The best heated motorcycle gloves

We should know by now that layering-up is the best way to keep warm when the temperature starts to drop. However, while keeping the heat in is essential, sometimes we need to actually add heat via something like a pair of heated motorcycle gloves to make sure that we stay warm and don’t begin to feel the effects of cold; a loss of concentration, followed by feeling and a decrease in safety.

One of the first areas that can start to feel cold are the hands. Many riders swear by heated grips and indeed, these will help you to keep using thinner gloves for improved feel and comfort when things start to get chilly.

However, unless you have handguards to protect your hands from the windblast, the wind-chill can drastically reduce the effective temperature at your fingertips. And in this case, you start to get cold very quickly and heated grips will do nothing to help you.

I know this from previous experience. Every winter, I find myself gravitating to a pair of heated gloves, for the simple reason that my palms tend not to get cold as they are against the grips (heated or not) but my fingertips and the back of my hand do – where the wind gets them. And a pair of heated gloves is the answer.

The best heated motorcycle gloves

Other heated gloves recommended by MCN

They are thin enough to prevent excessive interference with the bike yet powerful enough to offer useful heating. They are supplied with a Y-lead that runs up the back of your jacket and down each arm to connect to the bike’s battery or an optional battery pack.

Pros:

• Give warmth to existing gloves
• Thin so fit under existing gloves
• Powered by bike or battery pack

Cons:

• Some may not like the feel of two pairs of gloves

They are controlled by the Clim8 app which connects to them via Bluetooth and manages the heating based on your own personal temperature, so once paired and calibrated, you don’t have to do anything. They come with batteries but there is also an optional hard-wire kit.

Pros:

• Automatic, thermostatic heating control
• Supple and comfortable
• Short design might suit some riders

Cons:

• Narrow cuffs won’t go over jacket cuffs

They also feature hard-knuckle armour and a hard, TPU slider on the palm as well as padding over the scaphoid and on the fingers. They are supplied with a hard-wire harness to connect directly to the bike’s battery and there are several sizes of batteries available as optional extras, though they are expensive.

Pros:

• Long cuffs to go over jacket
• Hard knuckle and slider protection
• Hipora waterproof and breathable membrane

Cons:

• Batteries an expensive option

They also feature D3O knuckle armour and padding over the scaphoid and the heating elements have three power levels, activated by a button on each glove. Power comes from two batteries supplied with the gloves.

Pros:

• Retro styling
• Hipora membrane
• Thinsulate insulation

Cons:

• Short cuff may not keep all weather out

The inner and outer layers are joined using heat-activated tape to prevent movement and Thinsulate insulation helps to keep the heat in. They use soft armour over the knuckles for protection and comfort and there is a hard TPU palm slider. They come with a ‘Y’ lead for connection to either a hard-wiring harness or a battery pack, though neither is supplied.

Pros:

• Short design less cumbersome than others
• Waterproof and breathable
• Integrated construction to prevent layer movement

Cons:

• No power options included

What to look for in motorcycle heated gloves

One of the key decisions to make when selecting a pair of heated gloves is fundamentally how long you will spend riding in them. If you are likely to use them for an hour or two a day, then battery power is likely to be plenty for you, even on high heat settings. Most gloves should last a couple of hours on high and a handful of hours on lower settings.

However, if you plan to ride all day – you use your bike for work, you’re a blood biker or enjoy big-mile winter tours - then you might want to consider hard-wiring the gloves to the bike’s battery.

This may make it a bit more of a faff when you mount or dismount to connect cables emerging from your jacket cuffs and plugging your jacket into the bike but you will be able to run the gloves on whatever heat setting you want for as long as you want and never run out of power.

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