By Paul Garson
Yes, the legendary manufacturer of the classic Harley-Davidson motorcycle now long past celebrating its 100th Anniversary did indeed sell an automobile� well, kind of.
For many years in addition to its Big Twin cruisers and lighter weight Sportsters. Harley-Davidson made three-wheelers in the form of utility and police �trikes,� but they were Barney Rubble lumps compared to the svelte Mirage Fighter looks of the short-lived, but fast-paced Tri-Hawk, circa 1984. Chances are you didn�t ogle one in your local Harley dealer�s showroom for they appeared only briefly, and were chalked up to a marketing miscalculation and rather rapidly deselected from the Milwaukee line-up.
The two-passenger Tri-Hawk had already been in limited production before the Motor Factory decided to take it on as their own ostensibly to fill some exotic niche which had no name. In the previous year, H-D had made a deal with the Austrian Rotax company for engine-gearbox racing units destined for 500 cc short track racing, so maybe it was in this euphoria of internationalism that Milwaukee opted for a three-wheeled machine powered by a French-built Citroen four-banger. And yes, �Citroen� does seem to loosely translate as �lemon.� But this lightweight, knife-edge handling bird-of-prey was no bit of sour citrus.
Decades earlier the fuel-economical, albeit quirky German Messerschmidt �car�, a recycled bit of Luftwaffe fighter plane, had carried two passengers around post-WWII Germany. Since then all kinds of other motorcycle engine-powered three-wheeled car/bike hybrids have been born in Dr. Frankenstein�s lab, but none ever caught on. In the early �80s, the Tri-Hawk appeared at a time when experimenters were again looking for alternative designs and better power to weight options. The Tri-Hawk was a product of this enthusiasm, the design conjured up by race car engineer Robert McKee while the deep pockets underwriting the project was millionaire sportsman Lou Richards. The finished product was assembled in a small plant located in a beachside town called Dana Point that basks in the SoCal sun betwixt Los Angeles and San Diego. The 1299 cubic inch flat four air-cooled engine rode up front while the frame and suspension echoed McKee�s racecar experience. Again borrowing from French technology, the builders incorporated a hydraulic braking system manufactured by Renault.
Tipping the scales at 1300 lbs., and powered by 80 horsepower through a 5-speed transaxle transmission, theTri-Hawk has what could be called �exhilarating performance characteristics.� Also it was not shy in the exhaust note department, a snarling Formula One rapture issuing from the pipes.
If you wanted to buy a Tri-Hawk back in the autumn of 1984 at the time of Harley-Davidson�s acquirement of the company, you had to cough up $12,000 which today will buy only about two-thirds of a Big Twin. Back then 12K seemed a lot for a vehicle with no top and only three wheels. Yet it had appeal, and substance, both in performance and in the looks department. It coulda, shoulda�but the Factory game plan was lacking in the area of infrastructure to support sales. Milwaukee decided not to sell them through their dealers, leaving only the factory in Dana Point and three other franchise locations to sell the Tri-Hawk� not exactly universal availability nor were there Super Bowl ad spots in the way of promotion. Even then, only about eleven Tri-Hawks were leaving the factory nest on a monthly basis, again not exactly flying out of the assembly door into the waiting arms of the motoring public. So like many endangered species, the Tri-Hawk died not from intrinsic design flaws, but from neglect.
Bottom line, the Tri-Hawk is an intelligently designed, seriously made sports machine that shares much of the adrenaline producing qualities of the Cobra�s eyeball sucking performance and the Lotus car�s nimble handling, but with motorcycling licensing and insurance perks, plus a bit of jetfighter tossed in. It could carry two in relative comfort, and safety thanks to the integral roll bar and safety belts. And you didn�t need to know French to drive one. They weren�t delicate or temperamental, gave good gas mileage, and were easy to park. And in the curvies, they ate big Beemers and Benz�s for breakfast. Today 12 grand seems a bargain, except the last Tri-Hawk this author knows about sold for $25,000. You might catch it near Los Angeles flying around the Malibu Canyons piloted by a guy with a big grin.
