When you climb onto an adventure bike, your hands are your primary interface with the machine. They modulate the clutch on technical ascents, feel the front tire traction through brake levers, and absorb endless vibration over corrugated gravel. Yet, in hot weather or on low-speed trails, it is tempting to strip off riding gloves for better airflow or tactile comfort. Doing so compromises both safety and control in ways that can instantly end a trip.

Abrasion and Impact Protection

The most immediate argument for gloves is protection during an unexpected dismount. Human instinct is hardwired to extend hands first to break a fall. On asphalt, skin meets road at highway speeds; without heavy-duty abrasion protection, severe friction burns and deep lacerations occur in fractions of a second. Off-road, falling onto jagged rocks, coarse sand, or hardpack clay can crush delicate metacarpal bones and tear tissue. Adventure-specific gloves incorporate molded knuckle guards, palm sliders, and abrasion-resistant materials like goatskin or Kevlar to absorb kinetic impact and sliding forces.

Environmental Shielding and Fatigue Reduction

Beyond crash protection, gloves act as a vital barrier against environmental wear and tear. Long days on dual-sport routes expose your hands to constant elements:

• Debris & Vegetation: Roost kicked up by bikes ahead, flying gravel, and overgrown trail branches hit exposed knuckles like small projectiles.

• Weather Extremes: Cold winds numb fingers and slow reflex reaction times, while intense sun exposure leads to severe sunburns across the back of the hand.

• Vibration & Blisters: Sustained engine feedback and rigid handlebar grips cause severe palm fatigue and painful friction blisters over multi-day journeys.

Properly padded gloves isolate your nerves from high-frequency handlebar buzz, preserving grip strength and hand endurance.

Control and Tactile Precision

Sweaty or rain-soaked palms slip easily on rubber grips and metal levers, making fine throttle modulation and precise clutch control difficult in critical off-road sections. Modern motorcycle gloves feature textured palm overlays and silicone print patterns on control fingers, ensuring consistent grip regardless of mud, moisture, or sweat.

Ultimately, your hands contain dozens of small bones, tendons, and nerve pathways that require months of complex rehabilitation if damaged. Investing in quality adventure gloves ensures that your primary interface with your motorcycle stays protected, comfortable, and responsive through every mile of terrain.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Do Not Ride Without Gloves

Touratech and our partners are the best ADV Glove options. Click here to find yours.

Do you ride on different tires depending on the season?

Kimmo Lasilla (VP of Sales): I recommend less aggressive, road-type tires if you commute/ride a lot of pavement in winter/rain. Offroad tires do not grip as well on wet pavement; but it depends of course what terrain one rides a lot. Check air pressure frequently.

Eric Archambault (Showroom Manager): I don’t change my tires for the wet season. That said during the wet season I end up doing less off-road adventure riding and more road riding. This is mostly due to the good riding in the PNW mountains being covered with snow when Seattle is in the gray months. I do tend to swap the DOT knobbies for sport touring tires based on the type riding I’m doing during the wet seasion.

Matt Willson (Product Manager): Since it rains so much in Seattle I make sure to always run tires that are good in wet conditions no matter the season.  My go-to for the past few years has been the Continental TKC70.

Iain Glynn (Riding Director): I try to avoid running knobby tires on the pavement in the rain. They aren’t bad on dry pavement but they usually SUCK when it’s wet.

Morgan Goldbloom (Customer Service): No. I make sure that any tire I mount on my bike is capable of handling wet riding conditions. This means spending more money on softer, stickier rubber, and replacing the tires early and often.

Andrew Sadler (Warehouse Supervisor): No.

Conor Davis (Customer Service): Nope, knobbies year round.

What gear do you wear when you ride in the rain? (Boots, gloves, pants, jacket etc…)

Andrew:  Klim Adventure rally jacket, and pants, or Klim Torrent over-pants, Klim adventure gloves (short), Touratech Aventuro Helmet (with pinlock visor), Sidi Discovery Rain boots, various brands of neck warmer.

