Jithin Nair

The open road and fresh air are like my medication, making me feel better, move alive and more energized. There is just nothing else in my life that give me the feeling of freedom, that ability to free my mind and just enjoy the moment. I know that is true for many of you also.

“A safe hand is a winning hand”
Safe your hands with gloves:
“Do it, Do it right, Do it right now”

Everyone knows the immeasurable value of a helmet. 

However, they are not the only lifesaving pieces of safety gear out there. Jackets, boots, and motorcycle pants are also instrumental in protecting yourself during an accident.

Nevertheless, there is one piece of vital gear that is often overlooked by bikers – gloves.

Taking off the bike from stand, accelerate to your dream destination, to use clutch lever, to turn the bike… which part of your body is in use…?? Yes.. it’s your hands.. In addition, outside of motorcycling, having functional hands and fingers is essential to pretty much everything you do.. from brushing your teeth to pull your blanket.

Hands: There are twenty-nine different bones in each hand, twenty-nine joints and at least one hundred and twenty-three ligaments. When your hand hits the street or any hard surface at speed, with the full force and momentum of your flying body behind it, many of these intricate items can be destroyed, causing severe damage to your hand and wrist. 

Reasons Why You Must Always Wear Gloves

1. Protect in a Fall: – Even the most experienced riders can still fall, even when they least expect it. Always wear your gloves no matter how far you are riding.
2. Need the Grip: – Having a good grip on your handles is so important for safe riding. Gloves ensure you do not slip off the handles and during the winter months, they obviously provide insulation to make riding less unbearable and more comfortable.
3. Avoid Numbness: – Many of us have experienced hand numbness after riding for an extensive length of time. This feeling is uncomfortable and it is dangerous. In order to operate your motorcycle correctly, you must be able to feel your hands.  Gloves protect your hands against the vibrations from the bike
4. Protection from flying debris: – While riding down the road at a high rate of speed even a small bug hitting your hand can cause you to overreact.
5. Protection from the elements of weather: – Wind, Sun, Cold, Rain, Snow, Etc. are all elements you can encounter on a ride. Sun can cause a lot of damage over time. Cold temperatures can cause your hands to lose feeling. A good pair of motorcycle gloves will help you feel confident and in control in all weather conditions.
6. Tail point: ☺ The gloves add a fashion statement to a motorcycle rider. If you are planning for a country ride, alone or with your buddies, have a stylish pair of gloves that complements your rider look.

Why armored gloves?

Here are a few points why armored gloves are the superior glove when it comes to protecting your hands.

• Guarding Your Wrists
• Protecting Your Palms
• Defending Your Knuckles
• Saving Your Fingers

Types of Motorcycle riding Gloves available in the market

Classification	How it Looks	Some models available in market
Short GlovesThese gloves were made of mostly full mesh or mesh leather, giving both protection and as well the ventilation to the rider riding in the hot regions.		VEGA VGL-21 Riding GlovesAXOR Air Stream Riding GlovesRYO RG riding glovesScala Runner GlovesMotoTech Urbane Short Carbon GlovesRynox Urban Motorcycle GlovesBBG Breeze Bike GlovesDainese Blackjack
Semi Gauntlet GlovesSemi gauntlet gloves are in between short gloves and full gauntlet gloves. Not too bulky for riding inside the city and still offer a decent level of protection/Ventilation. They usually have better fastening mechanism and more features than short riding gloves		Rynox Urban X Motorcycle GlovesBBG Semi Gauntlet GlovesScala Viper GlovesRaida airwave glovesSNELL Iconic GlovesXDI Torque Master Semi Gauntlet Riding Gloves
Full Gauntlet GlovesFull Gauntlet Motorcycle riding gloves offer the best protection out of all the three types of riding gloves. They are a choice of every serious motorcycle rider who wishes to step outside their city speed limits. They offer various multiple fastening points and are usually full of additional protection & useful features.		BBG Racer Full Gauntlet Riding GlovesRynox Storm Evo 2 Riding GlovesScala Trekker Riding GlovesTarmac Rapid Full Gauntlet Riding GlovesDSG Race Pro  Riding GlovesFurygan Dirt Road Riding GlovesRS Taichi GP Evo R Riding GlovesAlpinestars MM93 Twin Ring Riding GlovesShima STR-2 Riding GlovesDainese Druid 3 Riding Gloves

Some other points you should consider before buying Riding Gloves

1. Pre-curved fingers: Your fingers will be curved while holding throttle so gloves that have pre-curved fingers will reduce the strain on your fingers.
2. External Stitching: Some gloves offer external stitching. It means the stitching on the fingers will be visible from outside. This helps you in getting smoother feel for the fingers while wearing gloves.
3. Fitting: Your fingers should not be tightly pressing against the end of gloves. In case they do, they would start paining.
4. Visor Wipe: Some gloves offer visor wipe feature. It is a simple plastic wiper on one of the fingers. You can use it during rains to clean helmet visor even while riding. It is simple but quite effective for better visibility.
5. Touch Screen Compatibility: In many gloves, thumb and index fingers have a special coating that enable you to use your phone even while wearing gloves. As you don’t need to remove gloves to use your phone, this reduces the time if you want to answer calls, change music or even reply to messages.
6. Insulation & Waterproof: Most of the waterproof gloves also have insulation. This makes them suitable for riding in cold, wet weather eg. During Leh ride. But this would make your hands sweaty if you are riding in areas where it is warm even while raining.

So choose wisely and ride happily. ☺