Gear Review: Grease Monkey General Purpose High Performance Work Gloves

Last week I was removing the fork tubes on my 1999 Harley-Davidson Sportster to replace the oil seals and just do general motorcycle maintenance on the front end.  I didn't have any mechanic's work gloves, so while at the other HD (Home Depot) buying some wood for another project I picked up a pair of Grease Monkey General Purpose High Performance Work Gloves.  They aren't very expensive-I paid less than $15, and the large pair fit my hands well.  This is always a concern, as these gloves are meant to be used holding tools and parts.  A previous pair I owned (I don't remember the brand) were too long for my fingers and soon were used for non-mechanical work which quickly tore them up.  Not the problem with these gloves-nice fit, decent construction so I added them to the cart.

Getting home, I used them for the removal of the front tire, brake piston, fork brace, turn indicators and then the fork tubes.  While the front end of the bike wasn't too dirty, there was some road grime and brake dust and of course fork oil (reason #1 for this project!) involved.  Having gloves on saved on clean-up time, and I was happy with the dexterity the Grease Monkey gloves provided.

Re-assembly was also done with the gloves and some of the challenges may have been as much my unfamiliarity with working in gloves as these specific pair.  Some of the smaller bolts, like on the turn indicators, I took one glove off and worked Michael Jackson style.  Also I had to grease the front axle and opted to use an ungloved hand vice a rag to apply and spread the grease.  But cleaining up was much easier.

So far they seem to be well made and will likely hold up well to the amount of mechanical work I do.  I'd be interested to hear how long any of these type gloves hold up under daily use if a professional or avid hobbyist would care to comment.  I'll also ask when I visit the auto-hobby shop or some mechanic friends.

Ride safe and enjoy wrenching and customizing bikes!