The Best Cafe Racer Gloves
Short-cuff gloves are the cafe-racer standard — but a shorty has less material to protect your hand, so the knuckle guard and the CE rating matter more, not less. Here's what actually protects, ranked.
Biltwell Bridgeport
A real, popular cafe/bobber-scene glove with a genuine knuckle guard. Biltwell states CE certification but doesn't publish an EN 13594 level, so treat it as 'certified, level unstated'.
ScorpionEXO Klaw II
A legit brand doing a short-cuff leather glove with a hook-and-loop closure — a lot of glove for the money, and the short cuff sits right under a jacket sleeve.
mjmoto Vintage Perforated
A perforated goat-leather short glove with a hard knuckle guard — the vintage look with real impact protection, and cool in summer.
Alpinestars Oscar Crazy Eight
Heritage Alpinestars styling and real knuckle padding, but the current model's page doesn't clearly state a CE level — verify on the hangtag before relying on its rating.
SHIMA Caliber
A ventilated summer leather glove with knuckle armour from an established brand — good for hot-weather riding without giving up hand protection.
The CE standard: EN 13594
EN 13594:2015 is the motorcycle-glove standard, and it's distinct from EN 1621 (jacket/limb armour) and EN 13634 (boots). It tests abrasion, cut, tear and — critically for a short glove — seam strength and wrist restraint, because a seam bursting or the glove twisting off the hand is what turns a slide into an open wound. Level 1 is the baseline and makes knuckle impact protection optional; Level 2 demands higher abrasion and cut resistance, more wrist coverage, and mandatory tested knuckle protection. The KP mark means the knuckle armour was impact-tested under the standard's own protocol and passed. When a brand only says "CE certified" without naming EN 13594 or a level, read it as a weaker claim than one that states the standard outright.
Short cuff vs gauntlet
A gauntlet's long cuff seals over the jacket sleeve for more wrist and forearm coverage — the reason track days require them. A short cuff stops at the wrist and tucks under the sleeve, which is the slim cafe look. The catch: a short glove has less overlap with the jacket, so it leans harder on its own retention strap and knuckle guard to stay put and cover the vulnerable area. That's why a short-cuff glove should never be a slip-on with no closure — and why the knuckle guard type matters. A hard shell (TPU, polymer or carbon) is engineered and tested to spread impact; padded foam is comfort cushioning and should not be sold as impact protection.
Materials and fit
Goatskin is thinner and more supple with less break-in and better throttle feel; cowhide is thicker, stiffer and tougher for the abrasion. A perforated glove keeps its full-grain leather structure (holes punched through the hide) so it can still carry a full rating — different from a mesh glove that swaps leather for fabric in the vented zones. A hard palm slider at the heel of the hand isn't there to cushion; it reduces friction so the hand slides instead of catching and torquing the wrist. On fit: buy snug, because leather loosens with wear and never tightens. Your fingers should reach the ends with no dead space and no cramping — a loose glove rotates on the hand in a slide, which puts the knuckle guard and palm slider in the wrong place at the exact moment they're needed.
Cafe racer gloves — FAQ
Are short-cuff gloves safe?
Yes, when the glove itself carries a genuine EN 13594 rating (ideally Level 2 with tested knuckle protection) and has a working retention strap. Short-cuff gloves generally use the same materials and construction as gauntlets — the difference is wrist coverage, not build quality. The trade-off is less overlap with the jacket sleeve, which is exactly why the closure and knuckle armour carry more of the protective load on a shorty.
What does EN 13594 Level 1 vs Level 2 mean?
Both are tiers of the EN 13594:2015 motorcycle-glove standard, which tests abrasion, cut, tear and seam strength. Level 1 is the baseline and makes knuckle impact protection optional; Level 2 requires higher abrasion and cut resistance, more wrist coverage, and mandatory tested knuckle impact protection. The exact pass/fail force numbers sit behind the standard’s paywall, so we don’t quote them — the level and the KP mark are what to read on the label.
Do I need hard knuckle armour?
For anything beyond very low-speed riding, yes. A hard TPU, polymer or carbon insert is what a knuckle zone needs to pass EN 13594’s KP impact test; foam padding alone is comfort cushioning, not a tested impact protector, and shouldn’t be sold as "armour". It matters even more on a short-cuff glove, which has less material elsewhere providing incidental cover.
Are perforated gloves protective enough?
A properly built perforated glove keeps its full-grain leather structure — the holes are punched through the leather, not replaced with fabric — so it can still carry a full EN 13594 rating. That’s different from a mesh glove, which swaps leather for textile in the vented zones and gives up abrasion resistance there. The real trade-off with perforation is weather: the same holes that vent heat let in cold and rain. Check the model’s actual label rather than assuming from "summer" marketing.
Short cuff or gauntlet for a cafe racer?
Short cuff is the standard cafe-racer choice because it tucks under the jacket sleeve and keeps the slim retro line a gauntlet (worn over the sleeve) would break. Functionally you’re trading a gauntlet’s extra wrist and forearm coverage for that look, so the short glove’s retention strap and knuckle protection matter more. Gauntlets remain the better call for track days built around full sleeve overlap.
What does the KP marking mean?
KP stands for Knuckle Protection — it means the glove’s knuckle armour was impact-tested under EN 13594’s own protocol (a 2.5kg striker delivering about 5 joules) and passed. It is optional on a Level 1 glove and effectively required to reach Level 2. It is a separate test from EN 1621 limb armour, so a KP-marked knuckle is not the same claim as an "EN 1621 certified" pad.
Links go to Amazon (affiliate-tagged). Tiers not scraped prices — confirm current pricing and CE spec on the maker's page before buying.