My Recommended Motorcycle Boots

Why buy a pair of motorcycle boots?

Motorcycle boots protect your feet and ankles if you are involved in a motorcycle accident or some other incident where your motorcycle ends up falling on top of you. Wearing a pair of trainers will not protect your feet or ankles if the weight of the bike lands on you. The bones within your feet, toes, and ankles are very fragile and can be broken easily.

What’s special about motorcycle boots?

1. Designed to protect the foot and ankle area
2. Special features such as waterproofing and breathability
3. Impact protection throughout and extra grip on the soles

1. Designed to protect the foot and ankle area

Many motorcycle boots have hard shell shin protectors built into the design of the boot which protect the foot and ankle areas from any impacts this area of the body may receive in an accident or even a minor incident.

The shin protectors are designed to cover a large proportion of the rider’s shin. If the boots have the hard shell type of protector, they usually have soft material fitted behind the shell, which absorbs any impact the surface may receive.

Some styles of motorcycle boots such as ankle boots which are much shorter still cover up to the top part of the ankle and the protection is all internal.

Ankle Protection

The ankle protection is located on both the left and right sides of the boot, and also the back of the ankle is also protected. Don’t forget motorcycles can weigh 500 IB’s or more, especially if they are weighed down with luggage.

The soles of motorcycle boots also have to be manufactured with internal stiffeners, which also help to protect the rider in any incident.

Making sure you purchase a pair of motorcycle boots that are CE-regulated will guarantee that you have the best protection available as the regulation requires any CE-approved boot not to be crushed if a motorcycle falls onto the boot or is resting on the boot as can happen in an accident.

Heel and Toe Protection

Motorcycle boots also have protection around the heel and toe areas normally made from nylon which is more flexible than steel allowing for the boot to absorb any impact that may occur. Squeezing a pair of protective motorcycle boots around these areas, you will feel the nylon giving.

Specialist Design Protection Features

1. Torsion Protection
2. Hyper-Flexion
3. Hyper-Extension
4. Lateral Extention
5. The Sole Design

All the best brands of motorcycle boots come with ankle protection built-in. These will usually be constructed with the same technique as the shin protectors on larger boots, such as a hard shell with soft impact material behind. On smaller summer motorcycle boots, ankle protection is built into the boot’s fabric.

Torsion Protection

For torsion protection, the leg/ankle area must be protected by the boot against any twisting movement in an accident. The boot’s design has to allow the leg of the ankle area to move and twist but not so much so that it bends over its verticle center.

Any twisting motion which may occur will usually find the weakest point of the leg or ankle and break it, so although this twisting motion cannot be stopped, the design of a motorcycle boot can slow this twisting down, which reduces its impact.

Hyper-Flexion

Hyper-flexion is where any limb section of the body moves closer together than designed to do naturally. This could, for example, be the toes being pushed up towards the ankle area.

This movement cannot be stopped, but it can be slowed down to limit any movement and injury that may occur. Protection to help reduce hyper-flexion is built into a motorcycle boot and is known as secondary protection. You cannot see the protection in this case just by looking at the boot.

Hyper-Extention

Hyper-extension occurs when any joint is stretched further than it was designed for. This could be, for example, when the foot gets pushed away from the leg or shin area. The body is designed for this type of movement to a degree, but there is a natural limit to the tendons and bones can stretch.

Going beyond this natural limit will cause injury to ligaments or bones, so this movement has to be slowed down or stopped. The design of motorcycle boots helps combat this movement but cannot be seen by just looking at the boot. As with hyper-flexion, this is secondary protection designed within the boot, which the manufacturer’s design team has well thought out.

Lateral-Extention

Joints within the human body are designed to allow a natural amount of movement. Protective motorcycle boots allow for this movement and prevent the action from becoming over-extended and causing severe injury.

There is a lot of thought which goes into the design of a good pair of motorcycle boots and with new technologies and manufacturing materials being designed yearly the design of thises protective footwear will only continue to get better.

The Sole Design Of A Motorcycle Boot

A considerable amount of research goes into the design of a motorcycle boots sole. The sole of a motorcycle boots design is a costly part of the boot’s development. The tread’s different angles and depth are crucial parts of how the boot will grip the tarmac or other surfaces for motocross riders, for example.

The grip of a motorcycle boot adds to your overall safety when riding. I have personally experienced my feet slipping on the tarmac when I allowed the soles of my boots to be worn beyond their limits. One slip of the left or right foot can end up with the motorcycle on top of you.

Best Overall

Alpinestars Men’s CR-6 Drystar Motorcycle Boots

I have owned a pair of men’s waterproof Alpinestars motorcycle boots for over ten years and wore them at least four days a week all day. I must admit that a decade is a long time to own a pair of motorcycle boots, but they are my favourite things to wear because I found them so comfortable.

I probably wore them past the safety limit but have a new pair now. I’ve included a few photographs of them.

These Alpinestars Men’s CR-6 Drystar Motorcycle Boots are excellent waterproof boots which I’m sure like mine will give you years of use.

After using my pair of Alpinestar motorcycle boots for over ten years, I have to say that I can’t fault the quality, and the CR-6 Drystar should give any rider the same comfort and longevity as my pair.

Here are some key points about the Alpinestars Men’s CR-6 Drystar Motorcycle Boots:

1. Advanced construction consisting of fine mesh plus seamless technology to improve the structure, with specific breathable windows.
2. Vamp in mesh for enhanced comfort and breathability, and higher tongue in Nubuck microfiber for more resistance. A hook and loop strap combined with a traditional lacing system ensures a customizable fit.
3. The toebox and heel counter internal reinforcements give structure, support, and impact resistance. Technical rubber rand provides abrasion protection on the toe area.
4. Alpinestars anatomical double-density TPU ankle disks layered under the upper plus external lateral ankle protector TPR provide strategic protection. Replaceable anatomical EVA footbed with Lycra lining on top for comfort.
5. New Alpinestars exclusive vulcanized rub

Just click HERE and you can check the current price out on Amazon.

Below are pictures of my pair of 10-year-old

Alpinestars motorcycle boots