High heels and v-stroms don't mix

[Little Bike]

Originally Posted by Blixa

Great story. Drops happen to all of us - no shame there - and the best bikes are built to take a little abuse - but your account is the first I've heard involving heels. At least you and your heels and your bike survived practically unscathed and, most important, you looked good for the party (that's all that really matters )

Nice bike, btw! Is this the Rebel's replacement?

Yeah, my little Wee Beastie is destined for Craig's list.

[viverrid]

Originally Posted by Little Bike

...I'm pushing with my leg as hard as I can, but with the heels on I just can't get quite enough oomph and over we go!!!

I'm not quite understanding the mechanics of why you couldn't push hard enough with those heels. Not like they are stilettos that sank into a gravel lot.

[LuluOfDenver]

Originally Posted by Little Bike

V-Strom
4 wd Toyota Tacoma
2 other bikes
and a chop saw, circular saw, drill, shopvac, router and a Dremel.... (I think the chainsaw wins....)

LittleBike--you sound like me. I've got the 4wd Tacoma, all the tools--chain saw included), but only one other bike. I'm working on finding a smaller dirt bike though. I may have to pick one up before heading out to SD.

[Little Bike]

Originally Posted by viverrid

I'm not quite understanding the mechanics of why you couldn't push hard enough with those heels. Not like they are stilettos that sank into a gravel lot.

When you're wearing heels most of the force from your foot to the ground is coming from the ball of your foot, not your whole foot. I think what happened was that when I pressed down with the amount of foot I could it wasn't engaging the big leg muscles like putting down a whole foot. Best physiological guess.

[Little Bike]

Originally Posted by LuluOfDenver

LittleBike--you sound like me. I've got the 4wd Tacoma, all the tools--chain saw included), but only one other bike. I'm working on finding a smaller dirt bike though. I may have to pick one up before heading out to SD.

I really like my xt250 - I can put my feet down when I screw up!

[atomicalex]

Originally Posted by Little Bike

I think what happened was that when I pressed down with the amount of foot I could it wasn't engaging the big leg muscles like putting down a whole foot. Best physiological guess.

That sounds about right. It takes some time to learn the mechanics of getting your heel down while wearing anything over 2" tall, and a really good sole with a metal arch in it.

I usually don't get on the bike in anything more than 1.5", it's just annoying.

[viverrid]

Originally Posted by Little Bike

When you're wearing heels most of the force from your foot to the ground is coming from the ball of your foot, not your whole foot.

Eh, I don't mean to argue with you on this (unlike usually around here!) and I don't wear heels. But okay, yeah the ball of you foot bears on the ground, as you press more wouldn't the boot heel also bear on the ground? Not like you're trying to keep the heel off the ground, right? Ehh, what happened happened, so that's your explanation and you're sticking to it!

[Blixa]

More surface area (flat shoes) = more stability. Conversely...

[Little Bike]

Originally Posted by viverrid

Eh, I don't mean to argue with you on this (unlike usually around here!) and I don't wear heels. But okay, yeah the ball of you foot bears on the ground, as you press more wouldn't the boot heel also bear on the ground? Not like you're trying to keep the heel off the ground, right? Ehh, what happened happened, so that's your explanation and you're sticking to it!

If you don't wear heels it's a little hard to explain, but I could feel that the big leg muscles just weren't working like they would with flat shoes. Grab some heels and give it a try!

[Little Bike]

Originally Posted by Blixa

More surface area (flat shoes) = more stability. Conversely...

yup

[atomicalex]

For those who need math....

Each shoe with a heel has an angle built into the top of the heel. This is the heel pitch. The purpose of heel pitch is to extend the leg visually. However, in most shoes with heels of more than 1:8 total pitch (think roof pitch), the heel pitch is greater than the total pitch, and this leads to the foot sliding toward the toe. This makes it impossible to put significant weight on the heel, or to transfer significant load to the heel contact surface. As a consequence, these shoes are often the ones that are uncomfortable to wear. Shoes with a heel pitch that is lower than the overall shoe pitch will not visually extend the leg as much, but will be more comfortable as the weight is distributed more evenly over the sole of the foot, and consequently over the sole of the shoe.

