This simple and inexpensive piece of plastic does an excellent job preventing forearm ache on long rides. It's known as a crampbuster, named after the company that came up with this idea, but also goes by other names like "throttle assist". Some even call it "manual cruise control".

I have one of these wrapped around the throttles of all my motorcycles. With this on I need to simply place my right hand on the throttle and rest the base of my palm on the protruding plastic. There is no need to grip the throttle at all. Acceleration and deceleration is done with the base of the palm.

The way the human brain works, if the right hand is gripping something tight, the left hand involuntarily starts gripping as well. So on a day long ride you end up with aching forearms due to constantly gripping the handlebar. This simple piece of plastic prevents that.

There is another important advantage which isn't obvious when you look at this piece of plastic. Since my hand rests on the throttle I can uncurl my fingers and rest them on the front brake lever. By doing that I can react faster to any emergency situation and squeeze my front brake the instant I decide to. If my fingers were wrapped around the throttle, it would take me some time to straighten them out, wrap them around the brake lever and squeeze. I know that's just a fraction of a second. But depending on the speed I am riding, a fraction of a second could cut down my stopping distance by a few meters. Sometimes a fraction of a second is all that separates a crash from a near miss.

Product Link: Crampbuster - CB2

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Deelip Menezes
www.deelipmenezes.com

I don't think so. Your going to have to get you palm off the bit of plastic to let the engine stop pushing your forward. That is extra time. And the bit of plastic will interfere with getting a good grip on the bar to apply maximum brake pressure. For an emergency situation

The palm can stay where it is. There is no need to lift the entire palm off. Just lift the base of the palm a little to stop accelerating and squeeze in the fingers at the same time to apply the brake. I've been riding like this for years and haven't faced a problem.

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Deelip Menezes
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Be careful with these things have seen a couple people crash due them. Especillay when riding off road over rough terrain.

Far better option is the Omni Throttle lock.

You would take it off for off-road riding.. they're only good for long stretches of highway.

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Used one for years, no issues.

There are so many variations on how the throttle and brake are held it's going to be down to personal choice and hand size/strength. If you squeeze the lever against the thumb you naturally create a rolling motion the wrong way at the wrist which a round grip more naturally avoids. If you hold the forearm rigid from the shoulder/elbow area the fingers, thumb and heel of the palm can do independent things.

I think I apply the front brake by hooking my fingers round the lever and pulling my elbow back. Probably comes from years of cable operated drums that weren't going to respond to a two finger squeeze.

If you were designing a bike today without needing to follow common practice the throttle would maybe not be where it is. There are more options when the throttle, clutch and brakes go electric, but it'll be a while yet.

Andy

These devices do create a bit of controversy. I read about them years ago and from what I saw they looked good, particularly for long journeys. I bought one and after half a day of using it I threw it away before it killed me. In any kind of traffic where braking and accelerating were involved I found my hand accidentally touching it on occasion which made me go faster when I really wanted to slow down. I would never use one again but I do realise that other riders may like them.

That should have never happened. Maybe it did because it was installed incorrectly. You need to set it up in a way that if you release the throttle and your hand is in its regular position, the base of your palm merely touches the plastic lever. If you want to accelerate you twist your palm like you would normally do thereby depressing the lever. Just that you are not gripping the throttle anymore. Everything else remains the same.

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Deelip Menezes
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Use them all the time. Under muffs in winter time gets interesting. Especially when also off-tarmac.

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I'm not able to picture this working as you describe. I use a cramp buster variation a lot--whenever I'm on open road and don't expect to have to brake a lot. In traffic, never--not after a bunch of times when, like others, I grabbed my brakes and accelerated at the same time. Scary. I just rotate it out of the way whenever I think I might need to use more than a hint of front brake. It rotates only one direction without gripping, so there's a bit of a simple learning curve in engaging and disengaging.

Maybe KLR brakes--never the most responsive--demand less subtlety than whatever you're riding. My V-strom, with much better front brake response, is less prone to those terror-inducing brake/accelerate moments than the KLR. Still, rotating it out of the way seems the better part of valor.

And yes--as Tim says, heavy gloves or mitts, especially inside Hippo Hands, lend a whole new dimension of excitement.

Mark

Hmmm.... I use this on my Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350, KTM Duke 390, Harley-Davidson Fat Boy and Triumph Tiger 800 XRx. As you can imagine all these have different throttle and brake responses. Someone, it has never been a problem for me. If it was I would have removed it and thrown it out at the first instance.

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Deelip Menezes
www.deelipmenezes.com

I don't really rate those crampbusters as I usually get the ache in my shoulder and arm, and this doesn't improve where I have to keep both achey items..

These however are brill, you can set it and totally take your hand off the throttle... probably not terribly legal in UK if you are one for rules and litigation. I've broken two plastic ones- they shatter when I drop the bike despite having handguards, so my next one will be a metal one i've seen out there somewhere

Yep the ones like Fern hs posted are far better.Instantly deactivate when you pull the brake on or roll the throttle off and are not obtrusive when off road.

I prefer the full metal Omni units with the adjustable screw as I had one of the plastic ones and it broke. I think it may have been affected by ultra violet but the plastic ones work just as well.

Scary is the word Mark. After it happened to me I decided that it wasn't worth it. I had a couple of hairy moments before I had one very close call with it and it was after that I decided to bin it. Instantly. I will never be convinced of their benefits and safety but good luck to all those who use them and are happy with them.