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/141046
M .... Ol .... N .ci '" u, ~ w Z W ...J U >- U THE CYCLE NEWS BOOT COMPARISON TEST by th e Cycle News Staff p hotos by J im Gian a tsis and Nicki Hutton T he purpose of th e Cycle News bo o t co mp arison test is no t to te ll you which mo t or cycle bo ot is better tha n another bu t rath er t o help yo u decide wh ich b o ot wo uld be t he best for you and t he typ e of ridi ng yo u d o. There are n ow a lar ge n um b er of quali ty m o t orcy cle b oo ts on th e m ar ket . Choosi ng th e right b o o t is a d ifficul t venture which co uld end up in a costly m istak e. Yo u ca n no t wa lk into a shoe store and try o n various brands of boots as the average motorcycle deale r seldo m has m or e tha n one brand in stock. Th e brands they d o ca rry are usu all y supplied t o the m by th e same distributor whose m o to rcycles or accessories th ey ca rry . Buying the same b oo ts as yo ur favori te hero rider wears is also a mi st ak e be cause you can almost be sure he received the b oots fr ee of cha rge from his sponso r. A fac tory motocross rider lik e A ke J on sson prob abl y wears Ame rica n Sport Racer s becau se he gets th em free from Maico, You ca n be t all th e Pen ton riders on the ISDT team wor e Hi Po in t boo ts becau se those are the bran d so ld b y Pen ton . The boots chose n fo r the test were p icked because th ey are known popular brands and mo to rcy cle riding is thei r only real application. Pri ce was also a co nsideratio n in th e boots tested. The leas t ex pensive boot we tested was about fifty-five dollars . We co uld only choose so many boots to test so it see med the most logical solu tion to test th e popular bran ds whic h wo uld be a sizeab le expendi ture in a rider's b udget. Th er e are a number of inexpensive motorcycle boots o n the market, m ostly bought up by the new rider who is try in g to keep his investment in t he sport small. They all wo rk as m o tor cy cle boots b ut n ot as we ll as the boots chosen for this test. In th is case we find tha t wi th p rice co mes q ua lity, safety and fu nc tio n . So me peop le wanted us to inclu de a bo o t li ke th e Sears' lin em an 's b oo t in our test because so man y p eo pl e do wear them . Ou r re ply to them was that th e Sear s bo ot is a $20 m ist ak e th at a new rid er o nly ma kes o nce . The firs t time he smas hes hi s t oe b ad ly, smacks his shi n ha rd , ca tc hes th e heel or tries to un lace th em whe n caked in mud is whe n he pu ts th em up and buys a real m otor cy cle bo ot. An ex perienced rider will n ot wear th em . When we fir st pi cked up th e boots for testin g we took all of th em to an o ld and experie nced sh oe rep airman for evalua tion . Who else would be better qualified to tell us how good th e baots were as far as q uality an d being ab le t o h old up in the lon g run than a cob b ler wh o ea rns his livin g rep airing and m akin g shoes. He sai d a few things which at fir st surp rise d us. After an in itial exam inatio n o f th e b o o ts he said th ey were all excelle n tly mad e bo ots. Th is is n o cop ou t o n our par t o r his b ecau se fo r th e p rice th ey should be good bo ots. He had a hard ti me p ick in g o u t th e b o ots he like best becau se th ey all looked reliable. He did say he lik ed th e norma l buckles be tte r than the tr ick th ings found on the Hi Point and Fu ll Bor e boots. Buckles are sew n to the b o o ts on tabs of leath er and if broken or t orn wo uld be easy to rep air. Th e tr ic k buc kles o n th e Hi Po in ts and th e Full Bores as well as the standard b u ckles on th e A. S.R . b oots are riveted to th e side of th e b oo ts instead of b eing sew n o n. If th ese caugh t o n so m ething and were pulled out th ey would be very d iffic ult to rep air. He lik ed the steel ca pped toes as found o n th e Vik in g and Top Gear b o o ts. It see ms m an y m o tor cycl e rider s we talked to are against th em be cau se they th in k if the stee l ca ps wou ld co llapse it co uld cut off