For starters Paul Garson rides motorcycles daily in L.A. He's also been the Editor of Hot Bike, VQ, Early-Riders and Eagles Eye magazines. Some 60 motorcycles and over 1000 magazine articles later he's developing a somewhat wobbly eye for bikes beyond bizzare and the never ending Norton Fastback project growing in his apartment closet.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Garson
http://EzineArticles.com/?When-Hawgs-Could-Fly:--The-Harley-Davidson-Tri-Hawk&id=580240
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Aliens Ate My Motorcycle: : Things to Do in New Mexico When You re UFOing
By Paul Garson
You could say I�ve been into the �UFO scene� since my fourth grade teacher Mrs. Madugle read to us kids on a daily basis from Truman Bethurum�s �Aboard a Flying Saucer, � a cult classic in the �contactee� literature of the 1950s. It left one of those indelible impressions spinning in my head.
Now here I was, years later, riding my motorcycle from L.A. to Roswell, New Mexico, a vortex of interest for UFO buffs, the place where in early July 1947 a flying saucer allegedly crashed and its occupants recovered, as the story goes. Of mythic proportions, the enigma of Roswell is still a hotbed of controversy half a century later thanks to official obfuscation, as in �cover-up� and the Freedom of Information Act by which researchers have unearthed incriminating documentation.
You could say Roswell is the Plymouth Rock for UFO researchers although most of us Saucerheads are not UFO-nuts. We�re your average motorcycle riding, freelance article writing, advanced degree holding traveler who�d rather spend timing delving into paranormal mysteries than the souvenir shops in Disneyland. We�ve got our own Tomorrowland to explore where the stakes are cosmic and oftimes comic. But that�s the nature of the universe, a balance of the wild and wacky, the weak and the strong forces that glue all the quanta together.
As I zipped up my armor-enhanced riding jacket and donned my full-face helmet, I was actually more concerned that the forces holding together my 20-year old German motorcycle would prevail. First gear was popping out and puffs of gray smoke from the left cylinder exhaust meant ring job, but the trusty old BMW R100/7 had gone150, 000 miles so what was a couple thousand more in the face of light years of adventure lurking around the next hairpin curve.
To cut to the chase, let�s just chalk up the intervening space between L.A. and my intermediate stop in Santa Fe as a missing time experience, a lot of boring freeway pavement during which one could meld the mindset for the project at hand. Since I had only a short timeframe for this adventure, I took the semi-direct route from L.A. first to Santa Fe, about 860 miles from L.A., then on to Roswell, about 200 miles south. If you want to skip Santa Fe altogether and do the straight 970 miles from L.A., you just get onto the 1-10 East and keep going for 674.90 miles, connect to the US-70E which becomes the US-285 S. A left on the NM-2, another left on NM-2 and you�re there. Of course you might want to stop and smell the cactus now and then.
Without any mechanical mishaps or speeding tickets, I and my trusty Beemer arrived in Santa Fe a.k.a. the �City of the Holy Faith.� Founded in 1607 and boasting 200 art galleries and five museums the town is a sandstone, pinion tree and cactus clad nexus co-constructed by three cultures: Native Americans who got there first, the Spanish who arrived later and lastly the Anglos who ended up owning the place. My first impression was that Santa Fe was designed by Barney Rubble thanks to the ground hugging houses with their rounded asymmetrical handmolded look. Everything is rendered in the hues of the surrounding desert� breccia browns, gecko grays, tumbleweed tans� a whole city muted to eco-friendly, zero-scape invisibility. What keeps it on the map are supernovae of intense color peaking through the adobe cloaking device. They can be seen in the historic plaza district, specifically the shopping stalls situated under the portico of the Palace of the Governors where the local Indians gather to sell their brilliantly polished silver jewelry and rainbow woven tapestries and clothing. In addition, huge strands of dried red chilies like mummified kelp forests hang everywhere. Santa Fe�s shamanistic talismans, they weave a spicy spell since everything you order to eat seems to come with chili salsa.
