[Cayman360]

Originally Posted by RiderZone

That is strange, both the protector and the jacket are A* so I wouldn't suspect any fitment issues, like the protector sitting too far below for example. Could the jacket be too tight a fit? Where exactly does it hurt? What motorcycle?

At the cost of stating the obvious, the protector goes into the jacket with the A* logo facing the back outside of the jacket. The flat bit has to be against your back, the curved honeycomb structure to the outside.

Protectors don't usually get softer with time, at least not this type. The old A* L2 protector could work better as I think it's thinner overall, but hard to be sure.

Hey thanks a lot, this helps! The protector fits perfectly within the pocket made for it in the A* SPS jacket, and the latter is a good fit but not tight (CB300 R being the bike). I'll try it again with the logo facing outside, coz I had already taken it out after the mildly painful ride. And yes hopefully the store will get it exchanged for the softer and cheaper version:)

[neil.jericho]

I find it quite surprising that Royal Enfield's marketing machine has failed to capitalize on the launch of their co-branded Alpinestars products. It is a rare miss from the company's side. Ive attached the official PDF catalog with this post.

Yesterday I dropped into the friendly Royal Enfield company store to check out the RE A* gloves. All the basic technical details are present in the attached PDF file, so Im not going into that.

- RE A* SMX1 V2 Air Summer Gloves
When I try out different gloves, it usually takes me less than 5 seconds, to know whether I like it or not. As soon as I tried this on, I knew that I liked it. This pair fit me perfectly! The fit and finish is good. The gloves are CE level 1 certified. If you ride a non Royal Enfield motorcycle and cant be seen wearing something with their branding, get yourself the full black pair, as the RE logo is barely visible.

Best of all, the gloves cost only Rs 5,200. Considering the iffy quality of many of the Indian riding gear brands, I think this is going to be one of the top choices for gloves in the Rs 5K price range.

I am a full gauntlets glove guy. Thats the only reason that I didnt buy this pair of gloves for myself. Nonetheless, the RE A* SMX1 V2 Air summer gloves get my seal of approval. If youre buying yourself a pair of good gloves, you have to try this option before you make a final decision and swipe your card.

- RE A* Syncro Drystar Gloves
I am on the lookout for a pair of good waterproof full gauntlet gloves. I was excited to try this out. An affordable A* waterproof glove sounded like it was exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true. The length for each finger was too long. The palm area folded easily when I scrunched up my hand. It felt like a baggy fit pair of jeans. Fit and finish can vary from person to person, so your mileage may vary. I was left disappointed by these Syncro Drystar gloves.

Later, while browsing through the Royal Enfield website, I found two (new?) options for waterproof gloves, that seem to be even more promising than these Syncro Drystar gloves
a. Blizzard gloves (link)
b. Heated gloves (link)

I am genuinely surprised to see an Indian company offering heated gloves. That too at an affordable price. It will probably sell better outside India than it will over here. At the end of the day, the company is offering an unbeatable variety of choices to Indian customers. For all of us, that is a big win.

The Royal Enfield riding gear juggernaut appears to be unstoppable.

[thebengalee]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

- RE A* Syncro Drystar Gloves
I am on the lookout for a pair of good waterproof full gauntlet gloves. I was excited to try this out. An affordable A* waterproof glove sounded like it was exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true. The length for each finger was too long. The palm area folded easily when I scrunched up my hand. It felt like a baggy fit pair of jeans. Fit and finish can vary from person to person, so your mileage may vary. I was left disappointed by these Syncro Drystar gloves.

Boy you're not exaggerating. Tried out the Synchro Drystar in the back room of the showroom; while it was snug at the palm, the middle finger of the glove had room for an additional knuckle! This glove must be designed for pianists or surgeons, not us regular joes. Protection also was a bit lacking IMHO. My disappointment was immeasurable and my day was ruined

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by thebengalee

Protection also was a bit lacking IMHO. My disappointment was immeasurable and my day was ruined

It's the same with smx air. It's a rather expensive glove that's not half as protective as the viaterra short gloves that actually come with Knox palm sliders too. 5k plus for even the smx gloves is too much for a basic leather mesh hybrid glove

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

It's the same with smx air. It's a rather expensive glove that's not half as protective as the viaterra short gloves that actually come with Knox palm sliders too. 5k plus for even the smx gloves is too much for a basic leather mesh hybrid glove

Agree. I think the RE revit partnership which happened for a brief period a couple of years ago made so much more sense and value. I nicked the Sand gloves for something like 4K!

