7 Reasons Why Motorcycle Gloves Are Necessary (Wear Them!)

Wearing motorcycle gloves, while a routine for some bike riders, is an annoying thing to do for others.

The safety and protection attributes that a pair of gloves provide has always been a point of contention. But, one cannot deny the pros that a pair of gloves provide to the riders while going for a long drive in their motorcycles.

Are motorcycle gloves necessary while riding? If you are going for a long ride on your motorcycle, it is definitely advised to use gloves. For shorter rides, gloves are still important but they are not convenient. The rider can choose to skip wearing them if the ride is very short and on a less crowded path.

We are aware that many people suggest wearing gloves every time for your every ride.

The advice has its merit. However, from a convenience point of view, it is difficult to follow this protocol every time, especially if you are going for a very short ride on a less crowded road.

Now, without a doubt, wearing motorcycle gloves while riding has its advantages. They provide safety, comfort, style and all the other reasons which we will discuss in this post.

So, here are the 7 reasons why wearing motorcycle gloves are advantageous for you.

I know, I know, the No. 1 reason for wearing gloves is safety. But, as much as I want to mention it first, I use gloves primarily because it prevents callus formation.

Sure, gloves bring in the safety aspect. That’s a good bonus to have. But, for me personally, I wear gloves because they prevent the formation of calluses on my hands and fingers. Specially my palms.

When you go for a long ride on your motorcycle, gripping the handlebar without gloves for such a long time, will impact your palms through callus formation.

Not every rider out there has it of course. But, depending on the skin sensitivity, the degree of impact varies.

If you have calluses problem like me, you would really appreciate using gloves while riding a motorcycle.

So, do not overthink, just buy a pair of motorcycle gloves to wear for your next bike ride.

Harsh weather conditions have amplifying effects when you are riding your motorcycle at a speed.

Take wind, for example, if you are just walking you might feel a pleasant wind. But the same wind will feel severe and piercing when you are driving the motorcycle.

The moving speed amplifies the effect of wind on the rider. The same effect is applicable to other weather conditions like cold, rain, dust, debris etc.

Helpful read: Riding tips for cold weather

In order to protect yourselves from these harsh weather conditions, you need to be suitably covered with various safety gears. While most riders cover their bodies and wear helmets, it is usual for them to neglect any covering for hands.

And that is where gloves fit into the picture.

Motorcycle gloves covers your hands and protects from these unpleasant weather conditions, be it the wind, sun, cold or rain.

When going for long rides, the rider will be gripping the handlebar for an extended period of time.

As the time elapses, the hands will start feeling numb and fatigue creeps into your body.

The major reason for such fatigue and numbness is the vibrations coming from the motorcycle. The source of these vibrations can be engine, roads, wheels, and even loosened components in the bike.

For a short ride, you won’t feel the effects that much because the duration of riding is small. However, when you are driving for a long time, the effect adds up resulting in hand numbness and fatigue.

To reduce the effect of the vibrations which is causing fatigue, the motorcycle rider should wear gloves. Especially those hard-knuckled ones.

The leather and fabric will decrease the impact of vibrations from reaching the hands.

So, to avoid numbness in your hands or from fatigue while going for a long ride, it is better for the rider to wear the motorcycle gloves.

Okay, we are finally discussing the safety aspect of motorcycle gloves.

There are some back and forth arguments when it comes to the safety and protection advantages of motorcycle gloves.

The argument against the safety provided by gloves is that – it is ineffective.

If you fall from motorcycle, it’s the helmet and other safety gears that comes to your risqué and saves you from danger. Not the gloves though. Gloves just don’t do enough. Their maximum protection offering is preventing road rash on our hands.

While the argument might have some merits, I disagree. Gloves help in providing safety to your hands.

First, no safety protection is small enough. As long as the safety instrument provides some form of protection to your body parts, it is an important instrument to have.

And wearing gloves will protect your hands. Doesn’t matter how small portion of a body part it covers, it still protects that portion.

Look at it this way, are you better off with gloves or without gloves in a crash or a fall? With gloves, right? Then, how can we dismiss the importance of gloves arguing it just covers your hands? Our hands are vital for too many day-to-day works. And gloves provide protection for that part of our body.

Second, road rash is not something to be dismissed.

A severe road rash can result in our skin peeling to the extent that bones are visible. If the injury has taken off several layers of skin, one might require a skin grafting surgery to heal correctly.

Even a mild road rash on hands can cause severe pain lasting for a week. And you could have avoided this irritation completely just by wearing a pair of gloves.

So, next time someone argues about the effectiveness of motorcycle gloves on their protection, ignore them and continue using your gloves for your bike rides everywhere.

Another advantage of wearing gloves while riding a motorcycle is the better grip that gloves provide.

This especially true for those riders who have sweaty palms.

While I am not too sweaty, many of my biker friends complain too much about this sweat issue. And the solution to address this issue for them has always been – Gloves, of course.

Now, if you sweat too much and get annoyed while riding due to your palms always getting muddy or the sweat dust accumulating, buy some good quality pair of gloves.

Don’t cheap out here. A quality pair will go a long way in alleviating your irritation about sweat accumulation.

And, if you are not much of a sweaty person like me, you will still appreciate the grip that gloves provide to you. Gripping the handlebar for a long period of time is a task.

You need to have a good grip for all the time you are reading. That’s where a good pair of gloves can improve your experience here. Buy a good pair and you will easily notice the improvement in your grip while riding your motorcycle.

This is a culmination of all the above mentioned points. When you don’t have to worry about calluses on your hands, don’t have to look out for the weather conditions, not worry about the vibrations, hand numbing, or even the sweat – that’s when you start enjoying the joys of motorcycle riding more and more.

Its always these small things that add up to make an experience more enjoyable. And motorcycle gloves give you exactly that. It provides the comfort that a rider going for a long ride deserves.

Needless to say, when the gloves add up to provide an increased comfort level to the rider, the money on the gloves are well spent.

Increasing comfort levels up a rider’s association of a motorcycle ride in a much more positive light.

Motorcycle gloves are a style statement. Period.

The utilities of wearing motorcycle gloves have been discussed in the earlier points. Now it’s time to discuss its charming aspects.

First, what do you imagine when someone says motorcycle rider?

Does he/she have a cool bike? Has a stunning helmet? Wears a rugged jacket and safety gear? And what about gloves?

Hope all the answers are yes to these questions.

The gloves add a fashion statement to a motorcycle rider. If you are planning for a country ride, alone or with your buddies, have a stylish pair of gloves that complements your rider look.

Conclusion

As to the bottom line, are motorcycle gloves necessary, I would definitely say gloves are necessary for a motorcycle rider.

Gloves bring in safety to your hands from harsh weather conditions, prevents calluses on palms, provides better grip on handlebar, increases comfort and lastly, looks cool on the rider’s hands.

And I see no reason why you shouldn’t wear gloves in your next bike trip.