New Boots

I ride motorcycles every day.  Which means I wear motorcycle boots every day.

Motorcycle boots differ from normal boots in two important ways.  They are sturdier to protect your ankle in the event of a crash and they have rubber (not leather) soles.  When you put your foot down on the road, the ground is often slippery; you don't want your foot to slide and have an 800-lb. motorcycle come falling on top of you.  Rubber soles grab the road; leather soles slip.

For ordinary life, I wear boots that are inconspicuous.  They hide beneath my suit-pants or jeans and don't call attention to themselves.  This is good for when I go to court or business meetings.  The boots shown are my current pair.

Up until now, this has been the only style of boot I needed.  My experience at the track, however, has changed that.

Most of you know that I had to buy leather pants recently to be allowed onto the racetrack.  (Track rules require full-leathers.)  Leather pants are form-fitted and go inside your boots.  My current street-riding boots aren't designed for the track and look odd over leather pants.  To remedy that, I just bought a new pair of motorcycle boots designed specifically for racing.  These boots are extra-sturdy for protection and they look better with leathers.

I'll be wearing these when I go back to the track.  I'll also wear them on the street when I go out in full-leathers to ride my Yamaha aggressively.  There are occasions when I ride with friends and we push the envelope a bit.  On those spirited rides, wearing more protection is better than less since I might need it.

The new boots were expensive ($200) but, with protective gear, I always buy the best.  (My life was saved once by a top-notch helmet.)  On top of the protection, I also like how wickedly cool the boots look.  What do you think?