Return of Norstar boots

[Mark P]

On page 111 of the March issue of Dirt Bike, they have a photo of the new Norstar boots that AXO has brought back. The boots look updated with side toe protectors. Just thought it was great seeing the return of a tradtional appearing boot.

 //www.axo.com

[wfopete]

Pretty sweet but at $380 they are pretty steep.

I kinda like to see some better shin protection though.

Pete Petrick
175 Jackpiner
Slow but Good

[Kip Kern]

Love em!  I still use my old Hi Points! Great for vintage racing and riding.  No goofy colors!;)

[brian kirby]

No ankle support...no thanks.

Brian

[[email protected]]

AMEN to Alpine Star HiPoint boots. No ankle support but it's a worthwhile trade off for being able to feel the shifter, the brake and not feel like you have a block of cement on your feet. The new boots are to cumbersome.

72 Penton 6 day 125
76 Penton 125GS
77 Penton GS6
78 KTM 175GS6
76 Hercules GS175
1975 Ossa dessert phantom
1978 GS125 Hercules w/coffin tank
76 GS250 Herc

[JCHubbard]

You can get them on ebay for $300.00 and FREE SHIPPING.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AXO-Racing-Norstar-Trans-Am-BOOTS-Vintage-AHRMA-Size-12-11900-05-120-/160726827779?hash=item256c10c303&item=160726827779&pt=Apparel_Merchandise&vxp=mtr

[tomale]

It took me awhile to find a boot that had a modern protection and stil felt good when I went rode.. The Gaerne boots worked well. Several years ago my wife fell down a set of stairs and broke her ankle, it destroyed the cartiledge. It took them nearly 9 months to actually find the problem. Finally surgery was done. It was 6 months before she could put any weight on it, another year before she could stand for more a few minutes.. The old boots look cool but it would ruin my racing for a long time, if I tore up an ankle, so I will stay my modern boots.
one of the things I did to make it easier to shift my bike was lower the shifter down another notch. by doing that, I did not have to pulll up on the shifter so hard. It practically eliminated miss shifts.

Thom Green,Still crazy after all these years!
76' 250 MC5 (orginal owner)
74'250 hare scrambler (project)
74' 1/2 440 maico
78' 440 maico
72' cr125 Husky (project)
93' RMx 250 suzuki

[OUCWBOY]

How did we ever survive back in the day before full face helmets, chest protectors, and nice boots??? When I started racing MX (1968) none of these fancy things were available, or at least affordable?? Lineman boots were about the only boots available in my area and they cost a weeks pay.

Donny Smith
Paragould, AR

[brian kirby]

For me, these or Hi Points are not an option in spite of the fact that I love the look and would prefer that if I had a choice. I wore Hi Points until '95 when I destroyed my left ankle. It was one of those dumb little things that should not have hurt me, but did. I just popped over a little bump in 1st gear, but landed awkward with the toe of my boot just catching the footpeg. This hyper-extended my ankle, and the floppy Hi Points did absolutely nothing to prevent it. It took 9 months to heal, and the very first time I rode after that, I did the same thing to the right ankle. After another 6 month recovery, I got modern boots and never considered floppy "vintage" boots again. I have no doubt the main cause of my excessive number of missed shifts on my 100 are because of my stiff modern boots, but I have a choice between missing shifts or destroying my ankles again, for me thats an easy choice to make.

Brian

[Lloyd Boland]

I also use to wear Hi-Points.  About 15 years ago while approaching a jump, I let my toe drop too much and caught my left toe of the boot on the face of the jump.  While still standing on the foot peg, my foot bent under the foot peg tearing all the ligaments that attach the foot to the leg at the ankle and fracturing the fibula.  After 3 separate surgeries (all done at the same time) to re-attach all the ligaments from the foot to the leg and nine bone screws to put the ankle/fibula back together, it was "as good as new".  I tried several boots over the next several years until I also tried Gaerne boots.  They fit well, are just a tad-bit wider/tall at the instep and give good support.  You don't want to mess with ankle injuries.

[Mark P]

These inuries sound nasty. I bought a pair of the Gaerne '10' boots from a gentleman POGGER and they are great boots and I see why vet riders go to them. They really are high quality and seem to combine some of the virtures of yesteryear with modern technology. I never had an ankle injury involving motorcycles but did break my left big toe(completely in half in three places!) last October WALKING a DR650 across a slimey moss covered ford. Foot inuries are bad because they really mess up your daily activities like work. (I bought Gaernes AFTER the broken toe incident but am not certain if they have enough "top toe" protection to have saved my toe from the edge of the skid plate). Thank the Good Lord that I had a lot of sick hours saved. I found that I had to move my shifters UP when I started wearing the Gaerne boots and even with these, I still have to wrap my toe with the 3M web wrap to help because its painful to shift a motorcycle. By the way, I carry a first aid kit when I ride. The 3M producr is marketed to hospitals under the name of "Cobane"(or something like tht). I buy the horse version at Tractor Supply for a lot less(my surgeon turned me onto that).

I've taken my first "pavement" tumbe(again on an extremely slick Texas low water crossing over concrete) and am thankful for modern protective equipment. I landed on my knees and elbows. The body armor in the air mesh jacket saved my elbows.and an expensive pair of knee guards saved my knees. I'm convinced I would have badly injured my knees with them because I nailed the pavement.  I won't ride without the equipment.

[brian kirby]

My right ankle was not as bad and it does not bother me now, but my left ankle will probably never be without pain. It still bothers me daily even 17 years later. Right before New Years I hurt that ankle again, but this time I had modern Alpinestars boots and I just had to limp for 2-3 days instead of a 9 month recovery with almost a month on crutches. I need new boots, and I'll probably get Gaerne SG-12s.

Brian