The 5 Best Winter Motorcycle Gloves
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We all wish we could ride year-round, but unless you’re living in sunny Southern California (or somewhere within a stone’s throw of the equator), winter riding just isn’t worth the discomfort for most riders. The good news is that if you’re reading this, we’ll wager you aren’t “most riders” to begin with, and protecting your hands with proper winter motorcycle gloves is your first step to pushing your riding well into the shoulder seasons.
In the list below we’ve put together all our favorite picks for everything from winter trail riding to high-elevation touring. Throw on a few layers and fire up those heated hand grips, these cold weather gloves are your ticket to ride.
Table of Contents
1. Klim Hardanger HTD Winter Motorcycle Gloves
Heated gear is a controversial topic: Some folks say if it’s that cold out, you shouldn’t be riding anyways, others swear that once you’ve tried it, you’ll never go back.
Personally, we’re fans of anything that extends your riding season, and Klim’s Hardanger HTD heated winter motorcycle gloves are the best in the business.
Heated gloves can be hit or miss in terms of quality, but these check all the right boxes: They run on lithium batteries rather than plugging into your bike, so there’s no awkward leash to disconnect when you stop for gas/lunch/ etc. The heating itself is also high quality, and covers both the back of the hand and the full length of the fingers, so your fingertips don’t get left out in the cold.
We love that Klim uses 100g of Thinsulate insulation in these winter motorcycle gloves, but they keep it all on the top of the hand so the feel at the controls is still great and you don’t have to worry about melting your heated grips.
For your money you’ll also get Gore-Tex waterproofing and a CE safety rating courtesy of the Hardanger’s full goatskin leather palm, high-impact foam padding, and a flexible rubber knuckle protector.
Honestly, the only real downside here is the cost, but as is the case with all Klim gear, you get what you pay for. Most heated gloves skimp on quality somewhere: Sometimes it’s a bulky fit and feel, but all too often it’s the safety features that suffer. This is a protective winter motorcycle glove with a top-shelf waterproofing and a refined three-level heating system, and there’s nothing else quite like it on the market.
Pros:
- Best heating system on the market
- Reliable Gore-Tex waterproofing
- Great safety features
Cons:
- Expensive
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2. Joe Rocket Windchill Winter Motorcycle Gloves
As the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Chances are your old man had a pair of winter motorcycle gloves strikingly similar to the Joe Rocket Windchill, and there’s a reason this approach to winter-proofing is still a fan favorite to this day.
Put simply, leather blocks wind, and Thinsulate insulation adds warmth without being overly bulky. There’s a reason they’ve been using Thinsulate in everything from ski gloves to hunting boots for decades, and if it didn’t deliver, you’d know it by now.
Leather and Thinsulate is a combination that simply works every time, and combined with the Windchill’s Dry Tech waterproof liner, these gloves have you covered when the weather gets nasty.
Proven cold weather performance at a price this low is attractive indeed, and the package is made all that sweeter by the Joe Rocket Windchill’s pavement-worthy construction.
Full grain cowhide leather is used in every inch of the glove, additional reinforcements are added in all the most crash-prone zones (outer seam, palms, etc.), and high-density knuckle armor is hiding just under the surface as well.
In terms of drawbacks, our main complaint with the Joe Rocket Windchill winter motorcycle glove is that it doesn’t actually carry any particular safety certification. Granted, its full-leather chassis looks and feels plenty safe, and the additional armor panels feel particularly confidence inspiring, but some kind of safety certification would add peace of mind.
We’ll also point out that fitment can be bit tricky due to the amount of insulation used in the Windchill, so you’d be advised to order up a size from your usual fit.
Pros:
- Classic approach works as well as ever
- Super affordable
- Comfortable enough for all-day touring
Cons:
- Fit runs small
- Full leather construction, but no safety certification
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3. Rev’It Stratos 2 GTX Winter Motorcycle Gloves
We like to think of the Rev’It Stratos 2 GTX as the classic insulated leather glove given the premium treatment. A “Joe Rocket Windchill on PCP” if you will. Much about the Rev’It Stratos 2 GTX is the same, including the leather chassis and Thinsulate insulation, but the comparisons end there.
