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The Best Winter Motorcycle Gloves You Can Buy

Those old snowmobiling gloves you found at the neighbor’s garage sale aren't going to cut it.

By Michael Frank
collage of three sets of motorcycle gloves
Courtesy

Motorcycle gloves have a tough job to do. They have to protect your hands in case of a crash and provide dexterity. Add in the need for winter warmth, and all these duties become much more challenging.

Luckily the same tech that’s making ski wear and other winter garb far warmer and easier to move in has landed in the moto space, too, so it’s not hard to find a warm but relatively lightweight mitt that still provides the freedom of movement you need on your moto.

But here’s a caution: For the same reason you shouldn’t use a work glove while you ride your moto in summer, a ski glove also doesn’t provide the specific protection you need for riding a motorcycle. And, sorry, ditto those old snowmobiling gloves you found at the neighbor’s garage sale.

What to Look for with Winter Motorcycle Gloves

Armor

Gloves should have a slider for the heel of your hand, so your palm will slide along the pavement rather than stall there. If you don’t believe us, watch any video of Moto GP, where you see those racers slide rather than land hard and stick to the tarmac. Sliding dissipates energy; stalling takes all the forward momentum of riding and sends it into your body.

You’ll also want good knuckle armor at the very least because even if your machine has hand guards, the random rock roost kicked up by your buddy or just a stone thrown by the wake of a semi could easily break a finger.

Cut

Better moto gloves have pre-bent fingers and a pre-curved, C-shape to their profile. That reduces the force you have to input to get the glove to turn around your grips so your hands don’t fry after a few hours of riding.

Grippy Palms

Here’s how snow tires work. They use a softer material in cold weather than the average summer tire. Makers of better winter moto gloves apply the same thinking to the palms of their mitts so that grabbing the throttle, brake or clutch levers still provides positive feedback when it’s freezing outside.

Wind/Waterproofing

All the gloves on this list get some waterproof/breathable membrane fabric, either a brand you know, such as Gore-Tex, or an in-house version. You need your hands to breathe. Otherwise, the sweat they make when your digits are warm will turn to ice-cold condensation at 65mph—which is not good. And you already understand waterproofing.

Insulation

Even if gloves come with battery tech to heat them (next section), a winter glove has to have material to hold in that warmth. The gloves on this list include that batting from makers like Primaloft and others.

Electric Heating

We’ve included more than one glove on our list with battery-powered heating, which, if you’ve ever worn heated gloves for skiing, you already know can be a game changer when the weather turns icy. What could be better? Well, heated grips aren’t uncommon in the moto space, so do you also need heated hand protection? That’s up to you, which is why we’ve also included some unheated models on our list.

Note: Some items may be out of stock so check back frequently.

The Best Winter Motorcycle Gloves

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The Best Winter Motorcycle Gloves You Can Buy
Alpinestars
Alpinestars HT-7 Heat Tech Drystar Gloves
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$470 AT CYCLEGEAR.COM

  • Automatic heating
  • Can check the power levels from your phone
  • Insulation maintains warmth while being incredibly light

  • Pricier than other alternatives

No, these babies don’t come cheap, but they’re also about as brilliant a glove as you’ll find. First, the Heat Tech system begins warming the interior and the entirety of the back of the hands and the fingers the moment you slide your hands inside. They also pair with your phone, so you can check the charge level and nail the warmth setting you’d like before you ever step outside into the chill.

Your digits will be kept dry by Alpinestars’ own Drystar membrane, and beyond the battery-powered warmth, PrimaLoft Gold Aerogel is lighter than down and is designed to hold in the heat generated by your body (and in this case, the onboard heating tech, too). Alpinestars still does the moto side well, too, with Goat leather palms for supple adhesion, touchscreen compatibility, and a protective palm slider.