Conor: Klim Carlsbad Jacket, Badlands Pants, SIDI Adventure 2 Boots, and some rain gloves.

Eric: I have an old first generation Klim Badlands Pro suit, Sidi Discovery Rain boots, Held Steve gloves, Pinlock insert in an Arai XD4.

Matt: KLIM Carlsbad Jacket and Pants, KLIM Adventure GTX Gloves, Sidi Adventure Goretex 2 boots, and a Pinlock visor insert in my helmet. Everything Goretex.  I’m always dry with this setup.

Iain: Can’t beat a KLIM Goretex suit. The fewer vents it has the better (less places to leak). Sidi boots and comfy gloves.

Morgan: My typical rainy Seattle commute setup was Klim Traverse Jacket and Pants, Sidi Discovery Boots, and Dainese Gloves.

What are your personal “Do’s and Don’t’s” when you ride in the rain?

Andrew:   

Do – Give yourself more time to get to your destination, ride slower, avoid standing water (some potholes are deeper than you might expect) and remember that visibility is limited by rain..

Don’t – Ride at night if possible.  Skimp on good rain gear.

Conor:

Do – Give myself at least twice the following distance. You simply can’t stop as fast in low traction environments.

Don’t – Make sudden movements, being in a low traction environment I like to pretend I’m basically on ice. It is very easy to reach the limit of traction if you approach it slowly.

Kimmo: Avoid getting wet/cold, because riding in the rain needs all your concentration! Have good waterproof gear.

Eric: Enjoy the suck, don’t crash.

Matt: I always increase my following distance in traffic and just ride a little slower than I usually would.  Don’t forget that the stopping distance for you and all the cars around you is greatly decreased when the road is wet.  Take your time and don’t be in a rush.

Iain: Increase following distance and really watch out behind me. Especially in the first rain of the season the road get slick and nobody can stop as quickly as they think.

Morgan: Don’t rely on your bike’s fancy electronic rider aids. They can’t save you from poor decisions. Whenever possible, don’t ride on manhole covers, painted lines, BBQ sauce, or anything else that isn’t clean wet pavement.  Don’t panic and stab at your rear brake. That’s amateur move and a great way to “Lay ‘er down,” especially in the rain.

How do you prep your bike/s for fall weather?

Andrew: Keep your chain clean and lubed. Clean off headlight regularly.

Conor: It’s an ADV bike, it’s born ready.

Kimmo: Best for any motor is to keep running it often!  If you don’t ride much in winter, do basic cleaning & service, put fuel treatment in fresh gas, and put bike on battery tender but run/ride it as often as you can.

Eric: I don’t do anything special, just stay up to date on regular maintenance.

Matt: Nothing special.  Just make sure my maintenance is up to date and my tires aren’t dried out or worn too much.  If I’m not going to ride too often, I’ll put the battery on a tender once in a while.

Iain: Tire change as referenced earlier, install handlebar muffs (the best thing ever).

Morgan: If you’re riding through the winter, just maintain your bike the way you always should. Keep an eye on the brake pads, tire pressure, tread wear, chain tension, etc. If you’re putting your bike away for the winter, just roll it into a dark corner of your garage and forget about it. It’ll probably start in a few months… probably.

What’s the craziest thing that every happened to you riding in the rain? 

Andrew: Riding on the Oregon coast at night in the rain and fog being blinded by oncoming traffic.  With one or two cars passing toward me I would not be able to see for 5 to 10 seconds, but could generally pick out the turns in the road. When 3 or more cars coming toward me there were times when I would have to slow down to under 20 mph just so I could find the corner or curve in the road before I was already through it. Even though I was less than an hour away from my destination I ended up pulling over for the night.

Conor: Nothing really. I give myself plenty of room and time to react to bad drivers. I may or may not try to slip the rear out all the time.

