{"id":13675,"date":"2018-02-23T06:23:14","date_gmt":"2018-02-23T11:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=13675"},"modified":"2018-02-23T06:28:06","modified_gmt":"2018-02-23T11:28:06","slug":"cowboy-boots-on-a-harley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/?p=13675","title":{"rendered":"Cowboy Boots on a Harley"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I had a dialogue with someone who wrote to me to say that he wanted to wear his Tecovas cowboy boots while riding his new Harley. He said,
\n<\/p>\n

I am struggling buying anything resembling an engineering boot. I have been in the market for some cowboy boots for some time, My HD dealer wears cowboy boots with a thin Vibram tread on the botton and he loves them. What are your thoughts, black or brown?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I took this seriously and replied,<\/p>\n

\n\"\"I understanding wanting to wear cowboy boots while operating your Harley. But smooth leather soles are an invitation for serious injury because those soles are not oil resistant. They will slip while waiting at stoplights on even the most slight incline, and also will slip while duck-walking the bike to park it.<\/p>\n

I just went to Tecovas Boots website and do not see any boots they make with any kind of rubber sole — only smooth leather soles.<\/p>\n

I have two alternatives for you to consider:<\/p>\n

\"\"* Chippewa Arroyos boots<\/a><\/p>\n

I’ve had these for at least a decade and they have held up really really well. Also, they’re made in the USA. They cost about the same, or even a little less, than a new pair of Tecovas boots. These boots are very rugged and solid, and are real boots for a biker who likes to wear cowboy boots.<\/p>\n

\"\"* Justin “Keaton” boots<\/a> <\/p>\n

I’ve had these for only about six months. They are comfortable as hell and lightweight. Also, you can probably find them on sale for about $100 less than Tecovas, yet they have a better sole for motorcycling and look just the same as their smooth leather cowboy boots.<\/p>\n

I have worn the Chippewa boots often while riding my Harley and they work great. They have Vibram 430 “mini-lug” soles, so you will have the traction required to handle a heavyweight bike.<\/p>\n

The Justins have a rubber tread that also will work — not quite as well as a Vibram 430 mini-lug, but okay if you like them.<\/p>\n

But please — even though Tecovas boots look great, they are not designed for safe operation of a motorcycle because of their smooth leather soles. Get boots with a sole designed for traction. (BTW, while I also have engineer boots, I also prefer boots of other styles when I ride, so I understand what you’re saying.)<\/p>\n

BTW — black or brown boots doesn’t matter. There is no “right way” to wear boots. Wear what you like.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I thought that answer would have handled it, but he replied with,<\/p>\n

Would you feel the same if I had some viral [sic] put on the bottoms? <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I assume he meant Vibram, as in rubber soles. My reply was,<\/p>\n

If you had soles that provide traction added to your boots by a cobbler, that would be okay. It’s just operating a bike with smooth leather soles that is the problem.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As is typical for guys who write to me, he did not reply with as much as a “thank-you” or anything else. Courtesy is rare these days.<\/p>\n

In summary, don’t wear smooth leather-soled boots while operating a motorcycle… one slip, and one broken ankle later, you’ll be sorry that “cool” gave in for “safety.”<\/p>\n

Life is short: wear boots while riding a motorcycle. There are styles of boots available to meet your preferences without sacrificing safety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had a dialogue with someone who wrote to me to say that he wanted to wear his Tecovas cowboy boots while riding his new Harley. He said,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cowboy-boots","category-motorcycle-boots"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13675\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}