The Windchill’s cowhide gets upgraded to goatskin leather, Rev’It’s proprietary 330D PWRshell fabric is added from the knuckle down for improved comfort and less bulk, and waterproofing is handled using an industry-leading Gore-Tex liner.
You’ll also get flexible Seesoft 3D knuckle protectors and a moisture-wicking tri-fleece liner included in the Stratos, so they feel much cozier and forgiving on your hands.
The Stratos also gets a more refined strap system, which is designed to work in tandem with the cuff adjustment of the glove for a single motion closure that’s easy to operate with a second gloved hand.
We think the jury is still out on the system, as it only seems to work about half the time, but it’s certainly much sleeker looking than the big strip of velcro found on most budget winter motorcycle gloves.
You’ll also have to pony up more than twice the cash if you want to experience the Stratos’ high-tech refinement, but as we’ve said before, Gore-Tex reliability alone is always worth the investment.
Pros:
- Gore-Tex waterproofing
- Premium Thinsulate insulation
- Cozy tri-fleece liner
Cons:
- Strap system isn’t our favorite
- Expensive
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4. Dainese Scout 2 Gore-Tex Winter Motorcycle Gloves
The Dainese Scout 2 Gore-Tex is a premium winter motorcycle glove from a premium brand, and delivers all the tech and protection we’ve come to expect from Dainese’s premium products.
Weather-wise, the Scout 2 sports a Gore-Tex membrane to keep your hands dry in the wet, and an impressively warm Primaloft thermal layer to protect you from the cold.
The Scout’s gauntlet-style construction is extra long at the back for optimal coverage, and sports an extra large/wide cuff as well so it works over or under whatever jacket and layers you prefer for cold weather riding.
We also love that Dainese kept the new Scout 2 relatively light and sleek without sacrificing safety: The new glove retains the original Scout’s goatskin leather reinforcements at the palm, thumb, and outseam, but also adds a hard polyurethane slider at the base of the palm and hard TPU protection on both the knuckles and joints of the fingers.
Other perks include a visor wiper on the left hand, Dainese’s Smart Touch material at the finger and thumb for touchscreen compatibility, and a healthy smattering of reflective material for additional visibility.
The Scout 2 is a great all-weather motorcycle glove, but even with all its improvements over the outgoing model, it won’t be the perfect fit for everyone. For instance, it carries an impressive CE 2 safety rating, but at the end of the day, the flexible fabric construction of the Scout just doesn’t feel quite as confidence-inspiring as full leather options.
It’s also on the expensive side, which is to be expected for a Gore-Tex garment, but may not be worth the expense for folks who only ride in cold weather occasionally.
Pros:
- Gore-Tex waterproofing and toasty Primaloft insulation
- Commendable safety features and CE 2 level certification
- Impressively comfortable and streamlined for such a warm glove
Cons:
- Expensive
- Doesn’t feel as protective as full leather options
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5. 100% Brisker Cold Weather Gloves
Big beefy winter gauntlets are great for warmth and weather protection, but for active off-road riding, they’re always going to be overkill. That’s why we like to keep a second set of winter motorcycle gloves somewhere in our luggage for dual-sport trips, and when temps are dropping, we love the 100% Brisker.
The Brisker is an off-road only model, essentially a motocross glove built for chilly race day mornings.
Its low-profile fabric construction is just as comfortable and stretchy as 100%’s other off-road focused options, but the Brisker adds a layer of insulated padding on the top of the hand to help keep your hands warm without overcooking them.
We enjoyed these gloves on a recent January tour in Baja, and found them to be the perfect solution for off-road riding in cold-but-not-freezing weather.
They pack down just as small as your typical MX glove, so they take up next to no space in your luggage or tank bag, but you’ll be glad you’ve got them when ventilation and feeling at the controls is a priority.
There aren’t a lot of downsides to the 100% Brisker so long as you use them in appropriate settings, but the fact that they have next to nothing by the way of pavement protection is definitely a con here.
They’re also more expensive than most off-road-only gloves, but considering they still retail for under $40, that’s a minor complaint at best.
Pros:
- Added insulation for cold weather off-roading
- Waterproof version also available
- Ideal for winter riding in Baja
Cons:
- Not suited for street use
- Limited use cases
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Hope this article help you find the perfect winter motorcycle glove for your next ride!