[shady8701]

Originally Posted by thebengalee

My disappointment was immeasurable and my day was ruined

I got the reference!!

[Drivethru]

Recently purchased a Scala Sas tec gloves for Rs.3900 from Vroom Airoli. Tried the RE gloves and was not comfortable with the fit and comfort.

Sas tec gloves offer better protection to palm incase of rider fall and land on palm.

[amvj]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

.....
Every Royal Enfield showroom in Bangalore should have their jackets and gloves. From what I hear, the company showroom in Jayanagar will have the widest variety of products.

With your advice, I went to the RE showroom in Jayanagar and I am not disappointed. Friendly staffs, lovely ambiance (love the lightning and dark colours - reminds me of Bangalore pubs :P). I bought Explorer v3 jacket and Blizzard gloves. I got a free bag as well, which was a pleasant surprise.
Thanks man


I think Honda Bigwing showroom and service centers can learn a thing or two from these guys.

[thebengalee]

My pursuit of a decent pair of gloves continues. I had shortlisted a few products and was intending to actually purchase at one full gauntlet and one shorty.

Royal Enfield Roadbound: The only shorty glove I found that retains decent protection. CE rated with Knox SPS sliders. Leather construction with mesh panels for airflow. The knuckle protector did not have a hard plastic cover at the top, which made it look a bit low profile. I would have been happy with it except that all three pairs I got from amazon were defective. Gloves are handmade, so some alignment issues are to be expected, but one pair had seriously ugly stitching, and the other two pairs had inner seams along the edge of the thumb that were hard and tall enough to leave an indent on my skin after 5 minutes of wearing them. I have asked the RE showroom to order a pair so that I can try my luck one last time before totally giving up on this particular model.

Viaterra Grid: CE rated with Knox SPS sliders. Full gauntlet glove which has been well reviewed by many online and on this forum. Unfortunately, I've been unable to find one in my size for a month and a half now. Even their Holeshot glove, which is a shorty, is unavailable in my size.

Scala Trekker: A decent looking full gauntlet glove with Knox SPS sliders and SAS-Tech knuckle protectors but no CE rating. The SA at Adheshwars Ryders Arena said that it's made of kangaroo leather but is labelled as goat to skirt import duties. No way to verify this but the glove did feel a lot more flexible than the usual goatskin or cowhide gloves. I'm no expert though, if anyone else has had any experience with this glove, please share.

If someone has any other recommendations for a shorty glove with leather construction and sliders and knuckle protectors, please let me know. For the full gauntlet one, I can wait a bit longer for the Viaterra Grid to be back in stock, unless there's a better option (again, please feel free to recommend).

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by thebengalee

If someone has any other recommendations for a shorty glove with leather construction and sliders and knuckle protectors, please let me know. For the full gauntlet one, I can wait a bit longer for the Viaterra Grid to be back in stock, unless there's a better option (again, please feel free to recommend).

The Royal Enfield Vamos gloves are probably the perfect pair that you are looking for. Ive tried it out in local Royal Enfield stores and really liked the fit of it. Im a little surprised that more people havent bought the Vamos gloves. I would suggest that you dont waste your time ordering different Royal Enfield gloves from Amazon. Just head to any of the large Royal Enfield stores in Bangalore, to try and buy. As amvj shared, the Jayanagar store is pretty good.

For full gauntlets, check out what options are there in Orion Motors, Koramangala (if you havent been there already). They should have gloves from A*, DSG, Rynox, Viaterra and Macna. I havent found Viaterra gloves in Cochin for quite a while, so I guess their supply issues arent restricted to only Bangalore.

[thebengalee]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

The Royal Enfield Vamos gloves are probably the perfect pair that you are looking for.