I felt a grumbling and it wasn�t coming from any secret underground U.S. Air Force/Alien installation although one is alleged to exist in the area. I was hungry and something brought me to the massive hand carved wooden doors of the Inn of the Anasazi (113 Washington Ave., 505-988-3030). The Inn�s 59 rooms feature gaslit fireplaces, four-poster beds, Indian artwork, even organic toiletries created locally with native cedar extract. Artists, historians and archaeologists host fireside chats in the Inn�s living room. Call it a microcosm of the best Sante Fe has to offer under one vigas and latillas constructed roof. The Inn was named after the Native American people who had built a flourishing culture on the nearby cliffs of Chaco Canyon then suddenly disappeared without a trace six hundred years ago. Yes, petroglyphs and cave drawings in the area do depict strange creatures with helmet-like headgear. Alien UFOnauts or bikers? Science had no answers, but the hotel�s excellent restaurant did� their specialty lamb prepared by Chef Randall Warder and augmented by a stellar wine list.
To burn off some of the calories I signed up for a little excursion I learned about from the plethora of brochures found at the hotel. (Brochures and checking out the local phone book Yellow Pages is often my first reconnaissance maneuver when entering uncharted territory.) No tours to UFO landing sites but I did find something called �Aspook About Ghosts � Close enough since some investigators see a link between etheric and inter-dimensional warps and UFOs. What the heck, after a big dinner I needed a walk.
For a few bucks the tour organizers promised �a haunting experience into Sante Fe�s misty past� life (and death) among the coyotes, witches, ghosts, and the not quite dead.� Conducted by Santa Fe ghost guide Peter Sinclaire (505-988-2774), I and my fellow spook seekers met at the palatial Eldorado Hotel at the intersection of San Francisco and Sandoval for a two hour bipedal exploration of Santa Fe�s haunted places. It�s a great way to see Sante Fe, kind of Ghost Busters Meets the Travel Channel.
Santa Fe is also into digging up the bones of the past, and so am I. But I like to look in fossil and mineral stores for UFO related items. You never know when a piece of the Roswell crash will show up, right? No saucer debris, but there was a great deal on dinosaur egg shells at the Charlie �Have Rocks Will Travel� Snell shop located at 1110 Calle La Resolana.
Before I spent all my money on eggs I couldn�t eat, I threw my pack back on my bike, and pointed its headlight toward Roswell about 175 miles south of Sante Fe. State Road 285 is a perfect place to get abducted. It�s virtually devoid of traffic with nothing but scrub brush and wide-open nothingness for hundreds of miles in all directions. Better to ride it at night if you want a close encounter of the fourth kind, but better to do it in the daylight if you�d rather not run into the pronghorn antelope you see everywhere. Antelope and motorcycles don�t blend well.
I nailed the throttle and blasted back down 285, and lo� and behold soon found myself entering the city limits of Roswell. It came in the form of a giant trampoline painted with the face of an Alien Gray� big head, bigger eyes� plastered on the front of a godawful big Wal-Mart department store. Inside my head, something whispered that UFO�s had been commercialized. It was no big secret that Roswell was on the international map because of the 1947 incident and the town�s subsequent total embrace of the whole idea. If there is such a place that deserves the title �UFOville� then it�s Roswell. From Wal-Mart to the Arby�s sandwich drive-through to the International UFO Museum and Research Institute, Roswell was 100% Flying Saucer Central. I loved the place at first sight.
I checked into the �cost-effective� Crane Motel, one of those bring-your-own-ice-bucket� places. You can�t miss it. There�s a strange assortment of old junk cars with flat tires growing roots in the ground, an old ploy to convince people the place has guests. Or maybe the guests never left. One Plymouth had a faded �Vote Nixon� bumper sticker on it. In any case, I spent most of the next two days living in Roswell�s International UFO Museum. You could easily spend a month if you�re into the subject. Exhibits cover the Roswell crash or crashes since other witnesses have come forward with another crash site about 58 miles from Roswell. You can watch the video made by the late Jim Ragsdale a few days before his death. He relates the details of his encounter with a crashed disc that careened over his pickup truck in which he and his girlfriend were �buck naked� at the time. You can buy a copy of the tape or the book. Judge for yourself, but pretty darn convincing.
