New safety protection idea - break away boot soles

[canyonrat]

So I am here bored doing business stuff. Then an idea pops into my pee brain.

If you ever watched any videos of the late Dr. John Hinds, he often mentions what happens when a street rider puts their foot down in an attempt to keep their bike from crashing while at speed. The result is catastrophic damages to that leg and even the hip. The damage can first be considered when it is seen that the rider's boot has come off. (I won't go into details.) So my idea is that if the soles of boots would rip off at about the poundage/force needed to brake bones and the remaining bottom of the boot is made of a slick material, that this particular injury could be lessened or avoided.

What do all you all think?

 

[Smash Allen]

are you drunk?

 

[KrustyKruser]

I think that would be cool, but doubt it would become mainstream. I remember riding through a corner covered in leaves. My bike slid and instinctively my foot planted itself in the ground. It of course had traction and I ended up saving the bike but pulled lots of muscles doing so. I think a sliding boot sole would have been better than a boot sole that but into the ground.

 

[Whammy]

i guess

we need a proof of concept?

 

[bergmen]

Maybe a Ken Maely hot shoe?



Dan

 

[Blankpage]

Whether a useful idea or not someone is likely to already be owner of a patent for a breakaway boot sole.

Why doesn't Rossi need such a feature?

 

[Smash Allen]

motogp seems to not have a problem with sliding their boots


youtu.be/n82rqReDDiw

 

[rsrider]

Weed is now legal. Yea!!!!

 

[ex-walker]

Maybe a Ken Maely hot shoe?



Dan

I was thinking the same thing. I lived a Ken Maelys in the early 90s when I was racing speedway. He was a cool guy.

 

[HeatXfer]

Yeah, they already make 'em; we were talking about Wolverines in another thread.

 

[canyonrat]

Cool. I knew others had some thoughts about it. I'll checkout the wolverine thread later. Oh, one other thing about why I started this thread. When I originally posted I was sober but the coffee was drunk. LOL

 

[KittenMeat]

motogp seems to not have a problem with sliding their boots


youtu.be/n82rqReDDiw

I actually think about this problem every time I watch motoGP races. I think there is a difference, mechanically, behind putting a foot down for a slide versus a dab and this may account for it.

supermoto riders drag boots a lot too, I've noticed.

I think the take away from the Hinds lectures (RIP) is that mechanism is the only important factor in motorcycle racing crashes.

Though the brain is my chosen specialty, I've always had a soft spot for trauma medicine and research. It happens that I tend to make a lot of friends in the ER, too.

think of it this way, as a theory that I'm putting forth:
when marquez or rossi drags, they are likely dabbing down their heel.
if you dab the toe or forefoot, it has the potential to act like a size 11 lever to twist the tibia/fibula against the femur. There isn't a whole lot holding that structure together. It can barely even take collisions from a "level 1" sport like basketball/football/soccer when planting and pivoting.

rotational force versus straight vector. Take a bike experiencing any kind of wobble and dabbing is likely to end up in disaster?


I like that you folks are paying attention though. Watch some slow-motion crashes where the foot is torn off for me and see if you can come up with a design based on that mechanism of injury.

I'll be your first customer!

 

[ScottRNelson]

I'm sure I would just love :rolleyes to go back and pick up the sole of my boot after saving the bike by putting a foot down.

 

[Map8]

I have a steel shoe. Its awesome for flat track and TT racing. Steel shoes work best with the big, round rubber pegs used on Flat Track bikes.

Supermoto racers often use boots with replaceable soles. The most popular is the SIDI SRS boot and soles which allows for the entire sole to be replaced. The soles come in two different compounds, cost around $40 and take about 15-20 minutes to change. These soles allow enough grip to have solid contact with the foot peg over big jumps, hitting berms and all the other movement needed when racing supermoto. The boots are expensive and not as flexible as most standard street boots so this isn't a solution for most street riders.


As for MotoGP, those riders get new at least one set of new boots every race weekend. They go through boots rapidly. (See photo of Dani Pedrosa's boot below) This is also not a practical option for street riders.

I'm not sure if any of these options prevent injury. However, its more cool moto stuff to buy so there is an upside.

 

[weak_link]

I have a pair of SuperMoto boots that have replaceable sole-pucks, kinda close-ish, sorta.

and no, I have no idea why this pic to stole from the intrawebz of my boots looks like it's on a pair of Depends.

 

[LakeMerrit]

and no, I have no idea why this pic to stole from the intrawebz of my boots looks like it's on a pair of Depends.

Some of us have learned to 'pucker' and some of us just say f**k it and wear Depends when we go hoonin'

 

[Hank Wong]

I like to think of this as putting a foot down while water skiing. Sure one can do it, if it is done right, such as making sure the heel touches down first and not the toe. We all know what happens when the toe touches down first. And if you don't know, just watch this crash video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYxU_lYBHpY
of a HD rider with a lazy left foot doing the left uphill turn at the Mulholland snake, lazy left foot as in not moving one's foot back after a shift. With the toe pointing down, it becomes the part that touches the ground first. Freeze frame at 0:15. He is very lucky to be walking after the crash. IMHO, there is no good reason to put a foot down during street riding. It is safer to not put a foot down at any time during street riding except at or near a complete stop, thus no need for break away bits on your riding boots. The moto Gp riders doing this on the circuit may as well be doing it with sparkler metal installed on their heels to make the show off move more spectacular for the racing audience.

 

[ex-walker]

This is one good thing about being paralyzed, I won't be putting my foot down any time.:teeth

 

[Schnellbandit]

Perhaps just make the sole edges flush with the outside edge of the boot and bevel them? No removable soles needed.

A belt sander should get you there in seconds. Spirited riding will accomplish the same but might take longer.

Somehow trying to save a 500 pound replaceable bike with an irreplaceable 5 pound foot doesn't seem to add up.

 

[flying_hun]

I'm pretty sure the riders that Hinds was referencing were not making a conscious choice to put their feet down, rather it was a reaction to a sensed loss of control. Whether it "makes sense" or not doesn't really apply in a panic situation.

The OP's thought has merit. Making soles sufficiently slippery that they cannot be the source of the injuries that Hinds is talking about would also make them precarious any time you're stopping the bike in traffic. However, having the capability of breaking away rather than breaking a bone once some threshold of force is approached might work.

I'm thinking that when release bindings came in with downhill skiing that there were plenty of folks saying, "It will never work. They just need to improve their technique."