Non-leather boots?

[Spazman727]

I know you will all laugh at me and ridicule me, but I am vegetarian and am opposed to using leather. I was wondering if anybody knows of any motorcycle boots and/or gloves that arn't made of leather? It's easy enough to get non-leather pants and jackets but I havnt been able to find reasonably priced boots or gloves.

Any help would be much appriciated.

[onearmedbandit]

How do you feel about Kangaroos?

[Spazman727]

They're animals arnt they?

[onearmedbandit]

But they're Australian.

[grusomhat]

A quick search seems to indicate that Sidi make vegan friendly motorcycle boots. Have you tried searching google for non-leather boots? There's quite a few hits. If you can get the make and model of a type of boot you might be able to find a NZ stockist, or a shop might be able to bring some in.

EDIT: look for boots made of lorica

[Spazman727]

Cool, thank you

[slofox]

Would cardboard be OK?

On a more serious note: Just curious here. What about if the leather came from a cow that had died of old age rather than in an abattoir? Would that make a difference to how you felt about leather boots? (Serious question BTW.)

[rustyrobot]

Boots
I ride both on-road and off-road and both require very different boots. There is a much greater slection of on-road boots thebn off-road boots but luckily there are both. One thing is that almost all of the higher-end racing boots are made out of promarily synethic leather but some do have leather parts, but not all.

Alpinestars currently does not make nay vegan boots, but in an email they acknowledged "We understand this is an important issue so it is possible that there will be leather-free gloves in boots in the near future." If they do change their lineup I will post it here.

Sidi makes a lot of vegan boots made from Lorica, though most of their vegan boots are more of a racer, than a cruiser style. The following boots are vegan Strada Evo Te-Por, Strada Evo-Air, Sport Te-Por (bit less racy looking), Way Te-Por, Way Te-Por Mega (available in wide sizes), Scorpion Air (short sneaker style boot), Champion Air, their entire line of racing boots are vegan and can be seen here http://www.motonation.com/sidistreetracing.htm. Amazingly Sidi also make two vegan bots designed and sized for women Jasmine Te-Por, and the B2 Ladies.
The 2006 Sidi Force SRS are vegan and a high quality MX boot. They are still available from a few sources, I just purchased mine from Rocky Moto.
Joe Rocket currently does not make any vegan boots

Oxtar appears to make some vegan boots, but have not replied to my email to confirm they do yet.
Setup boots are supposed to be made at the same factory as Sidi but are a lower cost alternative. They d make a few vegan boots and may be the highest quality lower cost motorcycle boot line out there. There Vision is a nice no frills race boot, and their Sunrise boot is a nice all-around riding/touring boot.

Alt-berg is a U.K. boot maker who makes custom boots that are supposed to be of a very high quality. Though they do not offer the protection of some of the motorcycle specific boots, they appear to be very sturdy. According to their website they make vegan boots for an additional 25%. Click here for a list of their motorcycle boots.

Vegetarian Shoes makes a 14 Eye Boot, an Engineer boot, and a Paraboot which are all available from Mooshoes in the U.S. I do not recommend any of these for riding protection, they will offer minimal protection but I would count them as true motorcycle boots.

Scott vegan motocross boot Scott Genius. They often some serious protection and do so at a high dollar cost.

Should be a good starting point.

[Spazman727]

Would cardboard be OK?

On a more serious note: Just curious here. What about if the leather came from a cow that had died of old age rather than in an abattoir? Would that make a difference to how you felt about leather boots? (Serious question BTW.)

I guess so, but i don't know if thats possible. The boots I have at the moment are second hand (came with my bike) so hopefully they'll last a while.

[slofox]

I guess so, but i don't know if thats possible. The boots I have at the moment are second hand (came with my bike) so hopefully they'll last a while.

It's a difficult choice I think. Seems a pity to waste resources that are lying around (like dead cows f'rinstance). But I do take your point about farmed animules, abattoirs etc. Not my own personal choice, but you are free to make your choices as you see fit and you will get no opposition from me.

The Lorica boots sound pretty good from what I have found just now from a brief search. Might be the way to go. IF you can find 'em...bound to be available online if not retail in NZ...

[Spazman727]

Sweet, thanks for the advice.

[Supermac Jr]

vegan friendly motorcycle boots.

Now there's a though....

[vifferman]

Actually, an increasing number of boots are made from synthetics, possibly because it's easier, and they're easier to waterproof? The Lorica ones are hard to tell from leather.

[Mike Wilson]

Good on you for having morals and sticking to them. A while ago Moto cross boots were plastic. Perhaps try an off road shop........Seeya Mike Wilson owner Jet Leathers 068787949

[hellokitty]

Hey Spazman - look on trademe at motorbike boots and type in synthetic leather and there are cool looking road boots as well as MX boots - prices on the road boots are good too - I noticed a few the other day when looking for road racing style boots