Looking for help to ease the throttle squeeze

[ReX]

My wife is complaining that the throttle on the machine she rides is too far away from the bar and needs too much squeezing force.

I have to admit, the Venture 700's throttle is far from the bars and does take quite a bit to open the throttle.

I swear I've seen bolt on throttle kits that add a second lever inside the stock one that is much longer and closer to the bar, but searching now I can't find anything.

What I recall was something that created essentially another "thumb point" or "flipper" between the bar and the current flipper that was both closer to the bar and longer. Using this inner flipper you could only get about 1/2 throttle, but the pull would be very easy for cruising. If you want to go fast, you'd grip on the regular flipper and the new one would hinge flat between the bar and original flipper so you get 95%+ of the throttle working.

Is something like this available today?

I don't know if I saw it at a show or in a magazine, but my aftermarket sled parts books don't show anything.

Any suggestions to make this easier for her?

Does Yamaha have anything like Polaris or Skidoo's EZ-throttle?

I'm also probably going to install an adjustable brake lever to bring the lever closer to the bar, but that doesn't solve the throttle problem...

 

[sparks49]

I believe this is the product you're thinking about.
http://www.clydecanride.com/testimonials.html

I tried it on my wifes sled, who was complaining of the same thing. Lets just say it didn't stay on for more than one ride, really didn't do any good at all. The theory makes sense, but this particular product wasn't designed well enough to work with these sleds. I just try to have my wife exercise her thumb and take a lot of "Aleve". If you find something that works though, let me know, I know she would appreciate it.

 

[Mikecam]

A little different angle but I have a friend with carpel tunnel in his hands and he installed a throttle that goes on the backside of the bar. Looks like a brake but works like a throttle. You keep the throttle too and can just switch back and forth. Here's another idea. The one I remember attaches to the throttle lever but on the back side so you pull to go.

http://www.gravityworxracing.com/DualThrottleKit1.html

When I get a chance I'll call my friend and ask him if he remembers the name. He had the surgery and it went so well that he took it off.

 

[ReX]

I believe this is the product you're thinking about.
http://www.clydecanride.com/testimonials.html

I tried it on my wifes sled, who was complaining of the same thing. Lets just say it didn't stay on for more than one ride, really didn't do any good at all. The theory makes sense, but this particular product wasn't designed well enough to work with these sleds. I just try to have my wife exercise her thumb and take a lot of "Aleve". If you find something that works though, let me know, I know she would appreciate it.

Thanks, that was exactly what I was thinking of.

Why didn't it work for you?



I've been searching the web and one idea that might work is to get her to wear one of those wrist/thumb support braces that constantly and lightly pulls the thumb towards the fingers. Basically it fits like a glove (with no fingers) and she would have to use "muscles" to move her thumb away from her fingers. When on the throttle, the spring from the support balances with the force required on the throttle (if you get the right one).

According to some riders this has been, by far, the best solution to this problem.

One problem is it might be difficult to get one that is "just right" for the amount of "pull-in" for the thumb. I could definitely see it helping.

Realistically though, when I get her to sit on the sled and work the throttle, the throttle is so far away that she needs to stretch her thumb as far out as possible and even then she can't grip the bar fully by any stretch in order to touch the end of the throttle. Her hands are simply too small for the throttle design so even the "springy wrist/thumb support" isn't going to properly resolve the issue.

The issue is bad enough that she just doesn't enjoy riding the sled because her hand starts off very uncomfortable and in almost no time starts to cramp up on her. If I can't find a solution I'll have to sell the sled and look for something different. Other than this problem, this makes the perfect family sled for us because it even has enough power/comfort that my wife and I can both ride it together (my wife actually prefers this) plus I can go riding with both of my children (older daughter on the back, 6 year old in front of me). It also has enough power that I can use it as a backup sled without my buddies leaving me to far behind.

I've been looking at replacement sled options and really the only sleds that seem to fit well for her are Skidoos, with the REV-XP being the most comfortable for her.

 

[sparks49]

I believe this is the product you're thinking about.
http://www.clydecanride.com/testimonials.html

I tried it on my wifes sled, who was complaining of the same thing. Lets just say it didn't stay on for more than one ride, really didn't do any good at all. The theory makes sense, but this particular product wasn't designed well enough to work with these sleds. I just try to have my wife exercise her thumb and take a lot of "Aleve". If you find something that works though, let me know, I know she would appreciate it.

Thanks, that was exactly what I was thinking of.

Why didn't it work for you?



