Love sporty looking snowmobiles with a small windshield, but tired of freezing your hands off? This article Test of the handlebar sleeves is for you.
Over the years, manufacturers have reduced all wind and cold protection in order to have snowmobiles with a more sporty look. I’ve been snowmobiling for about 20 years and I’ve seen the slimming down of the windshields that gave birth to handguards. This equipment, which manufacturers have improved over the years, reaches its limit of protection rather quickly.
After years of freezing my hands, buying the best and warmest gloves, I resigned myself and tried the clear film sleeves that allow a good view of the controls. Since the sleeves are made of a material that gives good rigidity, the rider is able to reach the handlebars easily without having to squeeze his hand through a soft fabric that collapses as soon as you let go of the handle, whether it’s to clean your visor or to greet a snowmobiler.
Now, this equipment is permanently installed on my snowmobile and no one would have convincing enough arguments to remove them. No more big snowmobile gloves that hinder the precision of the driving or even worse, the access and the use of the different controls. I wear motocross style gloves that are thin, with a good grip that allow precise driving while having easy access to the controls. Concealed behind the hand guards, the sleeves do not detract from the look of your machine while protecting your controls from the elements.
I have ridden in very cold temperatures and these little gloves do the job especially with the heated thumb and grip controls with dimmers. Not everything is perfect, so make sure you have warmer gloves with you when you stop, as the small motocross gloves quickly reach their limits when not assisted by the heated grips. BRP offers this equipment that installs very well in a short time on Ski-doo models. Kimpex offers a similar versatile product that can be installed on all four major brands.
It is important to secure the sleeve to the end of the handle, which will provide greater rigidity and ease of access when riding. The sleeves can be attached without removing the hand guards which take care of the wind deflection, which contributes greatly to the better performance of the sleeves.
