Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125823
Page 28 Augun 28, 1975 AMP Yam•• AMP lIalee AMP SUzuki AMP CZ AMP Kawasaki SUPPLY -I tit4t Ide ~ &q.~ /M de~. ! &~i.u,,9 /M- ti.e ",utu. ! 1fIMU'4, ~ ~ aluminum swing arms. works ,frames Flylng Finn products. Konl sbocks, Sa11ce Goggles. MX leathers, MX boots, JOFA. Carrera goccles, Akront. DID rims. V1ld.Dg products. U.s, SIlOrts products, Maverick shocks,Cheney frames 10 stock, CZIO-speed bicycles, Maguras, Diamond Barum tires cbaln. Dunlop, Plrell1, Goodyear. NGK, Champion plugs. BlendzaU; Cbaln-Ll!e, Torco, Lok- Tite, Hang Ten_ Plastic faDlastic The nwt1Jrcycle competition boot enters the 20th century ByJohnHuetter It is no longer reasonable to keep calling these essays into new products extensions of the "Cycle News Boot Test" since the subject ,of this evaluation hadn't been invented when that thorough survey was made nearly six months ago. This is a test of a plastic racing bOOL Association with GP racen bring ou t all sorts of strange coonec tions and apparatus to hand that are new and different to American eyes. Yes, they do things differently in Europe and care about how it happens in the U.S.A. only to the extent of the potential markeL They don't care (very much) how the heJl we do iL.. in Califomia. The Item: MANUFACTURER OF AMP IMOTORCYCLES Trick accessories for alI blkes. Works tanks, Frames. DID rims CbromoIy bars. SuPer Red oil. eAction Supplye A D1VlSION OF AMP INDUSTRIES Dealer and Distributorlnquiries Invited 8803 ALMEDA_GENOA ROAD, HOUSTON, TX 77034 PHONE TOLL-FREE 800-392-4949 EASTERN DISTRIBUTOR FOR BOYD & STELUNGS FRAMES & ALUMINUM SWING ARMS (713) 946-3004 IN TEXAS One of the most radical differences in this footgear is the application of ski boot technology to the demands of motorcycle competition. I've been wondering for some time why somebody didn't at least use the ski-boot snap fastenen on MX boots. Now Heckel, a firm in the Alsation Province of France, has gone the whole way, with a plastic (actually a polyvinyl chloride-coated nylon solid) competition motorcycle booL It's the first really new boot since flat trackers stopped wedging Army surplus combat boots. When you think about the problem, the similarities between a ski boot and a motocross or croa-country boot are striking. Both must provide complete foot and lower leg protection from a harsh natural environment while allowing the human being total control over a sporting extension of himself (or henelf) to be used in rapid movement over uneven terrain. Anything too flimsy and it hurts your body, bu t a steel tank is not the answer either. Skiing has now completed the transition from leather lace-ups and buc kJe boots to the beginnlDg for off-road c.ompetitiori. It will, at any rate, take some of that move adapting to just as it did on the ski slopes in the 1960's. The Elements: I ~======~;:::::=:;::::::;:=::::~~ What ever you have to sell - Cycle News want ads can sell it HOT News HATS II Cycle - Dept. CNP $l.oo.~ P.O. Box 498 Long Beach, ca. 90801 • MISI Plwerful go : • • 1II..,.f Mi".. ,i•• , COOPER MOTORS • 110 E, S.n" An;'. Ayo, i:._ a' • MAleC:: BUf .. n", c., 91502.. 0; .. As mentioned, the basic construction material of the ou ter shen of this boot is PVC nylon. It is awfully tough material and resists shocks a1moot totally. It has a very high ability to absorb impact and is s1.icky-smooth so that mud either slides off or washes completely with a squirt from a hose. The inside liner of the boot is a soft, padded foam material covered with vinyl and a leather sour-fitting top that extends beyond the sheJl to keep mud and water ouL hall works acceptably. The toe of the boot has a completely smooth profile which flows withou t interruption into the bard Nbber sole. The toe area is built structurally so that the foot is totally impervious to impacL You can drop a brick on your toe, wearing the boots, and it just bounces off with no injury to the fooL The sole is smooth, for skating comen, with just enough heel and crosa-nbbing to bold a foot peg on the motocross model The enduro model has a full lug sole for pushing up muddy inclines, etc. The rest of the boot is identical to the MX type except for ibis traction tread ontbe bottom. There is a rough-cut anti-sJip area on the tops and insteps of the boots in a softer, Nbbery plastic to allow positive shifting. It will not skid off the shift pedal even when weL This latter was an IDIportant criteria in determining the composition and size of the anti-slip area during testing in Belgium's rain. The upper leg area of the boot is attached to the lower "shoe" part by two nylon screws which are threaded so R". G8ItDn hal bien wearing till plastic: boots for over • month now MId, • he becomes -.stomed to tIIIm. is quilll pleaId. as to pull tighter under stress rather than releasing. Metal rivets were tried and discarded as too breakage-prone under competition conditions. They also tended to interrupt the smooth interior profile of the boOL There are three aluminum Iightweight buckles which fasten the boot to the foot and one large industrial map which wu included as an option and which we' found to be opttonal. Hardly anybody fastened it for dry coones but sometimes did so for mud or deep water. It doesn't seem to be critical but probably makes the boot easier to puton. The Test The most obvious advantage to the Heckel-manufactured motocross boot (or enduro boot) is the convenience with which you can put it on and take it off. It takes anywhere from IG-30 seconds to put one of the fantastic plastic machines around your foot, depending on your proficiency and how many times you've done iL The feeling is that of constructing a protective control unit around your fooL To put it on, the boot is laid completely open, you slide your foot into the padded inner liner and press shut the Vekro fastener at the top. You then map the three ski boot-type lightweight buckles. There are seven positions of adjustment on each that are "locked" in Once you find the right one for your ler-Ieathen combination. Then you don't have to change iL Depending on how lazy you are. or coone conditions, you press the lower map shuL Sometimes we did; sometimes we dicin't. The "we"', in this cue, is Gaston Rabier, 1972 Belgian and Japan Motocross Champion and "me". At Imt you are very aware that you have rigid pieces of inflexible plastic on your feeL Then you walk around in them awhile. The hinr: works and you soon forget that you re wearing them. Then, onto a motocrouer. During the first 15 minutes of riding you are again aware of a very different sort of footwear covering your toes. Then, you p_ through the phase of seeing if you reaDy can shift "aDd brake with the rigid lowen on your fOOL Shifting is no problem. Slap-bash! Up or down around Claude J obe's especiaDy laid out private MX course and you feel no tender pain in your instep. Going down in the gean