Looking at Little Bike's boot, if the interior sole profile is the same as the exterior, it is overpitched, and she could not possibly get weight down on the heel.

An image to assist:

[Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by Little Bike

V-Strom
4 wd Toyota Tacoma
2 other bikes
and a chop saw, circular saw, drill, shopvac, router and a Dremel.... (I think the chainsaw wins....)

Originally Posted by LuluOfDenver

LittleBike--you sound like me. I've got the 4wd Tacoma, all the tools--chain saw included), but only one other bike. I'm working on finding a smaller dirt bike though. I may have to pick one up before heading out to SD.

Hmmm, maybe we should start a new picture thread - motorcycle women and their tools. I'd betcha we'd get more hits than "Toxic Britney"

[DC2wheels]

Little bike. Nice story.


But, no pictures? No witnesses? Don't worry, it never happened.

Your secret is safe with the 200,000+ folks here on ADV.

[manfromthestix]

Originally Posted by primate

Has to be one of the best leg humps I've ever seen. Hittin on a girl while she's down..

What can I say, I find it exciting that a woman has the interest, apptitude, self-confidence, skill, etc. to get out and enjoy these kinds of things AND still be an attractive WOMAN. As it should be. I think our society is guilty of selling women short in so many ways, and sadly many women buy into that bullshit. We have four daughters so believe me I'm familiar with this crap . Gotta look like Barbie and be totally helpless 'cuz the Big Hunk of Man will want to come rescue you and ride off into the sunset with you on the back of his white horse; if you aren't Barbie-esque you'll be sad and lonely; buy this and this and this and this and that to help reach you're true potential! You never see a chainsaw (or tractor, truck, etc.) ad with women operating the things. I love seeing women driving big rigs, running heavy equipment, and giving their man a ride on their motorcycles!

Speaking of tractors, that's the one thing my wife can't do around our farm. We have a big old International tractor with a bush hog on it and she can't get the clutch pushed in; she just doesn't weigh enough to put enough pressure on it. This pisses her off, says maybe we need a tractor with a hydrostatic clutch so she can drive it. I like that tractor, otherwise she'd be out bush hogging the land while I scrub the toilets. We recently built a "loafing shed" (for the horses)/tractor shed and she was using the pneumatic nail gun even though it's about 1/4 the size of her and the recoil knocks her around pretty good; never a complaint. We had a heck of a time finding a bike to fit her and ended up with a Suzuki TU250X which she loves for it's retro-styling:





She can almost flat-foot it so that makes her feel more comfortable. I'll suggest she wear some high heels and then maybe she'll try riding my 1150GS! I like this bike too, it runs great and handles very well, has fuel injection (gets like 100 MPG) and a front disc brake, but at 250cc I don't feel it's safe on the open highways and she agrees. It's fun to bop around the back roads on but for long trips she enjoys riding pillion, says she gets to see more that way.

I just love this forum; of COURSE there is someone looking at it that can explain the design and physiology of high heeled shoes! Lovely name, too; my wife spells hers with a "C".

Doug

[manfromthestix]

I really like my xt250 - I can put my feet down when I screw up!

Oh yeah, the XT is a wonderful bike! I've owned two and they are very capable, surprisingly spunky, and literally bomb-proof. When my wife was first learning to ride she tried the XT but could only get one foot down. She fell over to the left, still had her right foot on the peg and hand on the throttle, and the bike was pivoting in a circle on the left peg with her straddling it, left foot on the ground. I ran over and hit the kill switch because she was a little too busy hopping around in a circle to reach for it. She said, "It tried to KILL me!" After that the bike's name was Killer and we started looking for one that fit her better, ended up with the TU250X. She dropped the TU and did the exact same lever bend that you got on your V-Strom, cost like $12 for a new lever.

Doug