Best Winter Glove for Touring or Adventure Riding
Rukka
Rukka R-Star 2 In 1 Gore-Tex Gloves
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$249 AT CYCLEGEAR.COM

  • Versatile design for use in multiple conditions
  • Gore-tex weatherproofing
  • Medium gauntlet design

  • Not heated

When’s a battery-heated glove less than ideal? When you don’t have ready access to electricity to recharge batteries, like on an extended ride where you’re camping each night. Also, when you need more dexterity and may be mixing colder and warmer days. The Rukka R-Star might be the right mitt for you for that latter reason. It lets you put warmth at the back of your palm by sliding your hand into the glove beneath the insulation layer, which maximizes grip feel. Or, you can slide your hand in over the fleece lining, which would let you have more of the warming layer against the moto’s controls, which would be fine during a longer, but faster highway cruise.

Yes, you still get Gore-Tex, carbon fiber knuckle guards, a palm slider and a visor wiper on the left hand. Also, dig that the gauntlet cut hits the happy medium of guarding against wind climbing your coat sleeve, but it’s not so long that you’ll have bunching at the wrist.

Best Winter Motorcycle Gloves to Use with Heated Grips
Klim
Klim Hardanger HTD Long Gloves
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$280 AT REVZILLA

  • Goat leather palms offer great grip
  • Uses both Gore-Tex and Thinsulate
  • Battery-powered warmth

  • Cuff may not work easily with all jackets

By combining Gore-Tex with Thinsulate, KLIM gives you plenty of passive warmth and wind/waterproofing. Add in three levels of battery-electric-fueled warmth, and you’ll have a reliable all-conditions mitt. Like REV’IT!, Klim incorporates goat leather at the palm to increase grip and inserts a layer of foam under the knuckles, which allows your hand to move more easily beneath the armor.

Klim also designed this glove specifically for riders who already have heated grips, so there’s no insulation inside the palm, which would inhibit the instrument feel. Note the gauntlet style, too; it may or not work with the junction of your winter riding jacket cuff. What you want is no break between glove and coat.

Best Looking Winter Motorcycle Gloves
Merlin
Merlin Minworth Heated Gloves
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$877 AT REVZILLA

  • Look great on and off-the bike
  • Have protective armor without looking like it
  • Full leather construction

  • Have a bulkier palm than some alternatives

Want a glove that looks as good off the bike as on it? We dig the Merlin Minworth for not looking “tech,” while still including four hours of battery-fueled hand warming. Also, even though they just look like “normal” gloves, they get a waterproof membrane inside, for even more tech that doesn’t come with show-and-tell looks. Speaking of which, the knuckles are subtly protected by D30 armor, the digits are touchscreen compatible, and even the palm slider is understated.

Best Affordable Winter Motorcycle Gloves
Dainese
Dainese Scout 2 Gore-Tex Gloves
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$210 AT DAINESE.COM

  • Excellent ergonomics
  • Impressive level of armoring
  • Both Gore-Tex and Primaloft

  • Not heated

Few brands make gloves with as consistent a lever and control feel as Dainese. It helps that they pre-bend the palm and fingers, and even with both Gore-Tex and Primaloft insulation, for warmth and weatherproofing, The Scout 2 was designed to offer the brand’s signature ease of motion. The palm’s goatskin leather and Amica suede increase grip, and then for phone and other operations, Dainese includes touchscreen-compatible fingertips.

Naturally, Dainese incorporates an oversized palm slider into these mitts, and further armors the outside of the pinky finger, since a would-be slide during a crash tends to lead to dragging the outside of your hand during such accidents.

REV'IT!
REV'IT! Liberty H2O Heated Gloves
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$300 AT REVZILLA

  • Goat leather palms for better grip
  • Up to 6.5 hours of battery life
  • Fur layer adds extra warmth against your hands

  • Cuff may not work easily with all jackets

With four heating levels from a battery-powered system, your digits should remain very toasty in these gauntlet-style REV’IT! gloves that also get water/windproofing. We dig that even though they’ll run for up to 6.5 hours on the low setting, too, they also get plenty of insulation as well, with a high loft fur liner and a thick layer of PrimaLoft Gold batting on the backs of your hands.

REV’IT uses goat leather on the palm for more grip and pliability in the cold, includes a palm slider for the heel of your hand, generous knuckle guards, as well as reflective features on the tops of the fingers so drivers will spy you more readily when you’re riding during darker winter days.

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