When it comes to protecting your paws, along with rider comfort, Racer gloves may be the perfect combo. Adventure motorcyclists have yet to agree on the “best” glove design for our riding styles. Somewhere in all the possibilities there must be a good balance between comfort and protection. A casual survey of what most riders are wearing seems to bias comfort, likely because hand armor is generally uncomfortable and in some cases hinders safe operation of the controls. But that could change with Racer and their claim, “The best fitting gloves motorcycle gloves you’ve tried, or your money back.”

Lee Block, owner of Racer Gloves USA, is a lifelong motorcyclist, ex-racer and avid off-roader, and he focuses on quality riding gloves. He’s also been courting our ADV community. I originally met Lee at the 2013 Long Beach, California IMS show, and again several months later at Racer’s facilities just south of San Francisco. During the visit I learned a little about the company’s background and was outfitted with a couple of very different designs for review purposes, the Mickey and the High Speed. I’ve worn them extensively since.

The Mickeys proved to be fantastic general purpose gloves, especially for summer conditions. A half gauntlet covers the wrist bone and secures the wrist. And the entire glove is built up around where crash abrasion is most likely to occur. Despite all that protection, this is an exceptionally comfortable glove with its attention to fit and feel. I’m constantly switching gloves around and own many sets, but in the case of the Mickeys I used them so often that they completely wore out.

Jumping to extremes, the High Speeds are full-on race gloves—and it’s likely that no one was thinking “adventure motorcycling” when they were designed. But I prefer “more” anyway, and thought they’d make a worthy experiment. So far I’ve put several thousand miles on them, including runs to Baja and Death Valley, and they’ve become my new favorites. The High Speeds’ full gauntlets provide plenty of protection for the fingers, knuckles and palms.

The palms are exceedingly comfortable as they’re made from kangaroo leather as well as a Pittards® leather grip patch. This combo allows for a less fatiguing, natural skin-like feel that’s especially noticeable against the grips and throttle. A racing feature that some riders may appreciate is that the little and the ring fingers are adjoined to prevent “finger roll.” For me the jury is still out on this, but it’s easy enough to cut the strip and fully separate the fingers without damaging the gloves.

Both glove designs come with “palm sliders” (see photos). Few outside the racing world have seen these simple but innovative hand savers, but in the event of a crash that involves sliding many yards down a roadway, the sliders will save your palms from being ground to a pulp.

Another big plus of Racer’s line is finger length and sizing. I’m a long-fingered creature and whereas Racer nails it, for some reason most other makers favor shorter pinkies. Without exception both of these Racer hand-armored models have been the best fitting and most comfortable gloves I’ve ever used MSRP: Mickey $115.99 | High Speed $279.99 RacerGlovesUSA.com