Lee Parks Design Gloves
Possibly the last pair of gloves to buy?



Have you ridden in the rain?  Have you ridden in the extreme heat?  What do you cover your hands with?  Is it dead cow?  Is it dead enormous rat (Kangaroo)?  If you've ridden in the rain or if you've experienced that extreme heat that causes you to sweat and shrivel up like a prune, then you might know what I'm talking about when I mention the following two words.  Sliminess.  slickness.  No I'm not referring to lawyers in a high profile court case.  I'm referring to those dead things you have on your hands.

In my case, I have experienced both Cow and Kangaroo hide.  I have to say I'm not impressed with either one.  Why you say?  Because about the same time every year for the past three years, I have to buy a new pair of gloves every year.  Why?  Because whatever I'm doing, I put holes in thick cow hide gloves.  Conditioners?  Yeah, I sometime use that when I wash my hair.  No really, conditioners don't do much.  Additionally, they add to the slickness and sliminess of the gloves.  I've ridden in extreme down pour numerous times over the last three years and the experience is the same every time the glove dry.  They shrink and they get rock hard.  After several cycles of wet and dry, the gloves go bust.  I only have to ride with the enormous dead rat gloves once, in a heavy down pour, to realize the rat's hide can't handle too many wet dry cycles.  How disappointing.  Especially when I've been told Kangaroo is a miracle hide for motorcycle gear.

Anyway, here's the deal.  While a small group of us were traversing through the last International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, we ran into Lee Parks Design.  They were promoting their Deerskin and Elkskin gloves.  It looks interesting enough but I was skeptical.  That was until Lee Parks himself showed us a glove he had been using for the last 5 years.  Of course it is now out of service but it demonstrates the resilience of deerskin and elkskin.  Even after 5 years worth of abuse, the glove is soft and comfortable.  From the looks of it, the glove still looks fit for use.  We were all so impressed by the make and feel of the gloves that we each bought a pair.

Since the rain season is upon us, I couldn't wait to see how these gloves fair in a heavy down pour.  Sure enough my desires are answered.  Not only was it barking and meowing, it was a monsoon.  My Rally 2 pro suit was soaked through.  So are the Lee Parks Design gloves.  Good, just what I wanted to experience as a test of the glove's resilience.  Once the glove is dry, I was extremely pleased to see the deerskin is still its soft want supple self.  Not only that, the next day I get to experience a second down pour without asking for it.  Once again the gloves behaved as advertised.  At this point I have no doubt that these gloves will serve me well.  At long last it looks like I don't have to buy a new pair of gloves every year.  It's quite expensive when you can't find a good pair of Alpinestars for any less than $200+.


Nothing like a good pair of gloves.  Notice there are not CF knuckle protectors.  According to Lee,
who is a championship moto racer, you don't need them.  Most of the trauma related with a moto accident
is abrasion related.


Lee had a glove on display at the show demonstrating the grove's resilience under an 80 MPH
slide.  The glove came away with only one minor hole on the first layer of the palm.

Well, these gloves might not be the very last pair of gloves that I buy, but from what I can see from the construction, these extremely fine gloves will last me numerous years.  The added bonus, they're made in the USA.  At least I know I'm helping to keep somebody in the country employed.

Written on: January 6, 2008
Last modified: January, 6 2008