Kimmo: Got so cold in upper body that almost ran off the road when I hit the twisties!  Had to pull over and warm my arms.

Eric: The rain changed to snow!

Matt: Didn’t see the deep standing waters in the truck ruts on I-5 and hydroplaned on the freeway at 70mph, surrounded by cars. Luckily nothing bad happened, but it was not a good feeling.

Iain: Nothing crazy, just fun interactions with other riders when hiding under an overpass or awning somewhere. I love riding through puddles too so flash flooded streets are a hoot.

Morgan: The rain I was riding in turned to snow, about an hour away from home. Riding in the snow isn’t advised.

Do you have a good pro-tip?

Andrew: Heated grips (and for full deluxe mode get a set of muffs to go with your heated grips and you and you can ride with summer gloves all year)

Conor: When in poor conditions your motorcycle simply can’t react as fast as it can on a warm sunny day and therefore you have to give yourself that extra space incase you need to emergency stop or swerve.

Kimmo: Motorcycling needs 100% of your attention at all times, which is I find part of the fun!  But in rain/spray cars often can’t see you. The game is to keep thinking of potentially dangerous traffic/road situations and to avoid them as much as possible or be ready. KEEP YOUR HEAD TURNING WHEN CHANGING LANES & IN INTERSECTIONS! I often yell the command “Headcheck!” when I ride bicycles in the neighborhood with my kids.

Eric: Manhole cover and painted lines will be slippery, it is best to avoid them.

Matt: Watch out for cross walks or other painted surfaces that can be slick when you’re making a turn at an intersection.

Iain: Handlebar muffs are way more effective than heated grips and allow you to run with your favorite gloves regardless of rain or cold. They make you look like a dork but they are AWESOME. When combined with heated grips you can have all day comfort with thin MX gloves in cold and/or wet conditions.

Morgan: Never stop or put your boot down in the middle of a lane. That’s where oil and BBQ sauce lurk.

Proper Fit – It’s More Than Just Comfort

We’ve met hundreds of riders who’ve purchased the highest rated, most expensive pieces of gear on the market, only for it to be fitting too snug or loose on their body. News flash: regardless of its safety features, a poor fit won’t protect you.

Let’s start with the helmet—unarguably the most important piece of motorcycle safety equipment.

Picking out a new helmet is no task that should be taken lightheartedly. First, measure your head around the crown and compare it to the manufacturer’s sizing chart to begin your search. Next, try on the helmet. It should fit snug around the baseball cap area of your head while compressing your cheeks. At this point, it shouldn’t slide when pushed up or down, but instead it should move your whole head. On the contrary, it should not be tight enough to cause pain.

A same snug, yet comfortable fit should be accepted with jackets, pants, and gloves. A loose fit may prove more comfortable for leisurely riding, but in a crash can cause a serious issue. Should you fall down, the protective armor has potential to move and not absorb the impact in the intended area. And it doesn’t help with road rash either.

Layers, Layers, Layers!

 OK, so you’ve planned a multi-day ride that is set to take you through multiple climates, but are only able to pack one set of gear. This could get tricky. Freezing maybe. Hot perhaps.

The trick here is to layer beneath your riding jacket and pants with thin and easily removable garments, such as the Touratech Primero series of base layers. If your morning ride begins brisk then grows warmer, pull over and remove a layer or two until you’re back to a comfortable temperature. Riding into a chilly night? Throw on another layer. Simple stuff, and easy to pack into a tank bag.

Think of the best layers as thermals or lightweight compression gear that can help dissipate heat. Know the weather forecast of your ride and plan accordingly.

Clean Visors are a Must

There’s nothing worse than a large bug splattered across your helmet’s visor. It’s annoying, dangerous, and makes you look like an amateur in photos.

Do yourself a favor and spend a minute roadside cleaning your visor. The best method? A soft microfiber towel and bottle of visor cleaner will do the trick.

