Breaking in New Motorcycle Boots. Ugh.

Last year I wrote about the newest women's motorcycle boots from Dainese, the Torque D1's, the first true women's motorcycle boot that offers real ankle support. What this means they make it incredibly difficult for you to twist your ankle. Of course, the impact protection is also incredibly supportive as well. 

I didn't think I could wear these. I still am not 100% sure. My problem was that as a woman with a very small, wide foot boots like these from Dainese are incredibly difficult to wear. 

Typically I size into a US 6.5-7 (7 if it's a narrower shoe) which translates to about a Euro 36-37. These are a Euro 38. My feet are also incredibly high at the instep. My other weird issue is that I have a small cyst on the top of my left foot, so that makes wearing any tight shoes (like if I lace my shoes too tight) especially painful. 

Since these are fairly difficult to get my foot into so I had to size up. 

I've been wearing them around the house for about a total of 1.5 hours and luckily I haven't felt any pinching or piercing pain anywhere. Just tightness from a new pair of boots, especially race boots. They're just not easy. 

I did find that crossing my legs while sitting on a kitchen stool did make my toes go numb... so I recommend not doing that ;D

I've also added my super insoles to still give me the extra heel height that I like having.

They seem to fit okay, of course I removed the insoles that came with the boots but it certainly makes the heel and ankle space a bit tighter. I'm hoping as I keep breaking them in they only get better!

Just a little test ride.. in the kitchen! Always take your gear for a test ride at home so you can see what it might feel like to wear things for more than 2-3 minutes. 

Breaking in new boots isn't fun. It can be a pain in the ass really. But I really wanted the extra ankle support that these boots offer that my old Sidis don't even though they took great care of my feet when I crashed two years ago.. I'm also doing a track day next month so I want to be ready for that too. 

Also, I'm trying to sell my new-used Sidis (not the ones I actually crashed in) if you know anyone who might be interested.

Revit Xena Leather Pants on Sale, And Updated

I've updated my review of the Revit Xena Pants, since a new version was released recently. My version is on sale everywhere right now, and the new ones have an updated fit profile that I think will work much better for everyone. Take a look at my review above and read the differences between the old and new models. 

New Boots from Daytona, The Lady Pilot GTX

Daytona Lady Pilot GTX, $329 Revzilla.com

I've always been a Daytona fan but in recent years I've left my Daytonas behind except for extreme weather conditions like freezing temperatures and heavy wet weather riding. I also have found ways of compensating for lack of height using other methods.

But if you're looking for a way to get additional height without resorting to a casual styled, chunky heel that isn't protective enough, light enough, or strong enough for riding then try these new Lady Pilots from Daytona.  

I'm liking the cleaner calf / leg design and the simplified styling. To me it also seems like there's more height offered through the soles given the wedge-boot style design. I'm going to test this theory out this week and try on my Ladystars and these Lady Pilots to see if I can tell a height difference. Fit wise, these are going to be a wider fitment overall like the Ladystars but we'll see if there's much difference. 

Either way, you save $100 and get the height you might be looking for with a simplified style and the same comfort and quality you'd expect from Daytona. 

How Goldie 2.0 Was Born

2012_triumph_street_tripleR_totalled

I know, it's not pretty. But first

The Accident

First of all, I'm great. The photo above is of my bike before she crashed into a guardrail. As a result of hydraulic fluid that was spilled down the entire lane, I lowsided at approximately 40-45mph (same speed as the curve I was headed into) and the bike took most of it.

The good news is I got up without a scratch. And no, I was not stuck under the guardrail. I actually stopped right on the spotty white painted line on my stomach. As you can see, my gear took all of it (head never touched the ground). And that's why I typically wear leather, even in the summer:

(gear clockwise from top left: Racer High End Gloves (sliders work!), Revit Galactic Jacket, Revit Gear 2 Leather Pants, Sidi Vertigo Lei Boots). My head never touched the ground, so no helmet replacement needed. I did replace my gear with another Galactic jacket, Gear Pants, and this time some Alpinestars SMX-6 Boots. The only reason I went with these is because my feet are smaller than when I got these, so I needed a 36. Sadly the Vertigos are only available in 37. These actually fit me very well, so we'll see how they do. I've spent ~500 miles in them so far and they're very comfortable (wider too).

My body did walk away with bruises. Which I'm *very* happy to have, instead of broken bones, road rash or surgery. No ambulance was needed, just a quick visit to the Dr that night to make sure nothing was broken.

(bruise pics clockwise from top left: day of the accident, 3 days after, 1 week after, 1 month after)

The only real injury I sustained was a tiny fracture on the underside of my metatarsal bone. It's hardly visible on the x-ray. Here's a pic of my foot 2 weeks later:

I can't imagine what my foot would have been like had I not been wearing those Sidi Boots. Unfortunately my bike didn't have any frame sliders or engine guards, so the full weight of the bike was on my foot. Although my boots prevented my ankles or rest of my foot from being crushed, one tiny little bone under my foot suffered. It's now been almost 8 weeks since the accident and although my foot is much better than before (back to wearing cute shoes!) I still have trouble walking for awhile in hard-soled shoes. I'm guessing a few more weeks and it'll be gone for good. Wearing my new riding boots isn't a problem!

In case you're wondering about the bike at this point, Yes, the bike was totaled! Beyond totaled. But the good news is as soon as I called my local dealer to let them know my bike would be dropped off the next morning for an estimate, he told me that the exact same bike came in on consignment! Goldie 2.0 was born. Without hesitation, I knew I wanted the same bike.

Just my luck that the exact same year, make and model showed up when I needed her. Actually, this bike was in better shape than the previous version with a little over 3,000 miles on it and no dings or scratches. Whereas previous Goldie had 5,000 miles , dropped on both sides and had some imperfections.