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LID & LEATHER

First to hit · Gloves

The Best Motorcycle Gloves

Your hands hit the road first, every time. Ranked on protection features and fit, with live prices.

By Stephen V.Updated How we research
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We earn a commission when you buy through our Amazon links, at no extra cost to you. It never affects our rankings, and we say so when the cheaper gear is the better buy. How this works.

In almost every get-off the hands go down first — it's reflex, and you can't train it away. That makes gloves the highest-leverage cheap purchase in motorcycling: good ones cost less than a tank of premium and are the difference between road rash on your palms and none at all. We ranked on the protection features that matter — CE certification, a palm slider, hard knuckle protection and a secure wrist closure — then on fit and weather.

The Alpinestars SP-8 V3 is the all-round pick: a CE-certified leather gauntlet with a hard knuckle and a palm slider at a sane price. The Kemimoto gets you CE-certified leather and knuckle armor for even less. For hot weather the short-cuff Joe Rocket GPX 2.0 keeps the airflow, and for cold and wet the waterproof Alpinestars Tourer W-7 keeps your hands working. If you buy one upgrade this season, make it gloves.

Sizing is where riders go wrong — a loose glove twists on the hand and the armor ends up in the wrong place. Measure your palm and buy for a snug fit with no fingertip gap; our glove-sizing guide walks it through. Then pair them with a proper jacket.

The short answer

Quick picks

#ProductBest forScorePrice
01
Alpinestars SP-8 V3

The sport-glove sweet spot: a CE-certified full-gauntlet leather glove with hard knuckle protection and a palm slider, at a price that undercuts the race gauntlets it borrows from.

Best overall glove
8.6
$124.95Amazon
02
Kemimoto Leather Gloves

A genuinely protective glove at a bargain price: CE-certified leather with hard knuckle armor and touchscreen fingertips, for a fraction of a premium gauntlet.

Best value glove
8.3
$81.69Amazon
03
Joe Rocket GPX 2.0

The short-cuff summer default: supple goatskin, hard knuckle protection and real airflow, at a price low enough to keep a spare pair in the bag.

Best short summer glove
8.2
$39.85Amazon
04
Alpinestars Tourer W-7 V2 Drystar

The cold-and-wet answer: a waterproof, insulated Drystar touring glove with knuckle protection that keeps your hands working when the temperature drops and the road is wet.

Best winter / waterproof
8.5
$129.95Amazon
05
ILM Goatskin Gloves

The cheapest leather glove worth buying: goatskin with knuckle protection and touchscreen fingertips, for the price of a couple of coffees — a good first pair or a spare.

Cheapest we'd recommend
7.7
$42.99Amazon

#ad · Live prices from the Amazon Product API, as of Jul 18, 2026. Where we have no verified live price we show none — we would rather leave a gap than print a number that has rotted.

In detail

The picks, in full

01
Alpinestars Alpinestars SP-8 V3

Best overall glove

Alpinestars SP-8 V3

EN 13594 CEFull gauntletHard knuckleLeather + slider
8.6/10

The sport-glove sweet spot: a CE-certified full-gauntlet leather glove with hard knuckle protection and a palm slider, at a price that undercuts the race gauntlets it borrows from.

Protection
9
Fit/feel
8.4
Weather
7.8
Durability
8.8
Value
8.6

Pros

  • CE-certified with a hard TPU knuckle and a palm-sliding reinforcement
  • Full gauntlet cuff seals over the jacket sleeve
  • Leather main construction with a secure double wrist closure

Cons

  • Gauntlet cuff runs warm in peak summer
  • Firm break-in period

Don't buy this if…

…you want a short, airy summer glove or the lightest touch on the controls.

$124.95View on Amazon

Price as of Jul 18, 2026. Prices change — Amazon's is the one that counts.

#ad · we may earn a commission from this link to Alpinestars SP-8 V3

02
Kemimoto Kemimoto Leather Gloves

Best value glove

Kemimoto Leather Gloves

CE certifiedLeatherHard knuckleTouchscreen
8.3/10

A genuinely protective glove at a bargain price: CE-certified leather with hard knuckle armor and touchscreen fingertips, for a fraction of a premium gauntlet.

Protection
8
Fit/feel
8.4
Weather
7.6
Durability
8
Value
9.2

Pros

  • CE-certified leather glove with hard knuckle protection well under premium prices
  • Touchscreen-friendly fingertips
  • Comfortable, minimal break-in

Cons

  • Shorter cuff than a gauntlet
  • Palm reinforcement is basic vs race gloves

Don't buy this if…

…you want a full race gauntlet or the highest EN 13594 Level 2 rating.

$81.69View on Amazon

$99.9918% off

Price as of Jul 18, 2026. Prices change — Amazon's is the one that counts.

#ad · we may earn a commission from this link to Kemimoto Leather Gloves

03
Joe Rocket Joe Rocket GPX 2.0

Best short summer glove

Joe Rocket GPX 2.0

Goatskin leatherHard knuckleShort cuffVented
8.2/10

The short-cuff summer default: supple goatskin, hard knuckle protection and real airflow, at a price low enough to keep a spare pair in the bag.