For full gauntlets, check out what options are there in Orion Motors, Koramangala (if you havent been there already). They should have gloves from A*, DSG, Rynox, Viaterra and Macna. I havent found Viaterra gloves in Cochin for quite a while, so I guess their supply issues arent restricted to only Bangalore.

Thank you very much for recommending the Vamos. The reason I'd skipped this one earlier was that they seem to have the smaller variant of the Knox sliders and were priced higher. After watching a few videos it looks like the glove is almost entirely leather and is made in South Korea as well. This actually might do it for me, stock issues notwithstanding.

Looks like the Viaterra full gauntlet won't be in stock anytime soon. I'll visit Orion, see what they have in stock, try them on, come back home and do some research, and buy what makes the most sense.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by thebengalee

Thank you very much for recommending the Vamos. The reason I'd skipped this one earlier was that they seem to have the smaller variant of the Knox sliders and were priced higher. After watching a few videos it looks like the glove is almost entirely leather and is made in South Korea as well. This actually might do it for me, stock issues notwithstanding.

From what I have seen, the Vamos is widely available. You shouldnt have any problems with finding a pair in your size in Bangalore. Heck, they are easy to find here in Cochin, which doesnt even a really large riding gear market.

[AtheK]

So finally the alpinestars gear link is live on the Royal Enfield site. Wish they had a little bit more variety.

[Doge]

Hi all,
I am gonna very soon step into the motorcycling world after wanting to do so for long.
I need suggestions gear from you all though I have learned quite a bit and am still researching gear whenever I can. I am a newbie rider and will mostly use the bike for A to A runs and touring. Safety and not being hot are my priorities.
I intend to buy a helmet for around 6k and found a few from MT which have SHARP 4 star rating if I remember correctly. But searching here it seems that sharp is not so important so should I just look for ECE and DOT certified lids? If possible I would like a lid with simple or no graphics, plain white or some other visible colour. I am also giving preference to polycarbonate lids over ABS as they dissipate impact better I suppose?
Some of the Lids I saw which I like are MT Hummer solid, Axxis Draken B Dekers, both these lids have the DOT/ECE but also the sharp rating.
For my jacket I was looking at the RE street wind V2 and buy armour to place in it. Any other suggestions for around 4K are welcome. In the winters I would just wear a nice jacket over my riding jacket so only looking for safe and cool options.
Will try the gloves in person so nothing in my mind but if any good suggestions for around 3k do please let me know.

Now comes the lower body which is confusing me a bit, my longtime riding cousin says that I don’t need riding pants or jeans and should just get knee guards. I am not sure I agree as I have had some painful road rashes on my bicycle during the years. I was instead thinking of getting those jeans from RE which have abrasion resistance and adding the knee armour. Again looking forward to hearing from you all on this.
As for boots, again my cousin told me to get a pair of high ankle trekking boots from decathlon but I am pretty sure they would slice open in a slide and won’t protect my ankles. Saw a few options for riding boots for around 5k like the orazzo ibis
At this point I was thinking to get the lid and jacket + gloves first and soon after get the pants/jeans and boots for the budget I mentioned above.
Edit: I didn’t notice that this is a thread for helmet only, my bad.

[amvj]

I find the Blizzard gloves very uncomfortable. Yesterday I did some 50KM ride with that gloves and I am still having pain in my fingers. The problem is the liner inside the gloves and outer layer are independent of each other. Once you remove the gloves and put it back, the liner comes in midway and prevents the fingers to slide in. This causes so much frustration and pain to use.

RE Blizzard gloves


I called the RE Jayanagar showroom today morning and explained the problem, the person asked me to come and exchange the gloves with other that I find comfortable. Since RE launched the Alpinestars based gloves, I went for that one (SMX-1 V2 AIR SUMMER GLOVES - BLACK). I paid the difference in price.

SMX-1 V2 AIR SUMMER GLOVES - BLACK




I also checked the other Alpinestar gloves (SYNCRO DRYSTAR GLOVES - ANTHRACITE & BLACK), but I did not like it. It has a similar independent liner inside like the Blizzard gloves.




I rode the bike with the gloves to my home and I find it feels much more natural to use compared to Blizzard gloves. Special thanks to RE showroom Vinod for being so patient and answered my queries and exchanged the gloves without asking questions.