First, pick off any larger bugs by scraping lighty with your finger nails Cover the visor in the cleaning solution, letting it soak for a few moments before wiping it off with the microfiber towel. Plus, most visor cleaners come with an anti-fog or rain-repellent agent that will make your ride into harsh weather that much more comfortable.

We also know riders that simply spit on their visors and then use a microfiber.

Deep Clean Your Gear Before Storage

If you’re preparing for winter storage or a long hiatus from riding, it’s going to require more than just a quick water rinse to ensure your gear remains fresh while it takes a break from the trail.

A long hiatus gives the gear and its inner linings the opportunity to absorb the salt and oils from your body that are produced while riding. If you skimp on cleaning before storage, there’s a good chance that it will come out smelling of some funky odor and possible deterioration to the inner liners.

Before packing up for the season, spend a few hours deep cleaning your riding gear. Remove the liners and wash them with mild detergents and let them air dry completely. If you’re hardcore about logging your miles, this cleaning should happen routinely, but at a minimum we recommend at least once a year.

Latex Rubber Gloves are Finger Savers

 Have you ever ridden in such cold weather that you completely lose the feel in your fingers, and the only way to warm them up is resting them against the exhaust pipe? It’s downright miserable.

Here’s an easy trick to help save your fingers the ache in extremely cold riding situations. Before putting on your gloves for a cold weather ride, throw on a set of latex rubber gloves. These will help protect your fingers against the wind chill and add insulation within your glove to add warmth. If your hands start sweating, pull over and take them off at the next fuel stop – just make sure to dry your hands if sweating. Again, this is a cheap trick for the extreme cold.

While these gloves are amazing, no product is ever totally perfect. The Sharktec material did make my palms feel a little clammy in the hot weather and I was unable to reliably operate the touch screen of my electronic devices with the gloves on. This glove is a bit too bulky for off-road specific use but it is not waterproof for pure winter riding.

Welcome to the future of Adventure Motorcycle gloves!

The Touratech Guardo Adventure Glove is an extremely durable glove that re-writes the rules of what a motorcycle glove should be.

Featuring a 3D Palm designed utilizing Sharktec Nanotechnology, this riding glove is heat, oil, water and cut resistant. The pyramid design on the fingers and the volcano patterns on gripping area mute vibrations and give you optimum grip under virtually any conditions.

If the knights of the round table could have replaced their chainmail with these light weight, hi-tech materials the would have!

These gloves are touch-screen friendly, flexible, very tough and super comfortable with a goatskin shell.They also provide the rider with maximum knuckle protection.

If you’re an adventure rider, the Guardo Adventure is the only glove you should ride with.

Touratech-USA

The Guardo Enduro Gloves from Touratech prove that a warm weather riding glove doesn’t have to be thin and flimsy, as it achieves the ultimate in durability, protection, and comfort in a light and vented design.

Called the ‘Enduro’ not just because of its enduro racing pedigree, the Guardo Enduro motorcycle glove from Touratech was also built to endure any length of adventure.  With its kangaroo leather palm and Superfabric® heel, the Guardo Enduro is an extremely durable and long lasting summer weight glove.

Combining plenty of venting, flexibility and smart protection, this glove will keep you comfortable and safe as the miles stack up and the trail gets tough.

TOURATECH STORE

Touratech introduces our first glove and it’s a good one! Utilizing research from DAKAR and many other off-road challenges we’ve developed the Guardo Desert Glove.

It combines all of the best material technologies into one lightweight, airy, summer adventure glove.  Perfect for warm weather riding on and off road, the Guardo Desert features a tough leather palm with high impact padding and abrasion resistant super fabric zones, while the top of the glove is constructed from lightweight textile for maximum airflow.  The reinforced knuckles give your hands the best protection, while intelligent flexible design keeps the glove comfortable and non-bulky.

These gloves rock!