First Impression: Alpinestars Toucan Gore-Tex Boots

We all start somewhere & my first pair of motorcycle boots are what quite a few call hardcore motorcycle boots. The hunt for that one pair of motorcycle boots that fit perfectly & meet requirements can be quite a tedious task. There are plenty of motorcycle boot manufacturers in India who are churning out extremely affordable road & track specific models.

Adventure/MX boots are another story all together, there are one or two motorcycle gear e-tail companies in India who have a limited range of international brands available, but one wouldn't know what size to order due to the sizing variations between these brands.

My first pair of motorcycle boots happen to be what quite a few around have called 'hardcore' - the Alpinestars Toucan Gore-Tex Boots. These are an all-in-one touring boot that combines durability, comfort, 100% weatherproofing & protection into one neat package. Pick them up & the first thing that you will notice, is how light these boots are compared to quite a few other boots in the same category. Pulling them on was as easy as wearing a regular pair of slip-on shoes, but with an adjustable & replaceable closure system. Adjusting them takes a little experimenting before you lock them at the right notch. The aluminium buckles with self aligning guides make for easy locking.

Alpinestars Toucan Gore-Tex Boots

The boots not only seem rugged from the outside, but also have a great snug & secure feeling on the inside. They are a little rigid and yet flexible enough for the dual-purpose motorcyclist who wants the comfort of a shoe & the rigidity of a boot. The more you wear them & ride, the better they feel. The ankle support is great, but can hamper walking around on uneven terrain, when you wear a pair of motorcycle boots, one does need to change their style of walking.

The 100% weatherproofing with the Gore-Tex lining is a boon, the boots have already faced rain, some slush (feet dry on the inside), heat (both weather & motorcycle) & none of them has  been an irritant. The suede leather finish makes its easy to clean, these boots are not going to require cleaning anytime soon. They look great with the random spray of muck on them. Get them a lot messier & they will still be just as easy to pull on, lock & ride away with.

If you have never worn a pair of riding boots before, then you are in for a great experience. The first time I pulled them on, it felt strange when I walked and rode the first few kilometers. A couple of days later, wearing a regular pair of shoes while riding feel strange.

The trails are calling & the experience with them look extremely promising. A non technical complete review will follow soon.

My boots are from the Alpinestars Triumph range of products, as a result are priced significantly lower & only have a slightly different styling.

UniCross Diaries - The beginning

Sometimes dreams do come true, it really depends on how you interpret those dreams. This one has been 4 years in the making.

Inspiration - 2003

Inspiration struck during the early years of riding a motorcycle along with television shows about custom built motorcycles. My old skool thumper back then seemed like the perfect canvas to dream & continue dreaming. Thankfully, they just remained dreams.

Fast forward a couple of years (wiser) later, the thumper was replaced by a much smaller, extremely reliable & efficient Honda motorcycle. Though the motorcycle did not really meet the open road that often, it was the turning point of this inspiration. It was evident, that by then my riding style & tastes had changed. The motorcycle had to evolve, to beyond enabling me to answer the call of the open road. It had to allow me to traverse the paths & routes less travelled.

A fairly simple task - swap the wheels, spruce up the suspension & it should be ready to answer that call (at least on paper). Practically possible & theoretically complicated, it took a while before the motorcycle saw the light of day again.

The Fairly Simple Task - 2010

This is where it got interesting & painstaking at the same time. Towards the mid of 2010, the possible & complicated were laid out for evaluation and execution. The seemingly fairly simple, turned into a nightmare as soon as it began. There is a lot of wisdom in the words "Keep it Stock" when one refers to motorcycles, but sometimes that wisdom just needs to be ignored.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India were notorious for non availability of parts, back then irrespective of the generation of the motorcycle in question. The hunt for compatible components made sure that the motorcycle stayed in a disassembled condition for quite a while & when they were finally found, they weren't really simple to swap on.

What followed, was components spending a lot of time moving between the machine shop & the garage, before at long last everything seemed to work fine.

The Evolution

The motorcycle in question was my Honda Unicorn (3rd gen or upgrade), an absolutely delightful machine to ride, irrespective of the city or highway. In a lot of ways it felt like Honda had just picked up one cylinder & block from the CBR600 and dropped it onto this engine. Free-revving, extremely refined and packing a great punch for a motorcycle in its class. The decision to evolve the motorcycle can be all attributed to this beyond the need to answer the call.

Keep it Stock

Practically Possible & Theoretically Complicated

1) 2" increase in ground clearance - Front & back (compensate for 17" rear)

2) Dual-Purpose tyres swap

3) Spoked wheel conversion (rim & hub)

4) Riding ergonomics (handle bar)

5) Front mudguard & rear tail cleanup

6) Front fork brace

The most complicated of the tasks at hand was the spoked wheel conversion. Wheel Rims & Tyres (19" front & 17" rear) were not too hard to find, managed to procure a brilliant Pirelli MT60 for the rear. The wheel hubs, front disc rotor adapter plate & axel spacers were the complicated tasks. (no engine or drive train mods were made, the idea of engine work did not appeal)

But then again, it was all worth the frustration & delays in getting the motorcycle back on the road. At the end of it all, there were *two people who were solely responsible for the constant visits to the garage, the follow ups and the constant pressure on the garage to speed up the delayed timeline.

UniCross

UniCross - Mid 2010

The project was aptly called Project UniCross (crossover from street to dual-purpose) & post completion, the name stuck on. UniCross testing was a breeze, there were just a few hiccups with the front fork (2" spacers were set right) & front tyre and rim. A small 3 day ride towards the end of 2010 saw UniCross tackle almost all terrain with ease, allowing the rider (me) to go beyond just open roads with just as much ease. The next 1.5 years were pure bliss with quite a few short trips & one final 12 day ride before something else caught my eye.

Final 12 day ride...

Something Else - March 2012

Something Else

"Love at first sight", absolutely possible with the mechanical kind. The KTM Duke 200 stole the
limelight & there was a choice to make, sell one of the two other motorcycles that stood in the garage. Definitely not a simple or easy choice to make - UniCross or White Elephant (another thumper that I had picked up in between). Both were project bikes, one completed & the other still in the making. Logic & reasoning led to letting go of UniCross, which incidentally left the garage back in stock form.

The deed was done, the KTM was now the apple of the eye, with little or no realization of the impact UniCross had left behind & the actions that would be played out 2 years later.

--------

*Two People: My friends Abijit & Aashish