Cafe Comfort??

[cmyoch]

I switched my clubman bars today to try out a cafe look on my bike. I really like the look. I rode for an hour and my wrists started hurting right away and my lower back was sore by the end of my ride. Am I missing something here? I see so many cafe's on here so surely all you guys aren't in pain after a half hour ride! Has anyone else experience this?

 

[bergoff]

I actually love mine. I'm 6'5" and I look like a monkey humping a football but I don't get cramped up to bad. My wrists don't hurt just my ass gets numb after an hour our so.

 

[ProSimex]

Cafes arnt about comfort, they're about chasing down mods and knocking 'em off their vespas!

Have you put rearsets on? If not the position will be kinda wonky. A proper cafe seat would be pretty uncomfortable as well being so thin.

 

[awoz87]

support yourself with your legs on the tank, your putting too much of your weight onto the front of the bike. there is a really cool video on youtube that explains it very well. i cant search youtube on the computer im on but does a little searching for weight distribution on a sport bike, or something like that.

 

[highspeedhamish]

Hahaha.... oh ya.. welcome to the club.

Some people seemingly dont mind it. My R1 causes pain after 4 hours to the point where I almost fall off it when I stop. I use a wrist brace on the right wrist and a throttle rocker to help.

 

[jay760]

I've been collecting all the parts to build a cafe racer for a few years now, just managed to go out on it, my back was aching, tops of my legs and my shoulders and lower arms, to make it worse I've got to keep my feet wide to avoid burning my leg on the exhausts, I think I will be putting a standard engine in it and selling it soon.

 

[hotdog]

Cafe + Comfort don't belong in the same sentence, I put them in with modern super-bikes & 900SS Ducatis. They look cool as F**k, but I don't care who you are you are going to hurt. Even if you are all over the bike - how was it said so elegantly above, oh yes a monkey humping a football, it is still hard work & the riding position will make you tire more quickly. My back wouldn't handle it.
Wait until you put the rearsets on it as well = P.A.I.N. lol

 

[bbillington]

It has a lot to do with your flexibility and how dialed in your setup is. One of the advantages of using clipons rather than clubmans is that you can easily alter the angle your wrists sit at and that can help with wrist and arm pain. Also, be sure that your seat is setup so that you are not constantly sliding forward, thereby putting more weight on your arms. And though many will chuckle at this, yoga is a great way to increase your core strength and gain flexibility.

I personally have a bike racing background, and as with my bicycles, I tend to setup my motorcycles in a way that results in me being long and low on the bike; a more upright position just doesn't feel right to me.

 

[Grinder]

A friend has a cafe with rearsets and I got on one day just to check it out, I couldn't even sit on it for more than a minute without hurting, much less ride it for any distance. I often wonder how the bobber guys with those little metal seats ride for any distance, not for me but I'm an old guy!

 

[gggGary]

Cafes are comfortable if you are going super legal speeds to take the weight off your wrists but jail cots are kind of lumpy. I sold the gixxer 10 years ago and borrow an occasional crotch rocket to remind me why I did.

 

[mrpink]

Whenever you do something that puts your body in a new positon for any length of time there will be genernal discomfort for a bit due to using muscles and flexing in a way you are not used to. It will lessen, you just have to ride through the pain for a bit. Now I am not saying that cafes are comfortable enough for four hours cruises, but you should not be in pain after the first five minutes.

I have found the flexibilty of clip ons to be better than clubmans.

 

[CDNTX650]

Try riding my 999 for a day....hope you have strong abs to hold yourself up. half hour is all i can get out of it on straight roads. Once in the twisties where your shifting around lots i can go alot longer.

 

[smurph]

I get pretty uncomfortable on sportbikes after about a half hour. My Buell 1125CR came with clubmans and I switched them to highbars. The only time I am not uncomfortable on a sportbike is on the track when you actually ride it how it was intended to be ridden.

There are adjustable clubman bars and different angle clip-ons which can help.

 

[TeeCat]

My bike is in a sort of "mild cafe - roadster" format, with clubmans and center controls, much like many of the early cafes you see in a lot of photos from the day. I actually find the resulting moderate forward lean very comfortable. That said, I raced bicycles on the road and track for five amateur seasons, and could likely find some modicum of comfort on a chain link fence.

TC

 

[cmyoch]

I flipped my clubmans back up last night but while I had everything off of the bars, I moved them around a bit. I think I may have not had them adjusted properly. It appears that if I had them bent down even lower, it decreased the angle on my wrists. I'll play around with it some more.

 

[CDNTX650]

I get pretty uncomfortable on sportbikes after about a half hour. My Buell 1125CR came with clubmans and I switched them to highbars. The only time I am not uncomfortable on a sportbike is on the track when you actually ride it how it was intended to be ridden.

There are adjustable clubman bars and different angle clip-ons which can help.

think i am goin with some woodcraft clip ons.

 

[remainincognito]

You should use rear sets if you have lowered bars/club mans. Will def. help with your back.