Boots for the Rocket...

Stumpy said:

Americans seem to have some adversity to staying safe on the road, particularly in the eastern part of the country. Having lived in the San Diego area for nearly 20 years, I found that the majority of the serious riders almost always wore racing leathers to stay safe, because obstacles on the street are far more numerous than they are on any track. However, most riders, including myself, rode sport bikes because of the types of roads out there. When you go to Europe, it’s normal to see motorcycle riders wearing full leathers with armor. Around here I see people riding around with nothing but flip flops, shorts, a t-shirt, and no helmet. It’s crazy that the state allows me to ride a motorcycle that way without fear of being ticketed, but should I dare to get in my car and not wear my seatbelt, I’ve committed a major crime. It’s absolutely ridiculous. There’s simply NO legitimate excuse for not wearing a helmet.

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I can agree with most everything you have stated here except the part about no excuse for not wearing a helmet. The guy in flip flops may say to you 'there's no excuse to ride at 110 mph' because "there's simply NO legitimate excuse for riding that fast". You are required to wear a helmet that is DOT certified (which means nothing) so in a car it's a seatbelt and on a motorcycle it's a helmet (in most states). As far as the flip flops go it's not the Federal Government or the States job to dress you even though you and I know it's not safe to ride with flip flops and shorts. I cringe when I think back to my late teens riding to Los Angeles without a helmet along with my leather jacket and chaps. Not everyone has the desire to wear racing gear while riding and they shouldn't have to if they don't want to. I wear a full face helmet, armored jacket, gloves and boots. I lack in the pants department because I wear Jeans but if you wear racing pants or no pants that's up to the individual. I thank god that the State doesn't tell me I have to wear full riding gear because I have freedom of choice. It's dumb to ride without a helmet but once again it isn't smart to drive 110 mph but like most of us, we do.

the right to choose
i wear a helmet except when i forget. but i support the right of choice just like i think it is crazy to have ape hangers that go a foot over your shoulders
but i vote for that right of choice.
do u really want some moron telling u u have to wear seat belts. or a big jacket that blows up if u side swipe a sign.

I didn’t start wearing a full helmet until I started with distance glasses and then one of my eyes went belly up. Same with sneakies. Broken foot ended that. I’ve never lived in a state without a helmet law.

idk said:

Cowboy boots with non-slip soles.

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While I am currently using some alpinestar boots, I was thinking going the route of a cowboy boot... any particular suggestion? I see you are in TN... I am near cherohala skyway about once a month.. What about the shifter? My alpines have good padding for the shifter... what about cowboy boots?

I never had any problems with the shifter. My "every day" boots are Double H, made in PA. I have 2 pair which are used every day between them. Both have been re-soled at least once and re-heeled a couple or more times, and are probably 15 or more years old. No sign of wear from the shifter. Very happy with them. I don't know if they have the same model that I have, but here is their website. Double-H Boots | Welcome to the Official Home of Double-H Boots - doublehboots.com

I have a kevlar lined hoodie with armored elbows, shoulders and back as a more casual approach to armor and I do have some good gloves and high-end Shoei helmet. That's about as far as I'll take it. I might buy some kevlar lined riding pants eventually. I'll probably never do a full leather track suit.

Mighty Mouse said:

I can agree with most everything you have stated here except the part about no excuse for not wearing a helmet. The guy in flip flops may say to you 'there's no excuse to ride at 110 mph' because "there's simply NO legitimate excuse for riding that fast". You are required to wear a helmet that is DOT certified (which means nothing) so in a car it's a seatbelt and on a motorcycle it's a helmet (in most states). As far as the flip flops go it's not the Federal Government or the States job to dress you even though you and I know it's not safe to ride with flip flops and shorts. I cringe when I think back to my late teens riding to Los Angeles without a helmet along with my leather jacket and chaps. Not everyone has the desire to wear racing gear while riding and they shouldn't have to if they don't want to. I wear a full face helmet, armored jacket, gloves and boots. I lack in the pants department because I wear Jeans but if you wear racing pants or no pants that's up to the individual. I thank god that the State doesn't tell me I have to wear full riding gear because I have freedom of choice. It's dumb to ride without a helmet but once again it isn't smart to drive 110 mph but like most of us, we do.

