A good quality pair of luxurious leather riding gloves is a must have on the open road. No rider should ever have to sacrifice their style for safety too much. Stylish classic black leather riding gloves should be a necessity for every lady rider’s wardrobe, and Indian provided Total Motorcycle with their Women’s Classic Gloves to review. Read on to see what we think about them.
| Reviewer | Carrie Leaverton |
| Review Date | May 4, 2020 – June 9, 2020 |
| Product | Women’s Leather Classic Riding Gloves – Black |
| Price Point | $59.99 USD |
| Bike Tested on | 2019 Indian Scout |
“…before I move on to the intricate details I have to mention… This leather smell is fabulous; intoxicating and lingering!”
Women’s Leather Classic Riding Gloves by Indian Motorcycle
When I sat and thought about how many purposes riding gloves serve, I realized that when I’m on the bike, my gloves are my best friend. I wore my Indian Classic Riding Gloves with this checklist in mind: Safety First. They must protect my hands from the elements, (sun, insects, gravel, rain & wind), they need to pad my palms and fingers from obtaining blisters from the throttle, grips or levers and be durable enough to protect my skin in the event of a slide. With the following in mind, they must be thin enough to manipulate my controls whilst so comfortable I slip my hands in and forget about them. I require an excellent fit, elasticity and breathability, no pinches, loose tags or restrictions. When riding, my mind needs to be focused on piloting my machine, not wondering how to adjust my gear to make fit better, etc.
Classic Appearance
At a glance my Indian classic riding gloves look like you’d expect from a pair of high quality women’s leather gloves. Smooth, sleek, classic. Upon inspection, they meet many of the expectations I had for a pair at this price point. Before I move on to the intricate details I have to mention… This leather smell is fabulous; intoxicating and lingering! Indian provided me with a gorgeous Indian Motorcycle Blaze Vest to review years ago that smells the same, and now every time I catch a whiff I get so excited to ride. If I walk past these gloves in the garage they make me want to put those groceries away, put my gear on and go. If I planned on taking the car to work that day and I smell the gloves, I put my laptop in the bike, switch from a skirt to riding pants and go.
Lastly, all Indian gear has strategically placed logos. On the classic riding gloves, the logos are discreet. You’ll find it placed twice on each glove. Most noticeably, you’ll see it embossed within the leather on the Velcro strap, and it’s also on a tiny rivet where the leather strap attaches on the inner side of the glove.
My Indian Classic riding gloves are shimmery shiny and gorgeously black as black. They perfectly match all of my riding gear, both Indian brand and others. I am proud to report the black coloring stays on my gloves. It does not transmit any dye to my hands, even on hot sweaty days or when riding in the rain.
Comfort
I went on about the smell of the Indian classic riding gloves… I gotta tell you, they’re just as pleasing to the touch. The shell is 100% genuine leather, extremely soft and supple. The lining is 100% polyester that’s like feels cool and satiny like a nice set of Egyptian cotton sheets. These gloves have intricate finger construction to accommodate breathability between your fingers while giving you a solid swatch of leather on the tops and bottoms of the fingers for grip and protection. There are also some perforations for air flow just atop the wrist. I certainly appreciate that air flow on a hot day. However the extra fabric from the seams on the corners of my fingers make my hands just a little less agile than I prefer.
The wrists have zig zag stitched elastic and the tabs are adjustable via Velcro. I love this feature in a glove because it accommodates whatever layers you’re wearing underneath, then adjusts back to snug when the layers are removed as the day warms. The length is just right, so I think the Indian classic riding gloves would pair nicely with any jacket that has wrist snaps. When pairing gloves with a jacket, I’m always careful not to match Velcro to Velcro or snaps to snaps to make sure I don’t have too many things going on at the bend of my wrists.
“I am confident that I will lose one or both of my classic leather gloves before they ever wear out.”
Fit
I always have my fingernails manicured, usually with reasonably long tips. I’m unwilling to give up that simple pleasure and have accepted the challenge when sizing riding gloves. Indian’s website provide’s a sizing chart for the classic riding gloves, using only the palm measurements without finger length. My palm width measures exactly 8 inches, putting me somewhere between a size Large and an XLarge. The tag on my gloves reads as follows ‘L.XL.’ While the finger length includes room for my nail length plus some, the palm fit is tight. These findings are the opposite of my usual results with other gloves. When you watch the video, you will see the bit of difficulty I have slipping them on and pulling them off.
Durability
I put these gloves on and took them off again in the more times than I can guess in the 4 weeks time I had to conduct my review. They still look as new as they did the day I unboxed them. They appear to be very well made, double stitching in many areas. All the stitching coloration and cuts are even, making them a perfectly matched pair. The double stitching caused some minor discomfort to me after wearing the gloves for about 85 miles or so, as the thick stitching pushes into the skin on the backs of my hands and leaves lines.
I reviewed the Indian Women’s Blaze Vest constructed out of the same material 2 years ago and it has held up flawlessly after thousands of miles in the sun, wind and rain. I am confident that I will lose one or both of my classic leather gloves before they ever wear out.
Protection
I would rate the classic leather gloves as medium protection. They aren’t gauntlets like a sportbike knight would wear into battle. They aren’t armored. Nor do they have ABS plastic knuckle reinforcements, or any rigidity to keep your fingers from being crushed in the event of an accident. Leather does hold up well to abrasion and it is wonderful for protecting your hands from the elements.
Function
The plus side of a medium protection rating is this: without all the extra padding, the Indian classic leather gloves provide the rider with a comfortable, sufficient grip and ability to manipulate the controls as necessary. Left your keys in your pockets after you don your helmet and gloves? No problem, if your jeans aren’t super skinny and tight, you won’t have a problem getting your gloved hand into your pocket. The shiny soft and smooth surfaces aren’t slippery even when wet so there’s no worry about losing grip.
I was disappointed to discover that none of the fingertips on the women’s classic riding gloves are touch capacitive. Full disclosure, we at Total Motorcycle do not recommend using touch screen devices while riding anyway. It’s worth mentioning though, several of the 2020 motorcycle models on Indian’s showroom floors have a touch screen that will need to be utilized to operate all the functions of that motorcycle. Years ago I had the opportunity to review the Indian Women’s Retro Glove which were also not touch capacitive. But, both pairs of Indian Motorcycle Passage men’s gloves that Eric received were touch capacitive. I ought to mention, both of his pairs were more substantial including armor, etc. So I probably wouldn’t choose those for myself for reasons listed above.
Rating
We are proud to present the Indian Women’s Classic Leather Gloves with the Editor’s Gold Award of 4 stars!
Official Indian Motorcycle Outpost Store
Indian Summer
It’s an Indian Summer here at TMW. We’re reviewing a 2019 Indian Scout and a 2020 Indian Springfield and assorted gear and accessories. Click here to see them all. Like what you see? Please consider becoming one of our beloved Patreon Supporters.