or crush toes. Neither they nor we have eve r heard of it happen ing so we will have to say the ob vio us safe ty features of a steel cap in the toe far outwe ich the envisione d d isad vantage. Steel capped toes ar e be tt er. Hercules' steel toe taps work we ll. Our cobbler also lik ed t he sewn o n soles o n boots tested , like the Hercu les Hallrna ns, IIi Poi nt and Fu ll Bo re, be tter th an the vulcanized soles of the Top Gear, Vi ki ngs and A.S.R.'s. T his was fro m his viewpoin t of havi ng to re pai r the m . From o ur experience and from talkin g with othe r ride rs we fou nd the vulcan ize d soles w ill last the life of the boot while the glued and sewn so les m ay separate soo ner wit lT age : What is the average life of one of these top quali ty boots? Used hard every weekend for m o to cro ss o r en d uro ridi ng th ey will last about a year. For casual trail riding they sho uld last indefin ite ly with proper upkeep . \\ben we as ke d him which bo o t he would choose from a sta ndpoint of b est materi als, qual ity and wo rkma nsh ip ou r cobb ler was hard p u t to answer. lie finally ans wered afte r even closer insp ec tion of th e b oots that he liked the Viking and To p Gea r boots t he best. He wa nted to choose th e Fu ll Bore b o o ts b ut he just p lain d idn' t like th e new ty pe b uckles t hey had. We th o ugh t we had a good idea of which boo ts were better and lik ely to win t he co mparison test' when we left the cobb ler's but th en we we n t o ut rid in g with th e boots . As soon as we p u t o n the boots we fo und o ut things we never realized. On many of the boots so me of th e st ra ps were j ust too short t o b uckle up and t he o nes which di d b uckle usu ally b uckled in th e las t hole punch ed in t he strap . Put o n a pair of mot ocross leather pants with shin guards and the sit uation becom es even worse. \Ve fou nd the pair of Hi Point end uro boots wo uld buc kle o n the right leg an d not o n the left. Aft er close in spection we discove red the straps o n the right boo t we re 1{2 inch lo nger than th e o nes on the left. Eve n o n so me of the b o o ts wh er e the st raps d id reach t he b uckl es th e fro n t pad ded pan els wer e st re tc he d so far ope n t hey co ul d n't offer t heir be st p ro tecti on . Mo st of the hoots tes ted w e re manufac tured in Eu ro pe . It was obvious that those boots are being manu factured for a dif'teren t build of person than th e average American mot or cycle rider. Befo re yo u buy a b o o t be sure to tryon o ne of the same size . Co nve rsio n from European shoe sizes to A me rican are not alwavs accu rate. Mo st of the bo ots o rdered had t o be exchange d for an other size excep t ' for th e Hercu les. boot wh ich is mad e in th e USA. . Wearin g th e b oots rea lly brought o ut th eir person alities an d rid us c t th e n oti on of try in g to p ick o u t one bo o t as being be tter than an y o f th e o the rs . A b o ot wh ich was good for m oto cross racing usu ally proved to b e unsuitable for end uro rid ing . What reall y surprised us wa s th e Full Bores and th e Hi Po in ts. th e two m ost pop ular en duro bo ots , wer e t he heaviest and least com fo rta b le t o w alk in . St ra nge wh en yo u co nsider t he endu ro rid er is li kel y to we ar h is b oots all day long and in man y cases may d o a lo t of wal kin g. Read th e revi ew s of eac h of th e bo o ts tested and d ecid e which o ne will b est suit th e type of riding you d o. When yo u kn ow wh at boot you would li ke, go to the de aler wh o ca rries it . Have with y o u th e socks and th e p ants you will wear when you go rid in g. Try th e b oots on and walk arou nd the showroom wi th the m . Only th en should y o u decide t o lay do wn your hard ea rned m on ey fo r th em . Th ey are all good b o o ts but unl ess th ey fit your riding and you r foo t they are n't goi ng to d o you an y good , ~~;; The boot t est : ins pec ti o n an d ap prai sa l by co b b ler, Belinda gets he r f o ot into th e f itting t est. and th en th e fie ld te sting .