Motorcycleworld360

You’re new to motorcycling, you know you need some motorcycle boots, you’ve done some reading, you’ve listened to friends. Still, you have no idea about this world of boots and you’re probably going to make the wrong purchase the first time around.

New riders can be hard to outfit with motorcycle gear. They come to the game with all types of misconceptions, wishes and mis-construed advice from friends. It seems to me that a lot of new riders really don’t get that until you get some miles under your belt - motorcycle riding is anything but comfortable. It’s not! Stuck in one position, leaned over, wind buffeting your head getting in your face, bugs flying at you, your body vibrating everywhere and getting numb. And that’s on a clear day with no other obstacles thrown in. Add some weather: heat, rain, humidity, fog, or throw in the risk of a crash and your body tumbling down the road and motorcycling quickly looks like a very uncomfortable idea indeed.

Protective motorcycle clothing is designed to improve all of these conditions at a minimum, keeping you comfortable, making you a better rider by keeping your attention on riding. This fact, though, is one of the things that freaks out new riders the most. A new rider is already uncomfortable on the bike, hasn’t tuned their senses to all the various requirements of keeping the bike upright, and we (the motorcycle industry) come at them and say “ok you barely know what gear you’re riding in and we’re going to ask that you wear these lead boots, carbon gloves, leather pants and a jacket with armor in it. “

It’s no wonder many riders get turned off immediately to the idea of protective clothing and simply ride with the bare minimum, or whatever the law requires.

Before starting this article, I came across a short blurb in the newspaper today about buying walking shoes. A small quote from the article read: “If the sales person suggest buying a good pair of running shoes for your walking activity, walk the other way.” This reminded me of what we try to communicate to new riders when they’re buying motorcycle boots.

The new rider will come into our store and frequently do one or all of the following misconceptions:

Consider buying a pair of motocross boots when they are a street rider.

Want a boot that they can ride all day long in, or wear at work all day long in.

Want a boot that is protective, completely flexible, offers no loss of feel, is breathable and waterproof all rolled into one.

Want a boot that doesn’t look like a motorcycle boot and a regular boot at the same time.

Try some boots on and factor only the initial feel of fitment as the main criteria for deciding which boots to buy, or whether to buy boots at all.

The truth is, there’s no boot that will fit all these criteria. Motorcycle boots, if in fact they are designed for motorcycle riding aren’t going to be very comfortable when not motorcycle riding, any more than Ski boots will be comfortable when using them for any other activity than Skiing.

Motorcycle boots are generally made to suit 5 categories of riding:

Boots for Roadracing and Track Days

Boots for Sportbike Street Riding

Boots for Casual Commuting and Around Town Riding

Boots for Wet Weather Riding

Boots for MotoCross

Note- there’s no category for Roadracing and Driving a Bus, or, Commuting and Office Dress. There really isn’t a boot that’s designed for both on and off use and there really is no non-motorcycle boot that’s really great on a bike. A lot of riders simply ride with their casual shoes or will try to upgrade that a bit and go with a steel toe work-boot type product. While the work boot is a little safer than riding in tennis shoes or work loafers, they’re still no substitute for a true motorcycle boot. Here’s why

Getting in and Out. Motorcycle boots have specific design features that are intended to keep your boots on your feet in the event of a crash. This is why you see the extra Velcro closures at the top of the boot. This also generally makes for a boot that is hard to both get in and get out of. You want your boots to stay on you, if you are thrown from the bike or fall off and go sliding. This feature alone can be a huge turn-off for new riders, especially women, who will moan, groan and squeel when trying on a motorcycle boot for the first time.

Laces. In general, most riding boots have specific features that help prevent the boot from catching on things on the bike. A common mishap for any rider wearing shoes with shoe laces on them is to take your foot of the peg, try to touch the ground, only to find that your shoe laced latched on to the foot peg and you and bike go over at a stop light. This is why you see motorcycle boots either without any laces at all, or if they do have them, they usually have some type of cover or strap covering the laces.

Stiff soles. When you’re walking around you want a shoe that will flex depending on the terrain and obstacles. Motorcycle boots are typically in one position- on a footpeg. If you go on a long ride with regular soft soled shoes, you’ll notice that your foot bottom can get soar from just being stuck on that stick all day long, as well as from the vibration transferred to it from the bike. This is why motorcycle boots typically have very stiff soles, usually reinforced with a steel shank for even greater protection. This makes a crappy walking shoe.

Outter foot protection. A plain old leather boot can protect your feet from some abrasion, as long as it’s stitched well and it stays on your foot, but what it can’t do is protect from real impact, twisting, getting run over. At the extreme, full blown motorcycle race boots are like knee braces for your feet. They have special braces and inserts that help prevent twisting and they have special pads and guards that will absorb energy on impact. If you’ve ever watched a motorcycle race where a racer crashes and goes tumbling down the lane, you’ll see that they usually get right back up and walk away from the ordeal. If that same rider had not been wearing protective boots they wouldn’t be getting up after a crash. At the other end of the scale, even good touring and commuting boots will have special reinforcements on the toe, ankle and shin area that are designed to do some or all of the things that a full blown race boot does on a lessor scale. Hardened toe inserts, ankle pads, double leather stitching using kevlar threads and shin pads are there in any good motorcycle touring boot.

Weather protection. Motorcycle boots can be designed with a variety of features that offer improved conditions in various types of weather. Getting caught in the rain can be a real downer for your whole body. For your feet this means getting wet on the inside, as well as on the out. Wet weather boots are designed to do all the things your regular moto boots do in terms of protection, plus keep you dry and safe at the same time. You’ll see touring boots that use gore-tex fabrics for waterproofing and breathing and special soles for wet terrain grip. At the other end of the scale, there’s boots specifically designed for warm weather riding. Boots with venting, perforated panels, etc. all help keep your body cool and refreshed while on the bike, rather than stifled, which can hinder your concentration while riding.

A small word about fit. For most foot shapes, fit won’t really be much of an issue. Boot makers have pretty much solved the size question. Some boots will run big, or small, some will run wide or narrow. The one area we find some makers fall short is on women with large calves, which can be a challenge. In general, your motorcycle boots should fit, ie. your feet shouldn’t be pinched and nor should they be swimming inside the boot.

If you are a new rider, or even if you are a season rider without good foot protection, we recommend doing a little research on what’s available. Give Motostrano a call or order on the web once you’ve figured out what type of boot is designed for the kind of riding you’ll be doing. If you find you’re doing various types of riding and you really like this this motorcycle thing, you’ll end up needing more than one pair of boots to suit those riding conditions. Most importantly - get your selves some real motorcycle boots.