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I tend to get a sharp pain in my throttle hand after 45 mins of riding. It gets to the point that I have trouble twisting the throttle while standing. I know that my natural riding stance is wrong but can't figure out what i'm doing wrong because I usual ride alone. When i bend over to put my weight over the bars the feels too small like my head is going to be the thing to it in event of a crash. I've tried a CR high bend with no success and just ordered a woods high bar but won't get to try it until the snow melts in may. Sharp bumps wether it be rocks or roots seem to send the front end sideways whenever i'm not paying 100% attention to what i'm doing.

Can anyone help me

That feeling of leading the motorcycle with your face is exactly what you should be doing. It's called an attack or forward stance. You can't pilot if you aren't out front. Balls against the tank, face up and over the front end, on the balls of your feet and knees gripping the tank. You lead and that bike follows you. It's like you are superman flying through the forest, not a passenger looking over the pilot's shoulder.

Grip pain is caused by too tight of a grip. Relax your grip. Try the other extreme; see how little you need to hang onto the bar. The pain should relax as your muscles warm up. For that matter, try a little finger flexing exercises; palms together, fingers pressing against each other and hyperextending the joints. Hand pump is common and you just need to work on the grip control and build some more muscle.

Your front end will stay planted if you are shifting your weight way over the front of it as well. Weight back, throttle accelerating, and the front end lightens up and washes out on little deflections.

I think I know what I'm supposed to be doing but just can't tell if i'm doing it or not. When I do the whole attack/forward stance thing with my elbows high thats when I have the most trouble with the whole deviation thing. My feet also seem to slip off the pegs way too easily when this happens causing loss of control because I end up falling with my ass on the seat. Having to almost come to a stop on a steep muddy uphill to regain control of your bike is not a good idea but probably better than falling off.

Mostly this happens going over wet slippery roots or on wet hard pack clay trails.

first and best thing is get some LARGE FOOT PEGS fastway pegs or modified KX pegs and the feet will stay in place. I love the fastway pegs you can dance on them while you ride .

Dropping your elbows creates a bad position for the wrist (bent), especially when the throttle is twisted. It creates pain especially when the bars transfer energy through your bent wrist. This is a leading cause of wrist pain and injury. Try doing what Ski said and then keep your elbows up high which will help keep your wrist straight and in a strong position. Knees slightly bent should be pressing into the bike slightly behind the balls of your feet which should be on the pegs.

Your levers should be aligned with your fingers, wrist, and lower arm. I don't know if you understand what i'm saying but my levers are at about a 45 degree downtilt to keep my hands straight to the pull.

Very good info, set your bike up sitting down in the garage and it will have to be ridin that way.

I always get my bars in a position then slap every thing on just snug, with the bike on the stand, I stand on the bike in the attack position or leading stance as described here, bump my controls to natural positon my hands take.

also on and off at times I will roll the throttle with my thumb and hand instead of twisting it, using the brakes to control the bike.

My throttle hand used to hurt after every ride, then I put crappy grip tape on my grips and guess what? No more throttle hand pump! Getting new gloves and grips for x-mas.

The attack position is great if you're attacking, but if you are just riding at a relaxed pace, maybe your positioning is too extreme. I've seen many beginners in an attack stance while just moving slowly down a fireroad - looked pretty darned unnatural to me and I'm sure it takes a toll on the bod. Skipro is right on for control placement IMO, be sure the f brake is easy to access with a natural movement of the one or two fingers you use. I ride with one finger on the brake at ALL times, even on my street bike. so positioning the lever is critical.

Maybe sometimes people try too hard, when what they really need to do is just enjoy the ride and relax into the bike over time. Hell, I dunno.

Oh, if your front is deflecting too much when you're not holding on tight, you are probably too far forward or you probably need to have it dialed in with the proper springs or whatever, could be a rear preload issue, fork height etc. - the front should actually be able to take hits better without deflecting if you're back further on the bike, as your weight is biased more toward the rear suspension.

I did my fist and only race this fall, there was a professional photographer who was taking pics of every one. In my pictures I look like a total slaker. First of all I'm siting down in all of them (4) and my elbows were so low that it almost looks like they are resting on my knees.

The terrain for the race divided into 4.5 km of tight rooty and muddy single track and the other half was a grass track. I did fine on the grass track but the woods whipped my arse, hell even some of the pros that were there said it was a tough course.

As for my suspension, it's got xr springs and I just did the shim stack mod but haven't had a chance to try the last one out due to there being too much snow. I have never touched the rear sag but plan to this year. I also noticed this summer that I could never get my bars straight. When I took the bike apart I noticed one of the bar mounts was bent. Dunno if that had anything to do with my problem but certainly wasn't helping.