Are boots necessary?

[Taelan28]

Hey. Quick intro. I've proudly passed 21,000km without any accidents. I know nothing about fixing a motorcycle and only know a little bit more about riding one.

I remember talking to a man on the bus over a year ago, he was a harley rider and said riding boots or steel toed boots are absolutely necessary. Why is that? I've see a lot of sport bike riders riding around here (in korea) with fancy pants riding boots but I dont see how they are as necessary as somethign like a jacket, helmet or gloves. If you fall it would seem that a normal pair of shoes would protect you from road rash and since your feet are so close to the ground they wouldnt make as much impact as our upper body.

So why the necessity of riding boots or steel toed boots?

[HelmetHead Cycle]

Are you serious?

[rhlrdr]

Are good feet/ankles necessary??

[Taelan28]

Yes I am serious. Can you explain this thoroughly too. It would appear to me that once you fall all the pressure, impact and skiddage would be on your but and upper body. I ask these questions so I have better understanding of things so I know if I need to buy new gear, or change the way I ride.

When I got a motorcyle two years ago I thought a crash was inevitable, and I explained to the co-worker I was buying from my worries, after a while he had heard enough of it and said "why dont you go out and just get a $3,000 body suit?" Such a thing would have minimized physical injury to me but it would have looked awefully silly with a $3,000 full body safety suit for a person riding a 125cc Daelim.

Look I would like to be safe riding my bike and minimize injury should something go wrong, but I would like to know why an experienced rider said protective boots were absolutely necessary with the implication that something like protective pants were not. Afterall, I do see guys riding around in protective boots and knee pads but have on regular jeans.

[Twilight Error]

A motorcycle crash is a very violent event, there isn't any way to predict how you're going to come off the bike or how you're going to come to a stop on the road.
Four years ago, I got rear-ended by a truck. I was stopped, waiting to make a left turn, the truck hit me at ~40mph. I saw him just in time to get moving again, but my GS and I were thrown some 60' down the road. Witnesses say I looked a lot like a ragdoll in the tumble. I know my feet hit the ground many times, they were pretty bruised when I got my boots off. Would I have been injured more if I was wearing sneakers? Can't say, and I'm not willing to try it again to find out.

There are a couple advantages to wearing real MC boots:
Ankle and lower leg protection from hot exhaust and engine components.
No laces to hang up on the pegs.
A stiff sole improves comfort on the pegs by spreading out the contact area.
The soles are oil and gas resistant - if you step into a puddle of either, the sole won't start dissolving.
Many are waterproof, riding with cold and wet feet sucks.

[Forde]

because your fucking foot could get ripped off easily in a crash

and you are very likely to at least snap you ankle or something if you come off

[SR1]

Come ride with me sometime. Seriously. You'll appreciate boots. I can actually go tomorrow (Sunday) if you are free.

Wait, invitation redacted...with all due respect, you won't be able to keep a pace that is really interesting. If you were on a sport bike, DS or GS, I'd put the fear of a broken ankle in you.

[Taelan28]

Originally Posted by Twilight Error

A motorcycle crash is a very violent event, there isn't any way to predict how you're going to come off the bike or how you're going to come to a stop on the road.
Four years ago, I got rear-ended by a truck. I was stopped, waiting to make a left turn, the truck hit me at ~40mph. I saw him just in time to get moving again, but my GS and I were thrown some 60' down the road. Witnesses say I looked a lot like a ragdoll in the tumble. I know my feet hit the ground many times, they were pretty bruised when I got my boots off. Would I have been injured more if I was wearing sneakers? Can't say, and I'm not willing to try it again to find out.

There are a couple advantages to wearing real MC boots:
Ankle and lower leg protection from hot exhaust and engine components.
No laces to hang up on the pegs.
A stiff sole improves comfort on the pegs by spreading out the contact area.
The soles are oil and gas resistant - if you step into a puddle of either, the sole won't start dissolving.
Many are waterproof, riding with cold and wet feet sucks.

Well that was the best inexact answer you could write: Violent crash, had one myself, feet hit the ground a couple times and still had bruises after I took off the boots.

The "advantages" seem dont really appeal to me. Im more concerned about the crash protection. As petty as this sounds I also want convenience. I dont want to go on a motorcycle trip, spend a day in a city and have to lug around motorcycle boots, or even look stupid walking around in motorcycle boots. A motorcycle jacket provides warmth adn a much better protection pay off. If I had a fancy pants sport bike I would be more much more likely to get them as well as knee pads and proper riding jeans.

Yes riding in the rain does suck. Ive done it PLENTY of times here in Korea where it rains almost all summer. I hate wet feet and a wet shirt but I hate a wet crotch even more.

Twilight Error Im happy to have you still here responding to this.

[Taelan28]

Originally Posted by SR1

Come ride with me sometime. Seriously. You'll appreciate boots. I can actually go tomorrow (Sunday) if you are free.

sure 010 2268 8270. I've never really ridden with anyone before. I've gone nearly all my miles solo.

[Twilight Error]

Originally Posted by Taelan28

Well that was the best inexact answer you could write: Violent crash, had one myself, feet hit the ground a couple times and still had bruises after I took off the boots.

