A Touring Motorcycle Rider’s Guide to Riding Pain Management

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Riding your touring motorcycle is a great way to explore the outdoors and go on a fun adventure. However, after riding for several hours on a regular basis, you may start to notice pain in various parts of your body. This is because motorcycle riding is extremely taxing and can become exhausting; after all, it is a workout!

You may also suffer from a chronic condition such as arthritis which is aggravated by frequent riding. Whatever the case, it’s good to know some pain prevention and management tricks to keep yourself fighting fit and ready to go on your next sojourn.

Doc's Harley-Davidson in Kirkwood, MO, has been in business since 1955 as your Missouri Harley-Davidson® touring motorcycle dealer. Here are our top tips for managing pain so that you can enjoy every minute on your touring bike.

Pain Prevention Strategies

The best thing you can do is avoid creating the conditions that cause pain to begin with. These are a few ways you can avoid hurting yourself while riding.

1. Stretch Beforehand

If you go to the gym, you know how important it is to do some stretching before you begin an intense workout. And if you don’t, well, you know now! Perform some simple stretches of your arms, legs, neck and spine before you hop on your bike and you’ll be more limber and able to endure more riding without pain.

2. Take Frequent Breaks

Trying to ride for several hours without a rest might sound efficient, but it’s really just a good way to exhaust yourself and cause pain. Take more frequent breaks, like every 90 minutes to 2 hours, so that you can remove your helmet, walk around, drink water, have a snack, use the restroom and relax. A ten- or fifteen-minute break can make you feel refreshed and ready to go once again.

3. Know Your Limits

You shouldn’t ride your motorcycle without knowing how much you can endure. If you’re used to riding for two hours at a time, you’re not suddenly going to be able to ride for ten hours without building your way up to that. Stay within your limits and don't be afraid to call it quits earlier than you intended to in order to ward off pain.

Reducing Post-Ride Pain

So you’ve done everything possible to reduce your pain, but pain still happens. Maybe you rode for a bit too long or maybe you did something else arduous and your motorcycle aggravated the soreness from that. Whatever the reason, it’s good to have smart strategies to deal with pain once it happens.

1. Use OTC Medications & Creams

Over-the-counter (OTC) medications like acetaminophen, ibuprofen and naproxen are painkillers that you can use to reduce inflammation, which is a large contributor to pain. If you have any health issues that preclude you from taking these medications, talk to your doctor. Avoid using painkillers on an empty stomach; have a light snack with them.

2. Apply ice or Heat

Both ice and heat can be used for pain relief. Be careful when using either so that you don’t make your joints or muscles too cold or too hot.

Ice: Wrap a bag of frozen vegetables or some ice cubes or an ice pack in a kitchen towel before resting it on your sore muscle or joint. Try to apply ice as soon as possible after you notice pain. Use ice for 20 minutes every hour to avoid stiffness or skin damage.
Heat: Plug in a heating pad or use heat packs from the drugstore. Again, try not to keep the heat on your skin for too long. A hot bath or shower is also beneficial when you’re in pain; you can add epsom salts to a hot bath to help reduce muscle soreness, too.

3. Avoid Drugs & Alcohol

Alcohol and recreational drugs are all-too-commonly used to alleviate pain by many people, not just motorcyclists. However, this isn’t a good strategy for several reasons.

First, you’re liable to become addicted to these substances over time if you depend on them too much.

Second, you can’t ride a motorcycle while under the influence of recreational drugs or alcohol, and that’s exactly what you’re trying to do!

Third, alcohol and drugs can mask the pain to the point that you don’t notice it, causing you to injure yourself more seriously because you didn’t notice that your muscles are too sore or that your joints need rest.

4. Do Gentle Exercises

While you don’t want to over-extend yourself too much, doing some gentle exercises can help to ease your pain. You’ll want to do a few stretches for each part of your body that is most likely to hurt from riding:

Neck: tilt your head from left to right in a smooth motion, touching your ear to your shoulder on either side.
Shoulders: rest your hands on the back of your neck, then open your arms slowly until you can’t open them any wider. Do this a few times.
Lower Back: grip your handlebars with your left hand, turn your torso to the right and put your right hand on the back of your seat. Repeat this with the hands reversed. Do each side a few times.

We hope this guide helps you with pain management while riding. Need a new motorcycle? Visit our website to see the fine selection of new and used Harley touring motorcycles for sale at our dealership in Kirkwood, MO. We even provide financing options to help you get the touring motorcycle you need. It's always a party at Doc's Harley-Davidson, serving the greater St. Louis metropolitan area as well as the city of St. Charles, MO.