Ixon RS Tilt Glove: Motorcycle Gear Review

Words: Jehan Adil Darukhanawala

Images: Vikrant date

In a majority of roadside accidents, you would find the rider throwing out the hands to break the fall. While race schools will teach you why you shouldn’t do that, not many would ever attend a race school in the first place. Hence, the importance of good gloves takes utmost precedence in motorcycle riding gear, after the helmet, obviously. Thankfully, at ZigWheels, I landed a pair of lovely leather gauntlets from Ixon, called the RS Tilt. I put these gloves to a thorough test while riding in the city, on the highway, and the track. Plus, I had a minor scuffle with a buffalo that ran into my path. How did the gloves fare then?

What Is It?
The RS Tilt is a pair of leather gauntlets designed primarily for sport riding or trackdays. These aren’t quite the full-blown race gloves that Ixon offers as they miss out on the double cuff system that one finds on race gloves. These gloves are made from soft goat leather with an inner mesh lining for good breathability. The sidewall of the glove gets a thicker layer of leather with a little foam panel on the outside of the little finger. Much like many race/sport gloves, the RS Tilt’s ring and little fingers are joined by a little leather panel.

In terms of protection, the gloves are CE Level 1 certified. It also features a plastic slider for the bottom of your palm. There is not much scaphoid protection on offer with a little rubberised strip of branding that spans the breadth of the glove as well as the inner side of your thumb. Carbon knuckle protectors get strategically placed vents around them. Even a few of the small plastic sliders on the fingers are ventilated.

The glove is not heavily perforated. While Ixon claims the inner-side of the fingers are perforated, there are just three small holes on each finger to let out steam. The only proper perforated panel arrives right above the cuff area.

How Is It On The Track?
One should ideally break in gloves like these before using them for racing. But I did not get enough time before heading out to the track. Hence, it took a bit of getting used to get in as the wrist area is particularly narrow. It took me almost two weeks of constant usage, post the track time, to get the gloves to fit like, well erm… a glove. Still, out on the track, the rubberised thumb strip worked well with the smooth grips of the Apache RTR 200 4V I was riding.

Even after the straps are tightly wrapped up, there is enough flexibility in the glove, with no form of restriction offered while swiftly switching directions. I just wished the gauntlet was a bit larger to hold in the elbow pads of your suit in place. However, since it is not an out-and-out race glove, it does a pretty good job.

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How Is It On The Highway?
By using goat leather, the Ixon RS Tilts feel quite light and comfy. The glove feels so soft and comfy that you don’t mind spending hours on the saddle with them. With good breeze flowing in through the small vents and out from the sole perforation patch, the glove feels quite breathable.

How Is It In The City?
My office commute involves an hour’s worth of ride through one of the most packed areas of Pune city. Riding on a hot sunny day or through rush hour traffic, I found myself wishing for a little more breathability. The mesh panel does help with perspiration wicking but I would still end up with a little moisture on my palms after a solid ride through the city.

The Minor Scuffle
On one of the weekend rides with the office boys, I had a minor incident with a buffalo. I guess, upon hearing the sound of the incoming train of bikes, the buffalo tried to get off the road and into a position of safety in the open grazing area, which happened to be to the left of my lane. Not to drag the topic further, my bike took a little beating but thankfully, I escaped with nothing more than a swelling beneath my toe due to an awkward landing. Even though I tried not to break the fall, I did end up scuffing the gloves. One of the plastic palm sliders took a bit of the impact. But nothing more than a small scratch. And I hope it remains as such for the times to come.

Verdict
The Ixon RS Tilt gauntlet is available at the Performance Racing Store in Mumbai for Rs 11,000. It is a good glove, which allows you to enjoy your tarmac riding. However, I have two minor issues. Firstly, for Rs 4,000 more, you could get a heavily perforated gauntlet with kevlar aramid fibres lined into the glove from Ixon. The product is called RS Genius Rep gloves. More importantly, you can get the ViaTerra Grid gauntlet for Rs 4,799, which is on par with the specs of the RS Tilt gloves.