What's the position of your fingers? I normally use my middle and ring finger on the brakes and twist the throttle with my palm.. Takes practice but its worth it once you get the hang of it.
Is the DuPont one the wet liquid kind..? I used that for awhile but wasn't quite convinced as I've never heard from other riders feedback.
So it IS as good as they say....
The thing about riding a supposedly ugly bike is that the rider won't need to look at it. He/she just feels the brute of the machine. While its the passers-by that's looking and staring at it.