Insulated motorcycle gloves are great for those who don’t want the winter cold to come between them and riding. Heated grips are even better. But sometimes, pairing the two can render one of them useless. A combination of thickly insulated gloves might render heated motorcycle grips useless as the heating won’t be able to penetrate through the glove’s insulation. Let’s take a look at some options for insulated gloves that are great for heated grips.

Gloves for heated grips

Insulated gloves do a great job of keeping the cold out and the heat in. Sometimes, they do a little too good keeping the cold and heat out, even the heat from your heated grips. A good pair of cold weather gloves for heated grips must have protection, thick insulation on top of the hand, and thin or sometimes no insulation on the palm.

Scorpion Tempest Gloves

The Scorpion Tempest Gloves (Amazon) are a great pair of cold weather gloves for riders that utilize heated grips on their motorcycles. The Scorpion Tempest gloves don’t have any insulation on the palm, which is going to allow all the heat to transmit to your hands very well.

Construction

With the palm, you’re getting a full goatskin construction which would give you excellent tactile feedback on your controls. The gloves are lined with a Hypora waterproof membrane liner to make sure your hands stay dry. The back of the gloves is done in stretch textile which will add comfort and flexibility. The Tempest’s gauntlet cuffs have a dual closure design for a good fit.

Armor

For armoring, the Scorpion Tempest gloves come with a plastic hard knuckle, foam sections on the fingers, and reinforced outseam along the pinky for added crash protection. The palms are full goatskin, giving you great feedback on your controls as well as a little longevity compared to cow leather.

Insulation

The Tempest gloves come with 100g of Thinsulate for insulation, all on the back of the hand, of course. This may not sound like a lot of insulation but remember that instead of stretching that 100g of insulation around the glove, it only insulates the back of the hand, making the glove feel as if it has twice the insulation.

Other features of the Scorpion Tempest Gloves include a pair of holes on the cuffs of the gloves to allow water to drain out, reflective lining in the back of the hand and at the base of the fingers, silicon inserts on the fingers for added grip, and a visor wipe at the thumb for getting water out of your visor.

Klim Sawtelle Gloves

Now if you want to step up to a pair of gloves that’s a little warmer and which adds a few more features, The Klim Sawtelle Gloves (Amazon) could be the glove for you. These gloves again have no insulation on the palm to let all the heat from your heated grips into your hand.

The Klim Sawtelle Gloves are for riders who want better waterproofing and insulation over what the Scorpion Tempest gloves provide. The Tempest and Sawtelle can be compared as both gloves provide the same features but Gore-Tex alone definitely places the Sawtelle a level above the Tempest.

Construction

The Klim Sawtelle Gloves are a step above the Tempest gloves because it’s constructed with a full Gore-Tex construction. For those of us who are unfamiliar with Gore-Tex, it’s a fabric that ensures 100% waterproofing and excellent breathability. The Sawtelle’s palm is a full leather construction paired with the non-slip Gore Grip technology.

Armor

The Sawtelle’s full leather palm construction is a three-piece design that adds reinforcements on the high-stress and impact zones. The gloves, however, don’t come with any sort of hard or soft armor. 

Insulation

Insulation on the Sawtelles comes in the form of 100g 3M Thinsulate Platinum on the back of the hand. This insulation is also paired with a full fleece lining to keep your hands warm and comfortable.

The Klim Sawtelle Gloves also come with features like silicon prints on the fingers and palm for even more grip, an easy-access entry pull-on loop and a pull-to-eject tab to make taking the gloves on and off easier.

Klim Elite Gloves

Now if you think that both of the earlier gloves fall short on protection from abrasion, you may be right. Both of the gloves mentioned earlier only have leather on the palms. This is where the Klim Elite Gloves (Amazon) comes in with its full leather construction.

The Elite gloves are for riders who want full leather protection for their cold rides. These gloves with a suite of abrasion and impact protection as well as great insulation from the cold and rain.

Construction

The Klim Elite Gloves are a premium cold-weather glove that is built with a full leather construction ensuring full protection in the event of a crash. It also comes with the same Gore Grip technology on the Sawtelle gloves. The Elite glove offers the ultimate fit for riders who demand superior grip control without compromising warmth, protection or features.

Armor

Armoring on the Klim Elite comes in the form of a ceramic print fabric split-knuckle design paired with foam padding wrapped in leather on the base of the fingers as well as the back of the hand. The fingers also get accordion stretch for better flexibility and protection.

The Klim’s palm is a full double-stitched leather construction and has dense foam on the impact zones as well as foam for vibration dampening. The palm also comes with silicon prints for added grip.

Insulation

Your hands are definitely going to stay warm and dry with 160g of 3M Thinsulate Platinum and 100% waterproof guarantee Gore-Tex fabric. This also comes with a full fleece lining on the palm and the back of the hand for added comfort.

The Klim Elite Gloves also come with 3M Scotchlite reflective piping for visibility, the same One-hand pull-to-eject gauntlet shock cord cinch and entry assist pull loop, cushioning on the back of the fingers, and a visor wipe

The importance of heated grips

If you’re doing any sort of riding in the wet or cold, heated grips will be one of the best, cheapest mods you can add to your motorcycle for comfort. Your hands are your primary means of control on the bike. Keeping them warm in the cold and wet will help maintain comfort. Comfort translates to focus and focus translates to not crashing. Without heated grips, you may risk losing the feeling on your fingers for the motorcycle’s controls. Numbness can also happen if you’ve been in the cold for an extended period of time. 

I once rode for five hours straight in the rain. It was raining the whole time from start to finish and by the end, my hands actually had spots of black and blue. At first, I just thought my gloves’ colors faded onto my hands but after I warmed myself up, I realized that my hands were actually too cold they were starting to bruise. Since then, I got myself a pair of heated grips and never looked back.