Dozens of other UFO related books and videos are available, a few of the over 1000 items stocked by the museum�s gift shop, a day�s exploration in itself. I bought an Alien New Mexico driver�s license that I think will get me into most bars in town. I also bought a commemorative Roswell rug and a membership in the museum. I spoke with the charming Ms. Phyllis Blackard, one of the museum volunteers (admission is free!) who as a young girl was present in Roswell when it all came down from the sky. �I was here when the military swarmed in, and I know Glenn Dennis the mortician who saw the little alien bodies. You can take his word to the bank.�
Located at 114 N. Main, the museum has had over 1,000,000 visitors. The exhibits follow the time line of the July 1947 incident and its aftermath, display purported alien craft fragments, and also spotlights the crop circle mystery and other associated subjects. Documents and photos line the walls as do various artists renderings of UFO scenes. There�s even a section with UFO humor, cartoons, and such as well as two video screening rooms where you can watch documentaries. You can also have your photo taken in front of an �alien autopsy� scene that boasts props from the �Roswell� film starring Martin Sheen. Bulletin boards post the latest in reports from the around the world, and if you want to take a Roswell UFO crashsite tour you can call (505) 622-0628.
Although I wished I could I remain in Roswell through the annual July 4th celebration extravaganza, UFO-themed of course, I had to get back to L.A. and work. But I occasionally glanced upward, always responding to the UFOlogist�s mantra ��Watch the Skies.�
For starters Paul Garson rides motorcycles daily in L.A. He's also been the Editor of Hot Bike, VQ, Early-Riders and Eagles Eye magazines. Some 60 motorcycles and over 1000 magazine articles later he's developing a somewhat wobbly eye for bikes beyond bizzare and the never ending Norton Fastback project growing in his apartment closet.
You could say I�ve been into the �UFO scene� since my fourth grade teacher Mrs. Madugle read to us kids on a daily basis from Truman Bethurum�s �Aboard a Flying Saucer, � a cult classic in the �contactee� literature of the 1950s. It left one of those indelible impressions spinning in my head.
Now here I was, years later, riding my motorcycle from L.A. to Roswell, New Mexico, a vortex of interest for UFO buffs, the place where in early July 1947 a flying saucer allegedly crashed and its occupants recovered, as the story goes. Of mythic proportions, the enigma of Roswell is still a hotbed of controversy half a century later thanks to official obfuscation, as in �cover-up� and the Freedom of Information Act by which researchers have unearthed incriminating documentation.
You could say Roswell is the Plymouth Rock for UFO researchers although most of us Saucerheads are not UFO-nuts. We�re your average motorcycle riding, freelance article writing, advanced degree holding traveler who�d rather spend timing delving into paranormal mysteries than the souvenir shops in Disneyland. We�ve got our own Tomorrowland to explore where the stakes are cosmic and oftimes comic. But that�s the nature of the universe, a balance of the wild and wacky, the weak and the strong forces that glue all the quanta together.
As I zipped up my armor-enhanced riding jacket and donned my full-face helmet, I was actually more concerned that the forces holding together my 20-year old German motorcycle would prevail. First gear was popping out and puffs of gray smoke from the left cylinder exhaust meant ring job, but the trusty old BMW R100/7 had gone150, 000 miles so what was a couple thousand more in the face of light years of adventure lurking around the next hairpin curve.
To cut to the chase, let�s just chalk up the intervening space between L.A. and my intermediate stop in Santa Fe as a missing time experience, a lot of boring freeway pavement during which one could meld the mindset for the project at hand. Since I had only a short timeframe for this adventure, I took the semi-direct route from L.A. first to Santa Fe, about 860 miles from L.A., then on to Roswell, about 200 miles south. If you want to skip Santa Fe altogether and do the straight 970 miles from L.A., you just get onto the 1-10 East and keep going for 674.90 miles, connect to the US-70E which becomes the US-285 S. A left on the NM-2, another left on NM-2 and you�re there. Of course you might want to stop and smell the cactus now and then.
