But They’re Still Perfectly Good . . .
Not bad if this is all that’s wrong with 35-year-old gloves.
I’ve only ever owned three motorcycles and I still have and ride all three of them. I approach my riding gear in a similar fashion, although sometimes that stuff really does just wear out.
Case in point: my very first motorcycle gloves, which to this day are my first choice to wear in warm weather. I’ve had them for more than 35 years. That’s them in the photo above.
Dang, they’re starting to wear out. I guess maybe if I had oiled them occasionally or done something else to take care of them they might have held up better. For sure they would look better. But you know what? They still work great. But it does look like that gauntlet on the right-hand glove will eventually just rip off. That hole is a lot bigger today than it was two months ago.
I’ve always thought that motorcycle gloves should have gauntlets, that is, those spreading funnel-like attachments to the main glove that allow your jacket sleeve to go inside and keep the wind and bugs from going up your sleeve. I have acquired gloves along the way that don’t have gauntlets but I seldom wear them.
Among these are a pair of fingerless gloves that I bought just in the last year or two. I had only worn them once or twice but I took them along on this year’s OFMC ride, and that led me to what should have been an obvious realization.
Near the end of the trip we were in Utah and stopped in Green River for gas and lunch. We gassed up and figured to go in the restaurant right there but it was crowded and we didn’t want to wait that long. So we decided to ride a little further into town and find another place. Because we were going such a short distance I didn’t bother putting my gloves back on.
Important to realize here is that much of this trip was through brutally hot weather. I was wearing a mesh jacket but it was still hot and didn’t really seem to afford as much circulation as I would have liked. Well, we cruised a half a mile or so into town and I was amazed to realize how much cooler I felt. Duh! The gauntlets on my gloves were preventing cooling air from going up my sleeves and through my jacket. I wore the fingerless gloves the rest of the trip.
Meanwhile, my summer gloves, as I call them, will continue to be my main gloves but I can see–as can you–that their days are numbered. I think I got my money’s worth.
Biker Quote for Today
100 reasons not to date a biker: 44. Half gloves.
Tags: motorcycle gloves
