The 3 Motorcycle Gloves I Can't Ride Without

My original Racer High End Gloves, crashed back in 2015

I have found that living in a climate with drastically changing temperatures means I’m using 3 different types of gloves throughout the year. When I lived in California I still had 2 key gloves in my closet; one for nice weather and one for wet/cold weather. Those 2 key gloves are still in my closet but I have a 3rd that I reluctantly added that you’ll see below.

The only time of year I do not have gloves for is Winter; ~30F-45F. Because I have no desire to ride when it’s that miserable. (cold tires make Goldie very very unhappy and unsafe)

So I’ve put together a list of the 3 Gloves I Can’t Ride Without. Unfortunately some of them are discontinued but I’ve provided alternative ideas for each category. Having very small, wide hands and shorter fingers means I’m hyper vigilant about finding gloves. When I see something that might fit me and work for my riding seasons I’ll jump on it. That’s how I’ve found all of these in the past 5 years.

1/ Racer High Racer - “My #1, Go Tos”

You should always have a “Go To” glove, the one you grab and want to wear ~75% of the time. These are mine. I’m always wearing these and pretty much live in them for the majority of my riding. Typically I’ll wear them from about 60F to 80F or until the humidity starts driving me crazy. The kangaroo palms breathe well for me and although they need a little more care (like washing once or twice in the summer) I love the protection, comfort and coverage. You can read my full review here including how to get a pair.

2/ Rukka Apollo - Men’s

These are my ‘winter’ or cold weather gloves. For me, they fit quite well even though they’re men’s gloves because my palms are slightly wider than most women’s hands. Sidenote: if your hands are too big for small/medium women’s gloves but larges are too big then try any European brand (Dainese, Alpinestars, Held, Rukka, Revit, etc.) men’s smalls because they will be bigger than the ladies small/medium but you won’t swim in them like American brands.

But if you have smaller hands, Rukka now offers the Virve for women. If I had to replace my gloves, I would buy these. The main reason I like both of these is the fact that the GoreTex membrane is bonded to the leather (also known as GoreTex XTrafit), so when you pull your hands out the lining doesn’t separate. There aren’t a lot of gloves in that category overall, and then finding a women’s fitting option is even more difficult. The Virve and this Held Air N Dry are the only two currently available like this. The nice thing about the Helds are that they have 2 chambers, so you have something you can wear when it’s not only raining. With the lower, perforated pocket you can use them as a warm weather glove since the palms are perforated. There are certainly a lot of men’s gloves in this category too like:

• Alpinestars Patron

• Rukka Imatra

• Rukka Argosaurus

• Held Sambia 2 in 1

3/ Held Touch Perforated Gloves. See how there’s only a little bit of ‘bunching’ or ‘gather’ at my palms when I have them in riding position? That’s just right. Not too much, not too tight.

As of 2/16/19, these two women’s gloves are on closeout and are the most similar to my Apollos:

• Held Wizzard. size 6 only (~womens XS/SM); without the hard knuckles and shorter gauntlet. Side note regarding men’s v. women’s motorcycle gloves. Generally men’s gloves have longer fingers, wider and deeper palms, longer hands and wider wrists. I’ve found that women can always fill the length and width of men’s gloves, but never the depth. When I mean depth, I mean the palms. What this means is that when you are using your handgrips, there may be so much extra material there that it can cause rubbing or blisters from constantly rolling off and on your throttle or reaching for your clutch lever. You certainly don’t want your gloves to fit tight like you’re wearing a latex glove, but this is why it’s always important to try your gloves on the bike before you decide to keep them.

• Rukka Vilma, size 10 (~womens XL); ideal if you can wear the length of a men’s glove for fingers, but you need a narrower palm/hand and a thinner palm/hand space.

3/ Held Touch Perforated - Women’s (discontinued)

These are a perforated leather glove with almost a full gauntlet. I reserve these for the hottest riding days that I ride in. Sometimes I’ll pack them with my Racers and wear them later in the day when the heat and humidity start to drive me crazy. The main reason I chose this glove was because it was a Perforated Summer glove with a Gauntlet (wrist coverage). I could totally wear short, mesh gloves but I just don’t trust mesh on my hands like I would on my body. And women’s mesh gloves are painfully underprotected with only moderate protection. As with the rest of my gear, I don’t like risking the loss in protection.

Read my review here to find out more of my thoughts on these.

Since they’re discontinued here are a couple alternatives:

• Held Womens Air n Dry (see comments above); fitment is pretty narrow and long fingered

• Held Mens Airstream (mens, 7 is ~women’s MD/LG)

• Klim Mens Induction: the smalls fit almost like a women’s small

• Alpinestars Womens SP Air; fitment is also pretty narrow and long fingered; but tighter than Held

Well I hope that helps, I’m dying to go riding. It’s still high 40s here and until Spring shows up I’m going to be trapped on my couch. I’m tempted to fly home just so I can have some decent riding temperatures. Someone go riding for me….