Without any mechanical mishaps or speeding tickets, I and my trusty Beemer arrived in Santa Fe a.k.a. the �City of the Holy Faith.� Founded in 1607 and boasting 200 art galleries and five museums the town is a sandstone, pinion tree and cactus clad nexus co-constructed by three cultures: Native Americans who got there first, the Spanish who arrived later and lastly the Anglos who ended up owning the place. My first impression was that Santa Fe was designed by Barney Rubble thanks to the ground hugging houses with their rounded asymmetrical handmolded look. Everything is rendered in the hues of the surrounding desert� breccia browns, gecko grays, tumbleweed tans� a whole city muted to eco-friendly, zero-scape invisibility. What keeps it on the map are supernovae of intense color peaking through the adobe cloaking device. They can be seen in the historic plaza district, specifically the shopping stalls situated under the portico of the Palace of the Governors where the local Indians gather to sell their brilliantly polished silver jewelry and rainbow woven tapestries and clothing. In addition, huge strands of dried red chilies like mummified kelp forests hang everywhere. Santa Fe�s shamanistic talismans, they weave a spicy spell since everything you order to eat seems to come with chili salsa.
I felt a grumbling and it wasn�t coming from any secret underground U.S. Air Force/Alien installation although one is alleged to exist in the area. I was hungry and something brought me to the massive hand carved wooden doors of the Inn of the Anasazi (113 Washington Ave., 505-988-3030). The Inn�s 59 rooms feature gaslit fireplaces, four-poster beds, Indian artwork, even organic toiletries created locally with native cedar extract. Artists, historians and archaeologists host fireside chats in the Inn�s living room. Call it a microcosm of the best Sante Fe has to offer under one vigas and latillas constructed roof. The Inn was named after the Native American people who had built a flourishing culture on the nearby cliffs of Chaco Canyon then suddenly disappeared without a trace six hundred years ago. Yes, petroglyphs and cave drawings in the area do depict strange creatures with helmet-like headgear. Alien UFOnauts or bikers? Science had no answers, but the hotel�s excellent restaurant did� their specialty lamb prepared by Chef Randall Warder and augmented by a stellar wine list.
To burn off some of the calories I signed up for a little excursion I learned about from the plethora of brochures found at the hotel. (Brochures and checking out the local phone book Yellow Pages is often my first reconnaissance maneuver when entering uncharted territory.) No tours to UFO landing sites but I did find something called �Aspook About Ghosts � Close enough since some investigators see a link between etheric and inter-dimensional warps and UFOs. What the heck, after a big dinner I needed a walk.
For a few bucks the tour organizers promised �a haunting experience into Sante Fe�s misty past� life (and death) among the coyotes, witches, ghosts, and the not quite dead.� Conducted by Santa Fe ghost guide Peter Sinclaire (505-988-2774), I and my fellow spook seekers met at the palatial Eldorado Hotel at the intersection of San Francisco and Sandoval for a two hour bipedal exploration of Santa Fe�s haunted places. It�s a great way to see Sante Fe, kind of Ghost Busters Meets the Travel Channel.
Santa Fe is also into digging up the bones of the past, and so am I. But I like to look in fossil and mineral stores for UFO related items. You never know when a piece of the Roswell crash will show up, right? No saucer debris, but there was a great deal on dinosaur egg shells at the Charlie �Have Rocks Will Travel� Snell shop located at 1110 Calle La Resolana.
Before I spent all my money on eggs I couldn�t eat, I threw my pack back on my bike, and pointed its headlight toward Roswell about 175 miles south of Sante Fe. State Road 285 is a perfect place to get abducted. It�s virtually devoid of traffic with nothing but scrub brush and wide-open nothingness for hundreds of miles in all directions. Better to ride it at night if you want a close encounter of the fourth kind, but better to do it in the daylight if you�d rather not run into the pronghorn antelope you see everywhere. Antelope and motorcycles don�t blend well.
I nailed the throttle and blasted back down 285, and lo� and behold soon found myself entering the city limits of Roswell. It came in the form of a giant trampoline painted with the face of an Alien Gray� big head, bigger eyes� plastered on the front of a godawful big Wal-Mart department store. Inside my head, something whispered that UFO�s had been commercialized. It was no big secret that Roswell was on the international map because of the 1947 incident and the town�s subsequent total embrace of the whole idea. If there is such a place that deserves the title �UFOville� then it�s Roswell. From Wal-Mart to the Arby�s sandwich drive-through to the International UFO Museum and Research Institute, Roswell was 100% Flying Saucer Central. I loved the place at first sight.
