I hate to damage leather steering wheels with sweaty hands, so keep cheap cotton gardening gloves aboard for such occasions. Yep, it looks dorky, as if I care. For “spirited” motoring in the mountains, I wear the same Simpson nomex gloves that I use on the racetrack.

For splitting and filtering through L.A. traffic, the KLR is nearly ideal. It gets zero respect from cruiser and sporty types, but neither does it get stolen. And yes, there is a milk crate zip tied to her tail.