I've been searching the web and one idea that might work is to get her to wear one of those wrist/thumb support braces that constantly and lightly pulls the thumb towards the fingers. Basically it fits like a glove (with no fingers) and she would have to use "muscles" to move her thumb away from her fingers. When on the throttle, the spring from the support balances with the force required on the throttle (if you get the right one).

According to some riders this has been, by far, the best solution to this problem.

One problem is it might be difficult to get one that is "just right" for the amount of "pull-in" for the thumb. I could definitely see it helping.

Realistically though, when I get her to sit on the sled and work the throttle, the throttle is so far away that she needs to stretch her thumb as far out as possible and even then she can't grip the bar fully by any stretch in order to touch the end of the throttle. Her hands are simply too small for the throttle design so even the "springy wrist/thumb support" isn't going to properly resolve the issue.

The issue is bad enough that she just doesn't enjoy riding the sled because her hand starts off very uncomfortable and in almost no time starts to cramp up on her. If I can't find a solution I'll have to sell the sled and look for something different. Other than this problem, this makes the perfect family sled for us because it even has enough power/comfort that my wife and I can both ride it together (my wife actually prefers this) plus I can go riding with both of my children (older daughter on the back, 6 year old in front of me). It also has enough power that I can use it as a backup sled without my buddies leaving me to far behind.

I've been looking at replacement sled options and really the only sleds that seem to fit well for her are Skidoos, with the REV-XP being the most comfortable for her.

As I said, the idea made sense to me and even after getting the thing, I thought it would work. However, after installing it, the lever was to low, was not comfortable to use and basically just didn't do the job, you really couldn't get it to work properly the way it was designed. I think one of the problems was that it was more of a universal type design, not really made for any one particular sled, that being said, if someone had the ability, I think it's an idea that could be made to work, just not that particular product.
My wife uses the wrist support and claims it helps somewhat, but I think actually, she's just being more of a trooper and living with the pain, when I ask her how she's doing, she just shrugs and says -OK, but I know she must be having some discomfort.
An earlier post mentioned the "reverse" throttle, which we actually had on her 97 Vmax, something else that really didn't work, I don't think she was comfortable using something out of the ordinary, so I don't think that's the answer either. I really think the only thing that would work, would be a completely redesigned throttle, that would be more suitible for a women's smaller hands. Maybe we'll need to get back to the drawing board and come up with a new design, couldn't be that hard, could it?
John

 

[ReX]

As I said, the idea made sense to me and even after getting the thing, I thought it would work. However, after installing it, the lever was to low, was not comfortable to use and basically just didn't do the job, you really couldn't get it to work properly the way it was designed. I think one of the problems was that it was more of a universal type design, not really made for any one particular sled, that being said, if someone had the ability, I think it's an idea that could be made to work, just not that particular product.
My wife uses the wrist support and claims it helps somewhat, but I think actually, she's just being more of a trooper and living with the pain, when I ask her how she's doing, she just shrugs and says -OK, but I know she must be having some discomfort.
An earlier post mentioned the "reverse" throttle, which we actually had on her 97 Vmax, something else that really didn't work, I don't think she was comfortable using something out of the ordinary, so I don't think that's the answer either. I really think the only thing that would work, would be a completely redesigned throttle, that would be more suitible for a women's smaller hands. Maybe we'll need to get back to the drawing board and come up with a new design, couldn't be that hard, could it?
John

I've been reading reviews/discussions on the product that I found:

http://www.johndee.com/discuss/messages ... 1199726862

http://www.johndee.com/discuss/messages ... 1172717719

It sounds like there definitely are people who are happy with it (in addition to the "testimonials" on the website http://www.clydecanride.com/testimonials.html).

I also watched the video showing how it works, and again it doesn't look too bad - except that without adjusting anything it will be too low:

http://www.clydecanride.com/images/gizmo.avi

I suspect that rotating the throttle up should help to position it in a reasonable location and make the gizmo work quite well.

Did you try adjusting the throttle grip to put it in a comfortable position?

Anyway - I'm going to give it a try.

I'll post back after she's tried it out...

 

[sparks49]

As I recall, after I installed it, my feeling was, it just wasn't going to work, maybe I gave up to early, but it wasn't comfortable for me, so I pretty much knew my wife wouldn't like it, so off it came and I returned it. For what it's worth they were really good people to deal with so that wasn't an issue, it's just that I couldn't make it work. I looked at all the testimonials and everything, which is what sold me on it in the first place, unfortunately, I couldn't make it happen. Good luck and keep me informed. John