have no pain and numbness/pins and needles.

 

I have some vibranators ordered. They supposed to reduce vibrations in the bars. I will let you know how they work.

http://www.vibranator.com/default.asp

 

They make those things..... Damn... It locks around the throttle and has a lip so you can rest the palm of your hand on it to work the throttle. So you don't have to grip it.
Throttle rocker.. Couldn't Remember the name

 

I put new bars, on last week.
Exact same bars I had before. Mine were bent.

Only this time I epoxies in carbide boring bars in the ends and put iso grips on.

No more numbness

 

I have just got back into riding and have got a 48 last month. I am having the same issues. My hands fall asleep after a few miles. It is very frustrating and taking the joy out of riding again for me.

 

I experience similar problems as I get older, I was getting pain in my right hand until I bought larger grips, I also had problems with stability while stopping after driving for an hour or so, I got a lower seat and that helped.