Gloves gloves gloves

The Moose · **Joined:** Sun Aug 04, 2013 12:29 pm **Posts:** 55

ANDY.T wrote:

I can only speak from experience of both road and trail riding in all weathers..

It's not actually a simple question to ask...

You might be asking the wrong question..

I would put it this way...

" what is the best way to keep full control of my bike when riding on loose surfaces at low speeds while protecting my hands from trail abuse and the possibility of road rash while at the same time keeping my hands comfortable in all weathers?"

I've tried everything from winter gloves to handlebar mitts...

Winter gloves tend to be thick and not always waterproof or even warm...they reduce the feel and lead to poor throttle and clutch control at low speeds on difficult ground..
They are also difficult to get a tight hang on for dear life grip on the bars...

Bar mitts are great on a road bike but on that occasion where you need to take your hand off the bar grip to adjust your goggles , wipe your visor etc and need to quickly take control again they are cumbersome when on difficult loose ground..
Also if you drop your bike in water they take ages to dry out...

So personally I want my hands to stay warm and dry, be protected from brambles, afford protection if I do fall off at speed and yet give me a good grip on the bars, have good feel for tricky manoeuvring and seal to my jacket to keep draughts out...

I also got tired of catching bramble thorns on my knuckles when pushing through overgrown lanes that are the legacy of the NECR Act...

I now also use a touch screen satnav running os mapping and taking a glove off and putting back on for each screen adjustment is a pain...

My best and so far extremely effective, comfortable and long lasting combo is a good pair of quality enduro gloves with carbon fibre knuckle mouldings and shade leather palms...
TOGETHER WITH
A £5 set of handlebar grip warmers with a hot and warm duel switch... They took 20 mins to fit and work very very well..

I now have full control of the bike while keeping my hands warm and dry..they even dry out gloves while you are riding and make long road sections in frosty weather comfortable again..

So my advice, worth while or not, it to find a really good pair of Enduro gloves with reinforced knuckles and quality palms and fit a pair of bar warmers...you simply won't look back.. I fitted a second pair to my 250 2t...

They feed off standard wiring to the head lamp and back to earth.. The foil backed heat pads simply fit under the bar grips and the switch goes on the side of the headlamp plastic...job done...

This is the basic kit type...get one with three settings, warm-off-hot ..under £5... Mine has lasted three years now...basically the same as the £50 versions...

These are the gloves...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Knuckle-Prote ... 2a40efed2a

At £10 they are a real bargain....

I cut a slot under the right index finger 1st knuckle so I can slip my finger out to use the touch screen on the sat nav... They go in the washing machine about once a week..still good as new...

Thank you for your very useful post. I ordered a pair of those you've recommended. I also got some Spada Blizzards.

Let's see what happens!

ANDY.T · **Posted:** Wed Oct 29, 2014 11:59 pm

Tip...when fitting the grip warmers you will need to take the old ones off..

They are usually stuck on or just wired on...there are channels in most grips grip pattern for the lock wire..

Either way the easy way to remove the old grips I found was to pull enough away from the bar to get the end of a blow off nozzle of an air house in and the air pressure blows the grips out freeing them from the end of the bars/throttle twist grip body...

When re fitting I found the plastic of the throttle twist grip was good enough insulation to make it warmer than the other grip that sits on the metal handle bar...

On the metal bar side that's where I used the heat shrink... I didn't bother heat shrinking the heat pad to the bar..just fed the grip over it using the air gun to expand the grip again...

I did tape down the electrical wires though for fitting so they didn't move from the ideal wire run position...

The throttle wires needed placing to allow for twisting the throttle..

If your kit comes with the white block rheostat/rectifier thing..I stuck mine with clear bathroom silicon sealant to the inner face of the headlamp unit plastic...and drilled a hole for the switch in the side of the headlamp unit.

Then cut the wires from the grip to a suitable length and re joined with twin wire plug and socket breaks so I can take the headlamp plastic/ handle bars off if needed.. (Parts from Maplin battery pack connectors JG04E )...located again in the headlamp plastic... They cost more than the heated grip unit :roll:

but I had a few left over from my hard wired battery charger socket I fitted under the seat...

other wires I used simple spade connectors to the yellow headlamp feed and the earth went to the bolt on my headstock where my "KTM Ecu" is fitted...

The silicone sealant has worked well..been on for three years now..holding fast..I also sealed in the rear of the "hot-off-warm" switch...

Oh I stuck the switch on the left of the headlamp plastic so I could still hold the throttle when I use the switch with the other(left) hand...

It's well worth sitting on the bike to work out where you want it fitted...

Use the headlamp switch feed if poss so you don't accidentally leave the heater on and drain the battery when the bikes not running...

The whole system is water proof..ish.. The bikes been in deep water, out in the rain and snow..no issues..

The Moose · **Joined:** Sun Aug 04, 2013 12:29 pm **Posts:** 55

Thanks for all of that. Will look into it. I love my heated grips on my GSA

Now to find the kit...

davidscott · **Posted:** Thu Oct 30, 2014 9:56 am

The connector that came with my kit was one of those clip over ones and it didn't make a proper connection so i ended up wiring it back to the battery with an in-line fuse as well.

If you are going to wire from the headlight (which is the best way), I would recommend a proper connector set up.

davidscott · **Posted:** Wed Nov 05, 2014 9:05 am

My fetish gloves have arrived and are essentially heavy duty rubber gloves with a grippy palm so this weekends forecast rain will test them out.

Joel · **Joined:** Sun Nov 11, 2012 7:31 pm **Posts:** 3512

I ordered a pair of the shite £10 armoured gloves off eBay... At the suggestion in this thread.... Absolute shite... The armour sticks into the back of your fingers... Ah well !... Onwards.... Have just bought a pair of Glacier Gloves Perfect curve off evilbay... Totally waterproof things that window cleaners apparently use... Will post a report on them... But it's looking like KTM Hydrateq are the answer... A mate swears by them....ps, does anyone want to buy a BIG bag of gloves..?.. Worn once...

craig orange · **Posted:** Sat Nov 08, 2014 2:14 pm

Northern Ireland gloves from army surplus store. No armour but they stay dry, keep you warm and don't wear through as you slide a looooong way down the Tarmac road. How do I know ? ...........

GT-0161 · **Joined:** Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:57 pm **Posts:** 2812

Its funny this forum. Amazing how many people get involved talking about gloves/boots/clothing.
But don't seem arsed about all the necessary stuff like signing objections etc

Xt660x 04

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