Knuckle protection is definitely necessary, see?

Riding Jeans; Episode 4 of GearChic Podcast

Episode 4 is finally up. After a long fall/winter break, I’m back.

Take a listen here.

19% of Motorcycle OWNERS in the US are WOMEN!

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL WE’RE DOING.

Read my full article over at Common Tread, with a few shoutouts to female entrpreneurs in the motorcycle world that are starting to take over our industry.

https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/women-are-now-19-percent-of-us-riders-but-thats-not-all-theyre-doing

Wooo Hooo!

Of course, ask any woman rider and she’ll likely tell you the same thing.

I know that in the last decade I’ve seen it, felt it and experienced it too!

Motorcycle Ownership Among Women Climbs to 19 Percent

Nov 29, 2018

Motorcycle Industry Council Survey Reveals Continuing Shift in Rider Demographics

IRVINE, Calif., November 29, 2018 – Nearly one in five motorcycle owners is now female, compared with one in 10 less than a decade ago, and the data suggests that women could soon make up one quarter of owners, which would be a major shift in motorcycling demographics, according to the latest national survey by the Motorcycle Industry Council.

Among all age groups, women now make up 19 percent of motorcycle owners. But the 2018 survey showed even greater female ownership within younger generations. Among Gen X motorcycle owners, 22 percent were women; among Gen Y, 26 percent were women.

“As the number of Boomer and mature motorcyclists shrink and are replaced by newer riders, we could soon be looking at a solid 25 percent of motorcycle owners being female,” said Andria Yu, MIC director of communications. “We’ve seen with our own eyes many more women riders — on the roads, on the trails, on the track, with families, at motorcycling events, forming clubs and just being part of everyday group rides. Many people in the industry have worked some 30 years to achieve this, and now the data confirms it: More and more women are getting out there and enjoying motorcycles.”

The MIC polled 2,472 adults nationwide for the 2018 Motorcycle/ATV Owner Survey. For decades, the MIC surveys have served as the census of motorcycling, and have tracked a steady growth in the percentage of women who own bikes.

“Major efforts to increase the number of women riders go back to the late 1980s when top manufacturers and distributors came together and formed Discover Today’s Motorcycling, the industry outreach program built to introduce new riders to two-wheeling,” said Cam Arnold, a longtime industry executive who is organizing a Women in Powersports networking event this evening in New York City. “The first DTM project in the 1980s spotlighted the historic 1916 Van Buren sisters ride across the country and garnered much media attention. Throughout the 1990s and on till today, the big brands have dedicated increasing amounts of attention to the women’s market, and we’ve simply seen more and more positive imagery on TV, in movies and in many mainstream settings where women on motorcycles are just having fun.”

The 2018 owner survey also found that women motorcycle owners spend, on average, $574 a year on tires, routine repairs, maintenance, replacement parts, and accessories and modifying equipment, compared with $497 by men.

“We’ve seen particularly strong growth in the aftermarket sector for women,” said Cinnamon Kernes, newly appointed vice president and general manager of MIC Events and the American International Motorcycle Expo presented by Nationwide, the largest powersports trade and consumer show in North America. “Over the past decade, more women are designing riding gear and other products specifically for female riders, working in major companies or creating their own brands. Having gear designed for women by women was a huge step and has certainly helped encourage female ridership.”

The Women in Powersports gathering today will be at the Manhattan showroom and factory of Breaking Hearts & Burning Rubber, a company owned and operated by women producing motorcycle gear and apparel for women.

Motorcycling has grown in popularity and acceptance in American culture in recent decades, which is reflected in the survey. It found that 66 percent of women motorcycle owners say their family and friends would have a positive attitude toward motorcycles and scooters.

Additional data on women riders, and all riders, from the MIC’s 2018 Motorcycle/ATV Owner Survey, will be spotlighted and discussed at tonight’s Women in Powersports event and at the Progressive International Motorcycle Show this weekend at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.

The Motorcycle Industry Council exists to preserve, protect and promote motorcycling through government relations, communications and media relations, statistics and research, aftermarket programs, development of data communications standards, activities surrounding technical and regulatory issues, and the American International Motorcycle Expo. As a not-for-profit, national industry association, the MIC seeks to support motorcyclists by representing manufacturers, distributors, dealers and retailers of motorcycles, scooters, ATVs, ROVs, motorcycle/ATV/ROV parts, accessories and related goods and services, and members of allied trades such as insurance, finance and investment companies, media companies and consultants.

