Any Motörbike riders here?

Dominic

AK99 said:

Btw - and apologies if this has been asked before - but what kind of boots / shoes do y'all wear in the warmer months when you're not kitted up to the nines with track-type  gear ?

I'm normally one of your ATGATT types, but full track-type kit and interlocking boots/leathers feels a bit like overkill at times, especially when running around taking in the sights and sounds of the world at 55mph on the new acquisition.

Are there any other alternatives you'd recommend ?

Trainers or if I'm commuting to work then the same shoes I would wear for work
If I couldn't just pull on a jacket and get going the bike experience would be a chore not a joy .....I know certain gear is sensible and safer but having to dress up as a Power Ranger to jump on a bike and ride 10 miles (unless it's on a track ) would just spoil it for me.
 I'm very much of the @p90fool School of thought.
Before you say 'until you come off '.......I have .I spent weeks in hospital in France 34 years ago having skin grafts on a hip ,thigh and lower back because I was wearing a T shirt and jeans .
As it happens somebody knocked me off a friend's Harley Streetglide 3 weeks ago .....very low impact 5 mph in traffic queue
( for once I was wearing some ankle length cowboy/biker boots )....still skinned my ankle but it did make me thankful I wasn't in trainers .

AK99

p90fool said:

Just make sure that the crossbar of your flip-flops coincide with the gear lever, or you'll end up with terrible blisters. 

^ I'd an idea that was going to crop up

I was out with trainers on yesterday, but found them a bit soft over the crown of my foot on the gear-change side. Pair of dockers or dealer boots would do the job I guess.

Haych

AK99 said:

Btw - and apologies if this has been asked before - but what kind of boots / shoes do y'all wear in the warmer months when you're not kitted up to the nines with track-type  gear ?

I'm normally one of your ATGATT types, but full track-type kit and interlocking boots/leathers feels a bit like overkill at times, especially when running around taking in the sights and sounds of the world at 55mph on the new acquisition.

Are there any other alternatives you'd recommend ?

It does make me chortle when I go to a bike stop in the summer and I see all the squids in their one piece racing leathers and boots, sweating their balls off.  

I tend to take the middle ground, I don't ride in the most protective gear out there, but I do like to kit myself up such that if I do come off I have a fighting chance.

When I did my CBT my instructor went over gear, including boots, and he recommended a good pair of hiking boots as a reasonable alternative to full on MC boots, and on the day that's what he was wearing.

AK99

I probably spend about 90% of my waking hours in either hiking boots or trainers, but the one thing that puts me off both for bike use is  having the laced bit below the gear-lever. Dunno if it's real or imagined but I picture constant shifting chewing through the laces.

(As an aside - told it before, but the memory at age 17 on my first bike, pulling up to the main door of the school when everybody was pouring out,  and toppling over on the left when I couldn't get my foot down because the loop of the lace on my shoes got stuck on the gear-lever doesn't help either.. )

Haych

Yep, I’m fully with you on that and won’t buy boots that use laces for their closure system for that reason. 

When I have been looking at summer riding boots online, I’d say about 85% of them at least use laces! The ones that don’t and favour a cleverer closure system are usually a good step up in price for the features I’d want. 

Moe_Zambeek

I wear TCX Hero boots, they look like regular boots and although they have laces they also have a side zip. Set the laces once then use only the side zip.

The bottom of the laces is nowhere near where is normally be interfacing with the gear lever, and in fact there is a leather pad where most would be changing gear - more or less directly over the first joint of the big toe…maybe slightly below where the strap sits on @p90fool s safety sandals. 

I’d caution that gear change pads are a good thing because I have incipient arthritis in my left big toe joint which is likely due to persistent ‘trauma’ from guzzi gear changes

Devil#20

I use TCX street boots. Tad expensive (Italian) but great quality. They won't give you the protection of a full length boot but they are re-inforced about the ankle bones. You can wander about when off your bike in relative comfort. I'm not sure why you're changing on the laces though. You're shifting above the big toe joint so not going to wear laces out. Just tuck the loops under the laces at the top. 

AK99

Those TCX boots aren't cheap, but look good.

https://www.thevisorshop.com/en/TCX-Street-3-Waterproof-Motorcycle-Boots-GreenBrown/m-31582.aspx?gclid=Cj0KCQjwmZejBhC_ARIsAGhCqnceIT5XXvD3hq2FOvR0RF_5lZYnnl98cdED_Axoaq1pX7q2Bm3ydTgaAh-FEALw_wcB

Just checked re where the laces fall:



I tend to ride with the weight on the balls of my feet, and slide the left foot forward to hook the gear lever up. Just checked there (never had to think about if before) and the movement is to angle the foot down and slide it until it catches the crook of the foot at the base of the big toe - and then hook it up. That catches the lace on both the trainers and the hiking boots.

Kittyfrisk

Gaffer the laces 

AK99

The kids and missus would indeed be impressed. Riding a bike puts me far enough outside the norm round these here parts, never mind being labelled that funny oul lad with the silver tape on his shoes

Dominic

AK99 said:

I probably spend about 90% of my waking hours in either hiking boots or trainers, but the one thing that puts me off both for bike use is  having the laced bit below the gear-lever. Dunno if it's real or imagined but I picture constant shifting chewing through the laces.

