Protect those hands!

I've been wanting the Yamaha licensed Joe Rocket Air Force gloves for awhile. Ever since seeing that nasty pic from a fellow forum member of his damaged hands, I wanted these gloves more than ever. At $65, it was super pricey. Once Denniskirk.com sliced the price to $36 shipped w/no tax, I couldn't resist.

These aren't winter gloves apparently. I'm not sure what that means relative to the weather here. Are they better than the ones I have in terms of warmth? The knuckle guard doubles as a vent for hot days, so maybe these gloves might actually be cooler. I'm a bit concerned b/c my hands have been freezing on rides home after sundown.

I bought a size larger b/c:

1. They didn't have a Medium in blue in stock. These are discontinued so there aren't any new ones coming.

2. A couple reviews on the gloves said that they're one size smaller than norm.


I slipped these things on and was pleasantly surprised. Fitting my hand it was pretty tight even though this thing is a size Large. I understand why people saw them as too tight. However, it's fine once the hand is in. When pushed, my fingers reach the end but there seems to be slack when my hand is in the relaxed position. I've heard though that motorcycle gloves should have some slack in the fingers so that there's space when the hand is curved around the handlebars.

The padding on these gloves is better. Slightly thicker and looks like there's more padding in particular parts of the palm than the gloves I've been using. It might be negligible during a slide though. I hope I'm wrong and these things are more durable than they look.

REVIEW:
If you're looking to keep your hands warm, these gloves won't do it. The venting works great! But that also means cold air flows through the glove when the weather gets nippy. The aesthetics will be subjective, but I personally really like the look of it - mostly black with blue accents and the bold knuckle guard keeps it aggressive. Until Joe Rocket puts more heavy duty padding in the palm though and enables the venting to be opened and closed, they won't be worth the retail price of $60. Luckily I didn't get it for that.