WHAT HAVE WE TRIED NOW? USED & REVIEWED…

POWER AND CAPABILITY

KTM AND HELD WILL DO IT FOR YOU

HELD CHIKARA GLOVES. HIGHLY CAPABLE Price – $185

Getting a glove that actually fits “like a glove” is not always the easiest thing to do, however I’ve now got three different pairs of Held gloves (Chikara, Sambia and Backfl ip) and all three of them “fit like a glove”. I was interested in the manufacturing process of Held gloves; what they apparently do is soak the leather so it can be stretched before cutting the individual pieces for sewing. There is at least an hour and a half of sewing in each pair of gloves, which goes some way towards explaining both the quality and the price! Attention to detail is another major factor in making a pair of Held gloves and I guess all of these processes are the reasons why I have found them to be so comfortable.

The pair I am reviewing here are the Chikara gloves. It’s a sports type glove that I’ll be using for racing and track launches/sportsbikes. I have always found that sports gloves are a little tight in some areas, mainly across the top of the hand for me. So when I put on a pair of the Chikara gloves, I was amazed at the comfort from the first wear, and there was no tight sections to cramp my hands, either. Add to that the super soft Kangaroo leather palm which gives almost a naked feel with masses of protection and I am extremely impressed from the outset.

Features of the Held Chikara include – the highly abrasion-resistant kangaroo leather palm, they are colourfast and sweat-proof, supple cowhide back, special fl at seam, tunnel strap, Velcro adjustment at the cuffs, visor wipe, elasticated leather panels on back, thumb and fingers, perforated finger side walls, finger-bridge between ring finger and pinkie protection, hard shell side of hand and knuckle protection covered with leather, and Superfabric reinforcement on the edge of the hand. They also feature double material at the edge of the hand and fingers and Kevlar protection on the back of the hand. So with all those features your hands are, as the saying goes, “wrapped in cotton wool”, only better!

Having now worn the Chikara gloves three times, they keep getting better and better each time I wear them. They mould more and more to my hands, and I thought they were good when new! The Held Chikara gloves are available in men’s sizes 7-13 and colours black, black-red, black-blue and black-white.

The Chikara is also available in ladies’ sizes 6-8. Grab a pair and have some of the highest levels of protection available in a glove for a very reasonable price tag SW

KTM TWO 4 RIDE JACKET

One more for the road. Price – $329.95

“The road of excess,” wrote William Blake, “leads to the palace of wisdom.” So why am I not living in the palace of wisdom, or at least the triple-fronted full brick bungalow of smartness? When it comes to excess, at least in the number of jackets I own, I’ve got it locked up; the clothes rack in the garage looks as if it’s holding the all-weather clothing for a Black Ops infantry platoon.

The answer is of course pretty simple; it’s not that I go on jacket-buying sprees the way someone whose name shall not be mentioned goes on handbag buying jags. No. I, like every other motorcycle journalist, get them given to me at bike launches. It’s almost a tradition now that if you attend the introduction of a new bike, you leave with another jacket.

And before you out there get all jealous and moral about people accepting freebies, consider the fact that where we are given jackets, car journos get condos in Monaco.

And funnily enough there is always room for one more on that clothes rack. Especially if it’s something like the Two 4 Ride jacket from KTM. Both Chris, the bloke from AMCN, and I were handed these jackets before the fun of the RC390 release in Italy got under way.

Normally I wouldn’t review something like this, for a variety of reasons, but dammit: this is both an excellent garment, and available in Australia (except it won’t have the RC390 badges).

On top of that it only costs $329.95, and if you think that’s expensive you haven’t seen it – or worn it.

So, what’s it all about? As you can see from the photo, the jacket looks smart enough to be worn just about anywhere.

Except to a BMW launch, I suppose. It is breathable but wind-and water-proof, thanks to what KTM calls an integrated Z-liner. No, I don’t know what that is, but I know it works. I’ve worn the jacket in the rain and it is good as gold. It has water-repellent zips, too, and a high collar with a removable hood. Great for running to the bike garage when it’s raining.

I won’t bother you with too many details; you know what I’m like – always more interested in the general effect of something than the many things that make it up. Let’s just say that the Two 4 Ride jacket has everything you need including protectors in the elbows and shoulders (there’s provision for an optional back protector, which I intend to buy), Velcro fasteners on the wrists, pockets including waterproof ones, and drawstring adjustment on the sides. The jacket is made of 94 per cent polyester and 6 per cent elastane, the latter of which provides a certain amount of “give”.

I like this jacket very much; check it out for yourself at your KTM dealer’s.

It comes in seven sizes from XS to XXXL, and if you think you don’t need another jacket, just remember what Oscar Wilde said: “Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” PT

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