Which leather gloves are best for winter riding, goretex lined or thinsulate?

 

Anything but those damn gay fingerless gloves!

JK: I love my gay fingerless gloves! [sm=icon_rock.gif]

Actually, I don't know which would be better. Haven't yet got to experience winter riding. But, up here in the northwoods, it will happen soon enough! Anyone have any experience / thoughts?

Dallas: you're not allowed to respond... Texas does NOT have winter, period!

 

Electric gloves. They plug right into my Battery-Tender socket already installed on the bike. With those and my electric socks, I can ride all day. I decided the little bit of exposed wire looked cooler than having numb feet and hands while running into something. Ef it. I'm warm and ridin'.

 

Goretex is a breathable, but waterproof membrane. It has minimal insulating properties...it just keeps the weather out. Thinsulate from 3M and Thermolite from DuPont are the two main insulators you should be looking for. I could write an entire article on the articles I've read about winter riding gloves, and actual experience in cold conditions...but just get a winter RIDING glove! Motorcycle specific! And a pair of thin silk or polypropelene glove liners! HD insulated gauntlet gloves are supposed to be pretty good. Olympia makes some good stuff, and so does Joe Rocket. Tourmaster makes some of the warmest gloves on the market, the Winter Elite,but they are expensive and bulky. If you're riding in those conditions, I'd suggest just going for the Warner electric gloves. Or heated grips.

The body's internal temperature regulator wants to keep the vital organs in the upper torso at a steady temperature...98.6 or so. If the upper torso starts cooling down too much, the body will reduce blood circulation in the extremities (including head), and focus it to the upper torso. This makes hands and feet cold. IOW, if the upper torso is warm and toasty, it will send warming blood flow to the extremities to get rid of excess heat. Hence helping to warm the hands and feet. Then if it's still too warm, perspiration steps in. That's basically how the body's temperature regulator works.

IOW, keep the upper torso and head warm, combined with a good pair of winter riding gloves (either leather or textile) with a silk or polypro liner, and a good pair of boots and socks...you should be good to hook for the vast majority of conditions you probably ever want to ride in.

Coldest I've ridden started at 21 degrees. It was 19 degrees when I finished a couple of hours later. The finishing touch was about a 30 minute round trip to nowhere at 70 mph. And yes, it was in the DALLAS, TX AREA! Honestly, though, I would NOT to have wanted to make a road trip with it that cold! Ok, so I'm a wimp...but I was the only damn bike on the road, too!

Teek

 

I bought Orina 118 gloves haven't tried them as of yet but appear to be supper warm, about $60 a pr.

Tom

 

I'm GONNA have some of those before I ride through another winter. Do you have the HD gloves, or a different brand?? As usual the HD gloves are quite pricey, but I'll pay it before I go through another winter with blue fingers.

 

I think I have tried just about every method short of electric to keep my hands warm in winter riding. Once, at an Army surplus store, I bought a pair of these Korean War era shooters sub- zero gloves with wool liners, but they lasted about three miles. Haven't tried the Hippo-Hands method yet. I have the heaviest winter glove that H-D has right now and at 36 F, they are at the limit of comfort for me. Any colder and I stop a couple of times and warm my hands on the engine.My friend got the Tour Masters and we both compared them and feel that they are no better than the H-D's. Any colder than mid thirties and your fingers start burning. I have the silk liners and they didn't measure up to what I expected. I have some bulky ski gloves that I bought at a ski shop for work that worked fairly well on the bike. 4:30 A.M. cold and a 38 mile ride home will tell you which gloves work better. I did it once at 17F. Torture.

 

Not a problem for me. I normally ride with my hands in my pockets. Or reach down and grab hold of some pipe.

 

Gerbing (sp?) electric with thermostat control!!! [sm=goodidea.gif]No matter how cold your hands are toasty warm[sm=happy046.gif]

 

well in Louisiana we don't have much of a winter,...but when it gets cold to us(around 30 degrees) with the humidity,...it's pretty dang cold. I've tried an HD $100 dollar pair (thinsulate),...some wal-mart hunting gloves,..........some neoprene gloves[:@],,,...................goretex gloves from Cabellas,..........my damn hands still get cold. Everywhere there's a seam,....cold air gets in ,..and my fingers freeze to death. I ride alot in the winter ,......lotta days to work,.....and I normally freeze my azz and hands off. face gets frozen too,.....get that frozen snot in my moustache.