Motorcycle Glove Size Guide: How to Measure and What Fit Means
Updated: Sep 28
QUICK ANSWER: Measure your dominant hand circumference at the widest point across the knuckles, excluding the thumb. This is your primary sizing number. Cross-reference the specific manufacturer's chart, not a universal size guide, since sizing varies significantly between brands. Then test in riding grip position: close your hand around an imaginary grip. No bunching at the palm, fingertips should touch the glove tips without compressing them, wrist closure should fasten securely. For deerskin: buy snug, not tight. Deerskin relaxes and moulds to the hand over the first few rides and gains working room across the palm and across the back of the hand, roughly half a size of feel, but circumference and finger length barely change, so a glove that is genuinely too small when new stays too small.
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The Measurement: Step by Step
Step 1: Use a flexible measuring tape or a strip of paper. Step 2: Wrap around the dominant hand at the widest point across the knuckles, excluding the thumb (this is typically just below the first knuckle joints). Step 3: Read the circumference in inches or centimeters. Step 4: Cross-reference the manufacturer's specific size chart, and do not use a generic size guide. Step 5: If your measurement falls between sizes, take the snug size in unarmored deerskin, which relaxes and moulds to the hand over the first few rides, and take your measured size in cowhide and horsehide, which give less and take longer to break in. Never drop below your measured size in any leather, and buy armored gloves at your true measured size.
The Fit Test: What to Check
Correct fit in riding grip position: close your hand around a handlebar grip or simulate the position. Check for these five elements: (1) Palm: smooth leather across the palm with no bunching material. (2) Fingers: tips make light contact with glove tips without significant compression. (3) Knuckle joints: no excess material bunching at the knuckle fold when the hand is closed. (4) Wrist: closure fastens securely without painful pressure or restricted blood flow. (5) Mobility: full range of finger extension and flexion without the glove pulling uncomfortably.
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How Leather Type Affects Sizing
Deerskin: the most give of the three and the quickest to mould. Deerskin relaxes and moulds to the hand over the first few rides. It gains working room across the palm and across the back of the hand, roughly half a size of feel, but circumference and finger length barely change, so a glove that is genuinely too small when new stays too small. Buy snug, not tight, and let it settle into your hand. Cowhide: gives less than deerskin and takes longer to break in. Size to the manufacturer's chart. Horsehide: gives least of the three. Its dense fiber structure resists relaxing, so size precisely to the manufacturer's chart and do not size down expecting break-in. In all three the hide moulds to the hand; it does not grow a size. Armored gloves built around a fixed protector shell should be bought at your true measured size from the first ride.
A worked example of the deerskin case: the Legendary Classic Short Wrist Touchscreen Deerskin Gloves at $120 (106 reviews, 4.90 average) are American whitetail deerskin, so buy them at the snug end of your measurement and let them settle into your hand rather than sizing up for comfort. They are unarmored with no CE rating, which matters for sizing as much as for protection: what you are fitting is hide, and hide moulds to the hand without gaining a size. A CE Level 2 armored glove from Dainese or Alpinestars is built around a fixed protector shell that never relaxes, so size that to your true measurement and do not size down expecting break-in.
Gauntlet vs Short-Cuff Sizing Differences
Gauntlet gloves require checking that the cuff fits over your jacket sleeve without creating painful pressure points or restricting blood flow at the wrist. Try the gauntlet glove with the jacket you plan to wear with it — a cuff that fits over a thin summer jacket sleeve may be too tight over a thick leather jacket sleeve. The cuff closure should achieve a genuine seal over the sleeve without requiring uncomfortable compression.
Common Sizing Mistakes
Sizing too large "for comfort": a glove that is too large shifts in a fall, potentially leaving the palm or knuckles unprotected. The protection zones must stay over the hand. Sizing without testing grip position: a glove can feel acceptable with the hand flat and inappropriate in riding position. Always test in grip position. Using brand-to-brand size equivalents: a medium from one manufacturer is not equivalent to a medium from another. Measure and cross-reference each time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I do if my hand measurements fall between sizes?
For deerskin: take the snug size, because the hide relaxes and moulds to the hand over the first few rides. For horsehide: size to your measurement or slightly up, since horsehide gives very little. For cowhide: use the manufacturer's guidance for your measurement. Whatever the leather, don't drop below your measured size, because a glove that is genuinely too small when new stays too small. In practice that means taking the snug size in an unarmored deerskin glove such as the Legendary Classic Short Wrist Touchscreen Deerskin Gloves at $120 (106 reviews, 4.90 average), which carries no CE rating and gets its fit entirely from the hide, and taking your true measured size in a CE Level 2 armored glove from Dainese or Alpinestars, whose protector shell will not break in.
How do I know if gloves are too small?
Too small: difficulty closing the hand fully, fingers feel compressed when gripping, numbness or tingling during riding from restricted circulation, visible skin at finger tips pulling away from glove seams. Size up.
Should gloves feel tight when new?
Snug but not tight. Snug means firmly fitted with no excess material: the glove stays in place, the palm is smooth, and the fingers are covered without floating in excess leather. Tight means the fingers are compressed, blood flow is restricted, or the hand cannot fully close. Snug settles into comfortable; tight stays tight, because the hide moulds to your hand rather than growing a size. A new pair of Legendary Classic Short Wrist Touchscreen Deerskin Gloves at $120 (106 reviews, 4.90 average) should feel firmly snug on the first ride and comfortable within a week, because the give comes from unarmored deerskin moulding to the hand; they carry no CE rating. An armored CE Level 2 glove from Dainese or Alpinestars will not soften that way and should feel correct the moment you put it on.
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