Protection
7.6
Fit/feel
8.8
Weather
8
Durability
8
Value
9.2

Pros

  • Supple goatskin gives great bar feel
  • Hard knuckle protection and palm padding
  • Ventilated and cool for hot-weather riding

Cons

  • Short cuff, so no gauntlet coverage over the wrist
  • Less protection than a race glove

Don't buy this if…

…you want maximum wrist coverage or an all-weather gauntlet.

$39.85View on Amazon

Price as of Jul 18, 2026. Prices change — Amazon's is the one that counts.

#ad · we may earn a commission from this link to Joe Rocket GPX 2.0

04
Alpinestars Alpinestars Tourer W-7 V2 Drystar

Best winter / waterproof

Alpinestars Tourer W-7 V2 Drystar

Waterproof DrystarInsulatedKnuckle protectionTouring cut
8.5/10

The cold-and-wet answer: a waterproof, insulated Drystar touring glove with knuckle protection that keeps your hands working when the temperature drops and the road is wet.

Protection
8.2
Fit/feel
8
Weather
9.6
Durability
8.6
Value
8.2

Pros

  • Waterproof, windproof Drystar membrane with insulation
  • Keeps dexterity better than most winter gloves
  • Knuckle protection and a long, sealing cuff

Cons

  • Too warm for summer
  • Bulkier feel than a summer glove

Don't buy this if…

…you only ride in warm, dry weather — this is a cold-and-wet specialist.

$129.95View on Amazon

Price as of Jul 18, 2026. Prices change — Amazon's is the one that counts.

#ad · we may earn a commission from this link to Alpinestars Tourer W-7 V2 Drystar

05
ILM ILM Goatskin Gloves

Cheapest we'd recommend

ILM Goatskin Gloves

Goatskin leatherKnuckle protectionTouchscreenShort cuff
7.7/10

The cheapest leather glove worth buying: goatskin with knuckle protection and touchscreen fingertips, for the price of a couple of coffees — a good first pair or a spare.

Protection
7
Fit/feel
8.2
Weather
7.4
Durability
7.4
Value
9.4

Pros

  • Real goatskin leather at a rock-bottom price
  • Hard knuckle protection and touchscreen fingertips
  • Light and easy to break in

Cons

  • No CE level stated
  • Basic palm protection
  • Short cuff only

Don't buy this if…

…you want a CE-rated, gauntlet-style glove with a palm slider.

$42.99View on Amazon

Price as of Jul 18, 2026. Prices change — Amazon's is the one that counts.

#ad · we may earn a commission from this link to ILM Goatskin Gloves

What actually protects your hands

Four features, in order. A palm slider — a low-friction patch so a sliding hand skates instead of catching and tumbling your wrist. Hard or reinforced knuckle protection. A secure wrist closure, because a glove that can be pulled off in a slide protects nothing. And a real EN 13594 CE rating (Level 1 or 2) that certifies the abrasion and burst resistance. Everything past that — touchscreen fingertips, membranes, gauntlet length — is comfort and weather.

Short cuff or gauntlet?

A gauntlet seals over the jacket sleeve and covers more of the wrist — the safer, warmer choice. A short cuff is cooler and easier to pull on, better for summer and town riding. See our short vs gauntlet comparison to pick.

How we picked

We don't test helmets. Here's what we do instead.

Everyone in this category says they tested twenty helmets. We haven't tested any — and we say so. What we do instead: compile the published DOT, ECE 22.06 and Snell certifications, the manufacturer's fit, weight and shell specs, the CE armor levels, and reputable published reviews, then score each pick against a published rubric. The scores are judgments from documented research — not measurements we took, because we do not run a lab and we are not going to pretend we do. Every certification and spec claim traces to a source we name and link.

Questions

Frequently asked

What is EN 13594 and why does it matter?
EN 13594 is the CE standard for motorcycle gloves. It tests abrasion, tear, cut and seam strength and rates the glove Level 1 or Level 2 (Level 2 is the higher threshold). A glove with a printed EN 13594 level has actually been tested to a motorcycle standard, unlike a fashion or work glove.
Do motorcycle gloves need a palm slider?
It's one of the most valuable features. In a slide, a palm slider lets your hand skate across the road instead of gripping and catching, which is what wrenches and breaks wrists. Race and sport gloves include one; look for it on any glove you'll ride fast in.
How tight should motorcycle gloves be?
Snug, with no loose material and no gap at the fingertips, but not so tight they cut circulation or restrict the throttle. Leather stretches slightly with use, so a firm new fit is right. See how to size gloves.

Keep reading

Related

Receipts

Sources

We do not run a testing lab, and we do not pretend to. Our picks are built from published certifications, manufacturer spec sheets, the standards documents themselves, and reputable published reviews — named and linked above. Where we could not verify something, we say so on the page rather than quietly leaving it out. Read our full method.