As summer heat continues to make riding conditions difficult, Australia’s internationally awarded MotoCAP motorcycle gear safety ratings service has rated 15 more pairs of riding gloves, including several summer models.
Alpinestars SP Air summer gloves (pictured above) performed well, receiving four out of five stars for safety.
However, there is no comfort rating for these summer gloves, nor any others despite most having perforations for airflow.
While MotoCAP rates gear for thermal comfort and waterproofing on jackets and pants, they say it is too difficult to rate for thermal comfort in either summer or winter riding conditions.
Transport for NSW says that to measure for comfort a large square of fabric must be obtained.
“There is not enough material in a glove to obtain a sample for the thermal comfort measure,” they say.
However, they do test for waterproofing.
The new ratings can be viewed here.
The addition of the 15 gloves brings the total number of items of clothing to 270, comprised of 108 jackets, 70 pairs of pants and 92 pairs of gloves.
Canstar Blue customer satisfaction research has found that Baby Boomers are more likely to choose comfortable motorcycle gloves while Millennial riders buy for style.
All gear rated so far has been obtained through a secretive buying system to guarantee integrity.
Click here to find out how products are selected for rating in secret.
International award
Last year, MotoCAP won a Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) road safety award.
MotoCAP is a partnership between Transport for NSW, State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA), VicRoads, Transport Accident Commission (TAC), Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV), Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC), Lifetime Support Authority (LSA), the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, Western Australian Police: Road Safety Commission, Department of State Growth, Insurance Australia Group (IAG), Australian Motorcycle Council and Accident Compensation Corporation in New Zealand.
Testing is carried out by the Deakin University Institute for Frontier Materials on behalf of the MotoCAP partners.