The MIC is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., with a government relations office in metropolitan Washington, D.C. First called the MIC in 1970, the organization has been in operation since 1914. Visit the MIC at www.mic.org.

Plus Size Jackets for Women

How do you find jackets that fit you when you don’t know where to begin?

Well, I’m here to give you some shortcuts. I wish this was easy. It’s impossible to know what’s going to fit me if I have a 45” chest, a 43” waist and a 48” hip?

I’ve been doing some research where I work lately, and fortunately I have the luxury of doing this for a living at RevZilla. We have a wonderful store in Philadelphia and if you’re a woman who needs help getting geared up I hope you’ll reach out and drop me a line so I can help.

Tourmaster Sonora Air - 3 Season Versatility!

Recently I’ve been looking at a series of plus size, larger jackets. Because I know that the majority of American women out there are larger. So I’ve made a list for you and I can tell you that these all have fitments and sizing that mean those of you looking for jackets to fit anywhere from a 40” to 55” chest have options.

There are European Brands that I know can fit larger women as well but I haven’t had a chance to research the sizing yet. For now, this is my list of recommendations but I promise to add and update it when I have enough information to add them to this list.

Olympia Airglide 5

multiseason, waterproof, mesh, summer, spring, fall, 3 season warm, mild winter

The Airglide is a 3 season (Spring, Summer, Fall and California/Florida winters) mesh jackt with 2 removable liners; one thermal and one waterproof. The waterproof liner is actually a standalone jacket which can be worn on the OUTSIDE of the jacket. Yes, OVER the jacket itself to keep you dry. Remember to deliner this one completely when you try it on so you can try it in hot weather and cold weather arrangements.

Wearing a size MEDIUM, Chest 46 / Waist 43.5 / Hips 48. She’s wearing it with ALL the liners zipped in. This is what I call Proper Fit.

I’ve personally fit hundreds of women in Olympia. I love the quality, fit and versatility that they offer. In a size Small, I can fit someone with up to a 43” hip because it has a perfect cutout over the hips. It’s also slightly shorter waisted so it allows the jacket to sit higher on the hips.

In a 3X, I’ve fit someone with a 53” Bust, 48” Waist and 58” Hip. This is with ALL liners inside the jacket.

Now imagine taking the liners out and how much more room you will have! Please keep in mind that since it’s not a Winter specific jacket, you will not likely wear all the liners inside. Since the rain jacket can be worn inside or out, you will likely wear one liner but not the other.

I also want to share this photo of how you might need to zip the jacket up because riding jackets are sewn and designed for you to wear them in the riding position.

My friend and coworker Chrissy is zipping up two different jackets below, one is the older Olympia Airglide 4 Jacket (as opposed to the 5th version above) and the Rev’it Ladies Ignition 2 Jacket. See? It just takes a little bend forward. :)

Granted, the Ignition is a much more relaxed fit across the chest, so depending on your personal comfort (and riding position) you may prefer the Olympia fit over the Rev’it and that’s totally up to you!

Rev’it Ignition 3 Jacket

leather, mesh, hybrid, sport, sport touring, summer, waterproof

In the 3 photos above, next to the Silver Airglide, she’s wearing a Rev’it Ignition 2 Jacket. The fitment has not changed from 2 to 3, and sizing is the same. I will say that the shoulders run tighter so this is ideal if you have a REALLY generous bust in relation to your shoulders. This also runs closer to the sport/sport touring fit too. Keep in mind the torso can run long so if you are really short waisted AND busty, then this may not work well for you because the sleeves and torso might run too long. When that happens, the collar tends to ride up towards the bottom of your helmet.

Here are a few more on the list that I want to recommend for the bustier gals out there:

Tourmaster Sonora Air Jacket

mesh, waterproof, 3season warm, spring, summer

This is a photo of my friend and coworker, Stephanie. She’s wearing a size MD Plus, and her measurements are: 50 Chest, 45 Waist, 45 Hips. The Sonora has a shorter waist and sleeve overall compared to Rev’it, but it tends to be slightly longer in both areas than the Olympia Airglide above.

Klim Artemis Jacket

goretex, waterproof, multiseason, adventure, dual sport, spring, summer, fall, winter

The same person wearing the Sonora above also fits this jacket in a 2XL. The Sonora runs even longer than the others in the sleeves and waist because it’s a true Adventure Jacket; meant for a woman riding dirtbikes or dual sports. So that when you’re standing on the pegs, getting through a water crossing you’ll have plenty of coverage.

I know there are more options than this, but I wanted to give you a sense of what might fit you depending on your riding lifestyle.

As always, I’m here to help if you need personalized help finding something that fits you regardless of your size.