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Most people in Aus that wear “chaps” can be found at the gay Mardi Gra. R3 riders here tend to stay away from wearing chaps.

mr hunt said:

These ones for everyday riding:




...and these for more formal outings:

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Very nice , does the toe get stuck under the gear lever

pica said:

While I am currently using some alpinestar boots, I was thinking going the route of a cowboy boot... any particular suggestion? I see you are in TN... I am near cherohala skyway almost once a week.. What about the shifter? My alpines have good padding for the shifter... what about cowboy boots?

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Which model is this? Thanks

Stumpy said:

Having been through a serious accident, there’s a whole lot that can go wrong such as having an ankle getting shoved into a curb causing your foot to bend in the wrong direction and break. Race boots keep that from happening. Regular leather boots, while far better than sneakers, still offer no protection for keeping a foot from getting twisted in the wrong direction or crushed. There’s another alternative however...look at boots for motocross and dirt bikes. They offer up more protection for the ankle as well as your calves. Plus you can get them in your basic black verses having to deal with loud colors.

Americans seem to have some adversity to staying safe on the road, particularly in the eastern part of the country. Having lived in the San Diego area for nearly 20 years, I found that the majority of the serious riders almost always wore racing leathers to stay safe, because obstacles on the street are far more numerous than they are on any track. However, most riders, including myself, rode sport bikes because of the types of roads out there. When you go to Europe, it’s normal to see motorcycle riders wearing full leathers with armor. Around here I see people riding around with nothing but flip flops, shorts, a t-shirt, and no helmet. It’s crazy that the state allows me to ride a motorcycle that way without fear of being ticketed, but should I dare to get in my car and not wear my seatbelt, I’ve committed a major crime. It’s absolutely ridiculous. There’s simply NO legitimate excuse for not wearing a helmet.

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I wouldn't agree that American riders in general have a adversity to safety on the road. I will say there are subsets of the riding population who don't necessarily take safety as seriously as others. Younger riders, the squids on sport bikes are the most notable and older cruiser riders in the Harley crowd who have a general dislike for rules and regulations. That's just my personal observation from years of riding. Having many Harley friends and ridden with that crowd over the years there is a general aversion to anything that restricts freedom or personal choice.

I grew up riding dirtbikes and atc's around 7 years old, always wore a full face helmet and I always wear a helmet on the street regardless of the state laws. Took many hard landings on the hard New Jersey pine barren sand to learn the hard way. I've toggled between full face, 3/4 and half helmets over the years but mainly wear full face now. Being older an wiser I now value what's left of my brain much more than I had in the past, so it will be full face for me from now on. It all comes down to personal choice and the level of risk that each rider is willing to accept. I certainly don't take issue with fellow riders who choose to not wear various forms of protection, that's entirely their choice and I don't believe the Government should legislate that choice away from the individual.

Though I wear protection, I'm not a full-on ATTGAT disciple, but I always wear a helmet, gloves (your hands go down first), jacket and leather boots. Race gear on the street offers only a slightly margin of protection on the street in my opinion. If you go down on the street, chances are you are going to get hurt in some fashion and it's all up to chance once your sliding across the pavement. It's not so much the landing on the pavement part of the experience, but making contact with other objects in your path of travel that cause the most damage. My wife's cousin avoided a full right fender impact with a Prius that cut him off, only to make enough contact with the front bumper to throw him off balance and off the road into a guard rail which, as you can imagine caused serious injury. The race track is not comparable to the street in anyway shape or form. The track is 100% predictable vs. the street. Turns 1, 2, 3 etc are always the same, there are no cars, trucks, heavy equipment, no children, dogs, etc and if you dump on the track, you are far less likely to come into contact with an immovable object. Just my 2 cents.