The "advantages" seem dont really appeal to me. Im more concerned about the crash protection. As petty as this sounds I also want convenience. I dont want to go on a motorcycle trip, spend a day in a city and have to lug around motorcycle boots, or even look stupid walking around in motorcycle boots. A motorcycle jacket provides warmth adn a much better protection pay off. If I had a fancy pants sport bike I would be more much more likely to get them as well as knee pads and proper riding jeans.

Yes riding in the rain does suck. Ive done it PLENTY of times here in Korea where it rains almost all summer. I hate wet feet and a wet shirt but I hate a wet crotch even more.

Twilight Error Im happy to have you still here responding to this.

What motorcycle boots are you looking at that are so massively bulky and heavy that you don't want to wear them? Racing boots are massively protective, but also massive and expensive. My ex wears BMW All-Around boots - mid high cut, fits under jeans, waterproof and reasonably protective. Comfortable walking, too.

[SR1]

Originally Posted by Taelan28

sure 010 2268 8270. I've never really ridden with anyone before. I've gone nearly all my miles solo.

Sorry bud, you're welcome to come along sometime but probably not just you and I...the 125 just won't keep up. :)

FWIW, I kinda agree with you in YOUR circumstance. I've ridden scooters in many places with nothing more than tennies and felt fine with it. If you can get up to 50kph I'd be surprised.

Case study on boots, personal example: In Cambodia, riding some very wet (partially underwater) offroad tracks at a respectable pace (when out of water maybe 30-50kph)...there were some things on the side of the trail. 90 percent of the time it was just a bush. The trail would get really narrow and we'd push through the busy some. Sometimes the "bush" was really a damned concrete pole. I whacked one at what must have been 40kph...twice. I hit one so hard that it lifted my foot and leg all the way up level with the seat and back behind me. NO INJURY at all and I just kept riding. Thank you Sidi Crossfires and Asterisk knee braces! That would have broken a leg with no armor.

On the street, in a crash you have no way of really knowing where your feet will be in relation to static objects. Boots kinda keep your feet on the bottom of your legs...and can help prevent breaks and strains. Also, boots like my race/street boots (Sidi Vertigo) have nice little pads on the outside, which acts as a nice feeler for lean angle.

Oh, and it is fairly common for me and my friends to go to lunch in a random town wearing our MX boots. Take 'em off at the door just like any other shoe.

[Taelan28]

$250 is not chump change. However I will concede that the medical bills and and pins in my feet will pale in comparison to a boot purchase.

I travel with a small back pack. I wear shoes and stuff slide sandals in my bag as well as my camera, sun block, swimsuit and an extra pair of clothes, and I hate carrying THAT around when Im at my destination. Another pair of regular shoes would only be slightly less bulky and annoying to me. When I pack for long weekend trips I fill my bigger Oakley backpack with camera, clothes, lifejacket (I waterski), shoes, sun screen, phone charger and room for other stuff.

All motocycle boots lack style to me. Yes they look nice and cool and are well designed motorcyle boots but walking into a restaurant with them or meeting a very pretty korean lady with motorcycle boots is just tacky. So ultimately I have petty conflict of interest, be protected or be lean, convenient and socially adjusted.

[Taelan28]

My Daystar goes 120, and I could go 110-115 pretty consistenly. Bigger bikes blast me by me pretty easily especially on accelleration, but anyone going 140+ is riding on the dangerous side. Further I've gone the same direction as biking groups and in medium level traffic and a small amount of stop lights I keep up, until we hit an open stretch of road and they pull away at 130. Id like to join if you wouldnt mind going a little slower.

[Twilight Error]

Originally Posted by Taelan28

$250 is not chump change. However I will concede that the medical bills and and pins in my feet will pale in comparison to a boot purchase.

I travel with a small back pack. I wear shoes and stuff slide sandals in my bag as well as my camera, sun block, swimsuit and an extra pair of clothes, and I hate carrying THAT around when Im at my destination. Another pair of regular shoes would only be slightly less bulky and annoying to me. When I pack for long weekend trips I fill my bigger Oakley backpack with camera, clothes, lifejacket (I waterski), shoes, sun screen, phone charger and room for other stuff.

All motocycle boots lack style to me. Yes they look nice and cool and are well designed motorcyle boots but walking into a restaurant with them or meeting a very pretty korean lady with motorcycle boots is just tacky. So ultimately I have petty conflict of interest, be protected or be lean, convenient and socially adjusted.

I can't speak to healthcare in S. Korea, but this:

Cost my employer's insurance company $60k, by the time rehab and lost work was figured in, the bill was into 6 digits.

Granted, this was the result of a logging accident, but similar outcomes are not impossible in a bad crash.

You've got to balance your own risk/reward equation. I balanced mine on the side of protection.

[manic mechanic]

If you are looking at boots from strictly a fashion viewpoint, you need to reconsider. I ride on city streets, country roads, interstate highways, wherever the front wheel takes me. There have been many times where a road hazard presents itself and it does impact somewhere below the knee. I've had dogs run out and pace me. I know that when meeting somebody, the first thing I don't look at is their shoes.