What are the best options in motorcycle gloves?
Gloves serve two purposes, one is to protect your hands while riding (from drying out, bees, rocks etc..) while giving you good feedback, the other is to protect your hands while crashing. I’ve been riding for 17 years and I’ve managed to test out a few types of gloves in various crashes (low speed, high speed, dirt, etc.). For the first part your gloves need to fit while you’re riding. So when testing gloves in the store put them around some grips and see if they bunch up, or the fingers are too short, or the armor digs into your wrist. The second part is not something you want to test, but you want to be sure it works. Without knowing what brands/styles you are looking at, look for a glove that has double leather on the palm, and the fewest panels, with the best stitching. In my experience, when you crash, you don’t slide long enough on your palms to abrade through good double leather, but the impact/friction of hitting the ground will blow out cheap stitching and cause the glove to
After 15 years of riding, I’ve pretty much given up on wearing gloves, except in the winter, when I wear $5 snowboarding gloves from Sears. For summer riding, if I had to I’d stick to something like this — hands get HOT in the summer (especially when you’re sitting still, as you will in class), so lighter & breathable is better. Keep that in mind as you fulfill the requirement for the class. Also keep in mind that Harley stores have good quality stuff, but you’re paying a massive premium for the Harley emblem. Find a local parts dealer and shop there instead.