I checked into the �cost-effective� Crane Motel, one of those bring-your-own-ice-bucket� places. You can�t miss it. There�s a strange assortment of old junk cars with flat tires growing roots in the ground, an old ploy to convince people the place has guests. Or maybe the guests never left. One Plymouth had a faded �Vote Nixon� bumper sticker on it. In any case, I spent most of the next two days living in Roswell�s International UFO Museum. You could easily spend a month if you�re into the subject. Exhibits cover the Roswell crash or crashes since other witnesses have come forward with another crash site about 58 miles from Roswell. You can watch the video made by the late Jim Ragsdale a few days before his death. He relates the details of his encounter with a crashed disc that careened over his pickup truck in which he and his girlfriend were �buck naked� at the time. You can buy a copy of the tape or the book. Judge for yourself, but pretty darn convincing.
Dozens of other UFO related books and videos are available, a few of the over 1000 items stocked by the museum�s gift shop, a day�s exploration in itself. I bought an Alien New Mexico driver�s license that I think will get me into most bars in town. I also bought a commemorative Roswell rug and a membership in the museum. I spoke with the charming Ms. Phyllis Blackard, one of the museum volunteers (admission is free!) who as a young girl was present in Roswell when it all came down from the sky. �I was here when the military swarmed in, and I know Glenn Dennis the mortician who saw the little alien bodies. You can take his word to the bank.�
Located at 114 N. Main, the museum has had over 1,000,000 visitors. The exhibits follow the time line of the July 1947 incident and its aftermath, display purported alien craft fragments, and also spotlights the crop circle mystery and other associated subjects. Documents and photos line the walls as do various artists renderings of UFO scenes. There�s even a section with UFO humor, cartoons, and such as well as two video screening rooms where you can watch documentaries. You can also have your photo taken in front of an �alien autopsy� scene that boasts props from the �Roswell� film starring Martin Sheen. Bulletin boards post the latest in reports from the around the world, and if you want to take a Roswell UFO crashsite tour you can call (505) 622-0628.
Although I wished I could I remain in Roswell through the annual July 4th celebration extravaganza, UFO-themed of course, I had to get back to L.A. and work. But I occasionally glanced upward, always responding to the UFOlogist�s mantra ��Watch the Skies.�
For starters Paul Garson rides motorcycles daily in L.A. He's also been the Editor of Hot Bike, VQ, Early-Riders and Eagles Eye magazines. Some 60 motorcycles and over 1000 magazine articles later he's developing a somewhat wobbly eye for bikes beyond bizzare and the never ending Norton Fastback project growing in his apartment closet.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Choosing the Right Motorcycle Boots For You
By Dominik Hussl
Choosing the right Motorcycle Boot for you.
Like so many things when it comes to motorcycle apparel and gear these days, motorcycle boots are being produced by so many manufacturers its hard to pick one. You can get a cheap motorcycle boots for under a hundred bucks these days. Not only do you have different makers to choose from you know have to add motorcycle shoes to the equation. These are tough shoes made to be durable enough to give you some protection in a crash. Most have reinforced stitching, ankle protection and a shifter pad as well as a non slip type sole. If you are looking for a quality boot or shoe there are several manufacturers with a good track record to choose from. Alpinestars, AGV Sport, Double H and Icon are most of the more popular brands currently available. Not to mention non brand names. I however recommend that you go with a quality boot that is made by a well known manufacturer. I have a pair of AGV Sport motorcycle boots that have lasted 8 years.
Picking a motorcycle boot really depends on you. If you ride a cruiser probably one of Double H 's boots will appeal to you since they are made to have a more classic styling. Double H makes an engineer boot which is a perfect nostalgic looking motorcycle boot or the Jump boot which also has a classic look. I find that people that rider cruisers tend to lean towards those styles, since they fit that sort of bike as well as the gear that goes with riding a cruiser. You would look kind of funny in race gear on a cruiser!!
