Motorcycle gloves
are one of those safety items that get quickly overlooked, especially when
the weather is warm. But it shouldn't be overlooked. Proper motorcycle
gloves serve a purpose, not just to look cool. Apart from the obvious, that
of falling of your bike and scraping your hands on the pavement, they also
serve to protect your hand from the elements when riding. Imagine riding in
a blistering sun, your hands are totally unprotected from UV light, and at
the end of your ride, you may have burned your hands.
Add to that bug hits while riding, and you can get the picture. Good gloves
do not cost much, but will provide a good protection against many hidden
dangers.
Like many safety gear for motorcycles, they come in different types,
shapes and materials. Although less pronounced, gender plays some role
in your choice.
Gloves for women tend to be smaller, more narrow, and colors play a
role in that choice as well.
Most gloves types boil down to the weather. You will not want to ride a
motorcycle in the winter with summer gloves; the same goes for riding in
mid summer with winter gloves.
As far as the choice of material goes, you've got leather and materials
like Kevlar, Nylon or/and Gore-tex.
Winter Gloves
Winter
gloves are gloves that are thicker, and usually rainproof. They tend
to be longer, since you can put your jacket's sleeve into the glove,
thereby preventing cold air from blowing into your jacket. Some gloves
are not rainproof, but come with a rain protector.
Winter gloves can be found in leather, the best protection you can get.
Leather protects you from road-rash better than most other types of
material, and provide a good protection against the elements.
Kevlar, Nylon and Gore-tex are another type of material found in gloves.
They are quite resistant to the road and elements and provide more
flexibility.
Knuckle
Protectors
Many gloves come
with hard plastic knuckle protectors. They make a glove more rigid, but
protect your knuckles from impact, not only from the road, but also bugs.
Liners
If the weather
gets really cold, you can get
silk
glove liners. These are thin under-gloves, in other words, gloves that
are worn inside your normal glove, and their main role is to keep your hands
from getting cold.
Heated
Gloves
Heated
gloves can be life saving, or at the very least make your winter
ride comfortable. These gloves are either hooked up to your bike's 12V
system, or are self-sufficient (battery).
If you have a heated handlebar, then you will not need a heated glove
Summer Gloves
Summer gloves tend to be much thinner than winter ones. They offer your
hands more breathing capabilities.
You'll find them, if the weather gets really hot in your part of the
world, meshed. This means there are little holes in them that cool your
hands during the ride. Of course, when it rains, your hands will get
wet.
Many of these summer gloves come without finger, the so called
“fingerless” gloves. They allow you to operate your motorcycle with
a minimum of effort, but will not protect your fingers. This kind of
glove is favored by cruiser bikers.
You'll find the gloves in leather and in other materials, like Kevlar,
Gore-tex and often have a gel pad inside, since the material is thin.
The gel pad reduces the fatigue you can encounter from the motorcycle's
vibrations.
Sport
Dependent
There
are special gloves for specific motorcycle sports. Racing gloves are much
stiffer, but protect your hands in case of an accident.
Motocross and off-road riding gloves have hard plastic covers on different
parts of the glove, since you stand a bigger chance of knocking your hands
against something when riding of-road.
Fitting Gloves
When
fitting a glove, make sure they are not too tight, nor too loose (you do not
want to see your glove fly off your hand when riding). Leather gloves will
stretch over time.
When you try on a glove, make sure they fit ... like a glove. Do not do an
O.J. on the glove; too tight, even leather is not good.
It's
important that when you have the glove on, you can easily grip the front
brake lever or clutch, with your whole hand or with one or two fingers.
