by Rick K. for webBikeWorld.com

wBW Reviews Home  |  Owner Comments (Below)

Summary:  Many additional safety features over the standard Violator gloves. 

Padded knuckle protector "floats" in a separate section to offer more comfort and better protection; new closure system is very secure. 

As with many race gloves, these can be a bit hot in the summer.

There must be a Kawasaki in my future -- first the KBC VR-1 helmet we recently tested and now these Teknic Violator Pro gloves both were sent by their respective manufacturers in Kawasaki green! 

Don't be afraid though; this Violator Pro color never made it to production (sorry Kawi riders!), but you can get them in black; black/silver/white; black/royal blue/white; black/red/white and black/yellow/white. 

You can view them all on the Violator Pro page on the Teknic website.  By the way, my wife absolutely loves this color!

As soon as we posted the test of the 2001 model Violator, Bill Ringrose, the Customer Support Manager at Specialty Sports Limited (the designer, manufacturer and importer for Teknic gear), dropped us a line and asked if we'd like to see the '02 model. Not being one to turn down an opportunity to test a new piece of equipment, the only natural answer was "sure!". 

As soon as we took these gloves out of the box, we realized that this wasn't just a few minor pattern changes to the existing product.  These gloves are radically improved.  Teknic has really taken the lessons learned from racing and rider input and made what has to be one of the most state of the art pair of gloves we've ever seen. 

It's simply amazing how they can sell these things for $129.95 and still make a profit.  I really like my '01 pair of Violators, but now I'm feeling like they're the equal of the space shuttle in the era of Jean-Luc Picard's Enterprise.

Life used to be simple -- the original Violators were one of the best-selling gloves on the market as soon as they hit the dealers' shelves.  But for 2002, Teknic's Violator comes in two flavors; the Violator and the Violator Pro. The 2002 standard Violator is somewhat like the '01 Violator, except it doesn't have the carbon fiber knuckle protectors, using heavy cowhide instead.  The new Violator Pro has many additional features; I'll try to explain them by using these photos:

Photo 1	Photo 2
Starting from the upper left and going around clockwise: There's a completely new design for closing the gauntlet, which offers more padded protection; it now closes opposite the way last year's Violators did by wrapping around the outside of the wrist from the top.  This helps ensure that a slide with an outstretched arm will not open the hook-and-loop closure system. The knuckle protectors on the back of the hand are chrome plated and they sit in their own padded holder that is external from the main body of the glove itself.  This is a really neat feature that makes the gloves even more comfortable.  See the detail photo below. There are rubberized protective sections all the way around the sides and over the top of the pinky finger.  There's also a triangular section of this material in the palm (you can see it in Photo 2). The knuckle protectors on the fingers are available chrome plated and they are attached via separate leather sheathing. There's a lot more padding that extends from the top of the wrist all the way around and under along the outside of the glove	Again, starting from the upper left and moving clockwise: We think one of the most innovative features on the Pro is a completely new wrist closure system (see detail photo below); the secondary wrist closure now wraps around underneath from the thumb side of the wrist down; this allows more control over cinching the glove due to a counter tightening effect from the gauntlet closure.  There is also a large padded piece of leather that covers the entire side of the hand and folds over the inside wrist closure; hook-and-loop on this flap keeps the inside wrist closure secure and helps to protect it in a slide. Several different types of leather cover the first two fingers and include extra padding over the fingertips. The special rubberized padding on the edge of the hand wraps around to the palm. The tufted and padded leather protection for the side wraps from the top around to the bottom. The gauntlet protective flap is now separate from the body of the glove; this, in effect, offers two heavy pieces of leather to protect the crucial area outboard of the wrist, which will probably take the brunt of the abrasion in a slide.
The Violator Pro's knuckle protector now lives in its own separate padded section covering the glove; not only does this give much more protection for the knuckles, due to the added layers of leather; it's also more comfortable, as the knuckle protector can slide over your hand as it moves.	The new and innovative inside wrist closure system and padded leather flap that covers the cinch.

• The uppers are Japanese drum-dyed cowhide; the innovative stitching means that there are several layers of protection in the vital areas;
• The kangaroo un-dyed leather palm offers greater abrasion resistance and excellent feel;
• Schoeller Keprotec Kevlar layers in palm, little finger and thumb, increases abrasion and heat resistance.

If you're in the market for a new pair of gloves (or even if you're not!), our recommendation is to definitely check out the new Violator Pro gloves. 

Note:  For informational use only.  All material and photographs are Copyright © webWorld International, LLC - 2000-2011.  All rights reserved.  See the webBikeWorld® Site Info page.  NOTE:  Product specifications, features and details may change or differ from our descriptions.  Always check before purchasing.  Read the Terms and Conditions!

►Your Comments and Feedback

From "J.G.":  "I just bought Teknic Violator gloves from motorcyclegear.com after reading your review.  They have the gloves on sale and provided a link to your site. The review was helpful. Thanks!"

From "E.S.":  "Heya, just read your review and thought I'd add my $.02: I've had a pair since June '02 and everything everyone says about them is true; great fit and finish, fantastic feel, comfortable, and well made.  I tested this last bit in Nov. I went down at 70-80 mph and I tend to try to "catch" myself in falls. 

Yet, the Violator's held up great.  A little bit of abrasion is apparent on the kangaroo palms, a lot of abrasion on (all) the chrome knuckles, and one can see that the Keprotec patches hit, but hardly show any wear.  The one discrepancy I noticed with my particular pair is that I fit into Mediums (usually I'm a LG, or XLG).  And yes they do stretch a bit. I'm so satisfied with mine, that am going to buy a second pair (from New Enough)."

From "N.P.":  "The gloves are great! After minimal break in, they seem to be holding their own.  After 5000 miles two stitches on the index finger have worked themselves loose but easily fixed.  Fit is good. 

Comfort is really good.  Tend to be rather warm so venting could be improved. All in all for the price I paid I shouldn't be a bit disappointed and I'm not. excellent value for the money and features offered in this glove."