Motorcycle Boots and Shoes for riders of sport bikes are quite abundant. Icon AGV and Alpinestars all make quality motorcycle boots that are tough enough to even wear on track days depending on the one you decide to wear. Most of these boots come with toe sliders, ankle support, shin and ankle protection as well as high impact materials that are integrated in to the boot in case of a crash. These boots are usually made for more aggressive riding there fore you will find more safety features designed to protect your feet from the road. You will find these boots come in lots of different colors that will match most sport bike gear. Also most of the manufacturers of these boots also make gloves and leathers that are all color coordinated to be worn together. Now one of the newer things on the scene are motorcycle shoes. These shoes are quite durable but are not recommended for track use. They are tough enough to offer some protection but nothing like what you will get out of a full boot. The shoes are generally made for street riding. They are popular because they look much like regular tennis shoes so you can wear them at work without it being noticed. The shoes usually do not offer much in the way of protection but rather they have a non slip sole and a shifter pad which makes it easier for you to shift while riding. Most of the shoes are reinforced to some degree but not nearly like motorcycle boots.
Typically your riding style and the type of bike you ride will dictate what kind of motorcycle boots you will choose to wear. Just keep in mind to wear gear that adequately protects you for your style of riding. Ideally a helmet, gloves, jacket, riding pants and boots should be worn at all times when you are out on a motorcycle.
By: Dominik Hussl webmaster of discount-motorcycle-parts.net come see our motorcycle boot selection.
Choosing the right Motorcycle Boot for you.
Like so many things when it comes to motorcycle apparel and gear these days, motorcycle boots are being produced by so many manufacturers its hard to pick one. You can get a cheap motorcycle boots for under a hundred bucks these days. Not only do you have different makers to choose from you know have to add motorcycle shoes to the equation. These are tough shoes made to be durable enough to give you some protection in a crash. Most have reinforced stitching, ankle protection and a shifter pad as well as a non slip type sole. If you are looking for a quality boot or shoe there are several manufacturers with a good track record to choose from. Alpinestars, AGV Sport, Double H and Icon are most of the more popular brands currently available. Not to mention non brand names. I however recommend that you go with a quality boot that is made by a well known manufacturer. I have a pair of AGV Sport motorcycle boots that have lasted 8 years.
Picking a motorcycle boot really depends on you. If you ride a cruiser probably one of Double H 's boots will appeal to you since they are made to have a more classic styling. Double H makes an engineer boot which is a perfect nostalgic looking motorcycle boot or the Jump boot which also has a classic look. I find that people that rider cruisers tend to lean towards those styles, since they fit that sort of bike as well as the gear that goes with riding a cruiser. You would look kind of funny in race gear on a cruiser!!
Motorcycle Boots and Shoes for riders of sport bikes are quite abundant. Icon AGV and Alpinestars all make quality motorcycle boots that are tough enough to even wear on track days depending on the one you decide to wear. Most of these boots come with toe sliders, ankle support, shin and ankle protection as well as high impact materials that are integrated in to the boot in case of a crash. These boots are usually made for more aggressive riding there fore you will find more safety features designed to protect your feet from the road. You will find these boots come in lots of different colors that will match most sport bike gear. Also most of the manufacturers of these boots also make gloves and leathers that are all color coordinated to be worn together. Now one of the newer things on the scene are motorcycle shoes. These shoes are quite durable but are not recommended for track use. They are tough enough to offer some protection but nothing like what you will get out of a full boot. The shoes are generally made for street riding. They are popular because they look much like regular tennis shoes so you can wear them at work without it being noticed. The shoes usually do not offer much in the way of protection but rather they have a non slip sole and a shifter pad which makes it easier for you to shift while riding. Most of the shoes are reinforced to some degree but not nearly like motorcycle boots.
Typically your riding style and the type of bike you ride will dictate what kind of motorcycle boots you will choose to wear. Just keep in mind to wear gear that adequately protects you for your style of riding. Ideally a helmet, gloves, jacket, riding pants and boots should be worn at all times when you are out on a motorcycle.
By: Dominik Hussl webmaster of discount-motorcycle-parts.net come see our motorcycle boot selection.
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