What does a rider feel with arm pump?

Dani Pedrosa’s surgery yesterday for arm pump has once again brought the condition to the forefront of the MotoGP paddock. Arm pump is an exceptionally debilitating condition for any rider but on a fire breathing MotoGP machine the ailment effectively leaves a rider riding one handed. For Pedrosa the prospect of having to continue riding with that feeling was not something that he could consider any longer and he decided to have surgery.

Speaking with MCN at the season opening British Superbike round Michael Laverty, factory test rider for Aprilia, explained how it feels to ride with the condition:

“It’s the most debilitating thing that you can have on a motorcycle,” said Laverty. “You lose the feeling of your front brake lever and throttle, you can still control them but not with any accuracy. You lose the feeling that you need to ride a bike at the top level. I read in the statement that Dani had the muscle fascia removed and I’m not sure of the recovery of that. When it’s the fascia release and you slice it you can get back on the bike in ten days.

“When you get the surgery and it fixes it there’s a weight lifted off your shoulders and when you can ride the bike for 45 minutes without thinking about arm pump it makes such a huge difference.”