(As an aside - told it before, but the memory at age 17 on my first bike, pulling up to the main door of the school when everybody was pouring out,  and toppling over on the left when I couldn't get my foot down because the loop of the lace on my shoes got stuck on the gear-lever doesn't help either.. )

I did exactly that 2 years ago ......my son's new Kawasaki ZXR arrived ...he took it for a 5 minute ride and came back .I said 'can I have a ride ......it looks like a toy ,it's so small ' He knows I'm a very experienced rider /ex-racer etc so was more than happy . I got on it on the drive and had the lace catch on the gear lever ....I fell sideways in seeming slow motion ,smashing the mirror, clutch lever and scratching the fairing etc
He went absolutely mental !

Strangefan

Dominic said:

It's a great bike .......fantastic torque ,so punchy and yet so easy going but ferocious if you want . In normal road riding as opposed to a track day it's so tractable and easy to live with that you just don't need to keep it humming to get a snappy reaction and you don't need to keep it bubbling at 6-7000 rpm to get the best from it.
As opposed to previous Dukes and Superdukes  the frame is finally properly sorted and it handles so politely as sharp as a razor,great feedback etc .I really do ride quite hard( front wheels are fully scrubbed out to the edges ;not just the back ) and it just keeps it's line in the carve .....never runs at all wide at the front and there's always another 10% to give without murmer when you need to lean in a bit further to tighten the line .
 On the road it's the best bike I have ever ridden which includes Pannigale V4 , V2,'Blade,RC45 etc etc .I have done a few track days on a Pannigale v4 which is quicker but I still actually prefer the KTM on a track even though the 6th gear is too tall .




This is my first KTM so it's totally new to me, however having blades rsvs zx10r, r1s etc I'm no stranger to speed, however this just feels faster than them all, and for round town riding it can be so placid, I thank I'm a ktm convert. 

AK99

Dominic said:

I did exactly that 2 years ago ......my son's new Kawasaki ZXR arrived ...he took it for a 5 minute ride and came back .I said 'can I have a ride ......it looks like a toy ,it's so small ' He knows I'm a very experienced rider /ex-racer etc so was more than happy . I got on it on the drive and had the lace catch on the gear lever ....I fell sideways in seeming slow motion ,smashing the mirror, clutch lever and scratching the fairing etc
He went absolutely mental !

Yeah it is pretty comical. Nobody else sees the oh-shit/sense of impending/ rising panic, then increasingly desperate attempts to shake your foot free..

All they see is you ride up, come to a halt, and then slowly fall over to the left still sitting perfectly upright on the bike

jaytmon

Strangefan said:

Evening, I just sold my blade .... To buy a super duke!

What a damn machine I am am used to very powerful bikes, had them all zx10, r1 x11 blades,  for road riding this is the one which can't be beat. Absolutely brutal. 

I had one of these many years ago, my first foray into twins. The bike before that was a Speed Trip 1050, a supposed hooligan bike. The KTM made it seem like a cuddly toy in comparison. The SD was best described as a mountain bike with a big engine in it. Lots of fun, almost super moto like. Eventually sold it when my riding style calmed down a bit (aka I wasn’t quite so angry). Felt like the bike objected to being ridden softly and was planning a protest in the form of catching me out when I was least expecting it. I also remember there being a surprising boost of top end power in the last 1500 or so rpm, on the rare occasions I bothered to rev it that much.
Enjoy!

Strangefan

jaytmon said:

Strangefan said:

Evening, I just sold my blade .... To buy a super duke!

What a damn machine I am am used to very powerful bikes, had them all zx10, r1 x11 blades,  for road riding this is the one which can't be beat. Absolutely brutal. 

I had one of these many years ago, my first foray into twins. The bike before that was a Speed Trip 1050, a supposed hooligan bike. The KTM made it seem like a cuddly toy in comparison. The SD was best described as a mountain bike with a big engine in it. Lots of fun, almost super moto like. Eventually sold it when my riding style calmed down a bit (aka I wasn’t quite so angry). Felt like the bike objected to being ridden softly and was planning a protest in the form of catching me out when I was least expecting it. I also remember there being a surprising boost of top end power in the last 1500 or so rpm, on the rare occasions I bothered to rev it that much.
Enjoy!



yes riding soft is doable but it's not happy with it! I have had all the v2s really I won't go back to any of them after this  

Corvus

For donkeys I've worn steelie work boots, like DM sized things. I haven't had any sort of lever catch type incident as yet. They seem to have hovered around the £40 mark for decades. One current pair was 42 quid from Screwfix and waterproof too.

I've got some other taller ones, Spada 'Pilgrim Grande' that fit better with the length of my overtrousers. I've worn them all day at times, they're not too obviously 'bike' looking for that

cm01

Apologies to all the ‘proper’ motorbike riders here, but I’ve been zooming round Koh Samui on a Yamaha NMAX 155 scooter for the last 3 days and it’s been so much fun!

Dominic

yes but only because you've got a pretty Thai girl with a 'Love you long time ' T shirt as pillion .

Strangefan

cm01 said:

Apologies to all the ‘proper’ motorbike riders here, but I’ve been zooming round Koh Samui on a Yamaha NMAX 155 scooter for the last 3 days and it’s been so much fun!

Scooters are damn fun..... Until a pot hole
...

Dominic

Scooters are fun ,especially when you are 16 years old and think death is optional