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Back on May 10, I was in a single-vehicle accident while riding my motorcycle. I lowsided at around 25 mph while turning a corner when I encountered a hubcap in my line, which caused me to panic and lose control as I tried to avoid hitting it
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If that is an urban myth then it's quite a convincing one, and I've always avoided steel toe caps on the bike as a result. Since that's a feature of most industrial safety boots (along with laces - another absolute no-no for moto boots, one I can report is a terrible idea from experience) from my consideration... I also note that most industrial boots don't have the kind of heavy duty ankle & particularly shin protection that a good motorcycle boot has; anybody who has ever felt a rock whack the shin guard on their moto boots at 70mph and imagined what that would have felt like hitting the upper lace area of their favourite hiking boot at that speed will notice that...
Moto boots for the track don't have to be comfortable to wear off the bike, which is good because most of them are definitely not. On the other hand, you do usually need to have replaceable sacrificial components so that when you grind them away on track you don't need a whole new pair of boots after three fast laps... and they add absolutely nothing to the utility of the boot on the street, except to make you look like you nicked Robocop's shoes when off the bike. Crash protection of a race boot should be pretty good, though...
A decent street motorcycle boot will ideally give you similar levels of protection to the race boot, will be comfortable [and non-weird looking enough if that matters to you] off the bike that you don't feel the need to change into a different pair of shoes if you have to walk a mile or so mid ride, ideally will keep your feet warm in winter, cool and unsweaty in summer, and dry in the rain. Protection wise they will protect your foot from crushing & puncture, including sole crush, your delicate ankle joint and it's ligaments from catastrophic injury. Ultimately, once it has protected your foot & ankle from all that it can protect it from, its job is to refer the damage that your foot & ankle were going to take up to the long bones of your lower leg, which will heal well fairly quickly, whereas your ankle joint won't - and a smashed up ankle is potentially life changing and permanently disabling in the way that even a very badly broken lower leg rarely if ever is...
By the way, I wear Daytona Roadstar GTX boots... have done for 20 years on the street. I have some Sidis for the track & some enduro boots for trail riding, but on the street... Daytonas... I've only ever owned 3 pairs, still have two of them, so the frankly outrageous price has, it turns out, been money well spent...
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If you don't believe me, Mythbusters did an epidode on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak8OvP87938
I don't know the rationale behind my dealer's opinion that boots designed for motorcycle racing on tracks aren't well suited to street riding, so I can't comment on that, only repeat what he had said. It might have to do with comfort when off the bike, or it might have to do with the types of forces and impacts you get from track getoffs as opposed to streets. I really don't know.
I've ridden with my steel toe boots for the last 3 seasons, and I'm glad I had them on when I went down, but I wish I'd had better protection at the top of the foot, not just a toe cap. I've been thinking about incorporating something like this into my safety gear:
http://www.safetycompany.com/products/Metatarsal-Guard-by-Kanga-Tuff.html?gclid=CjgKEAjwtZucBRD77aiiq_v4xnASJABkAg8JsYQulwqxLbA26gB1xdZdf08CxHaRzkZXZ3rQT4FjNfD_BwE#
When I first started riding with my steel toes, I found it a bit awkward. The boots are thicker and don't fit under the shift lever with as much clearance, and there's less feel. But I got used to it pretty quickly, and didn't feel like it inhibited my ability to shift, up or down. I'm fairly confident that if I can get used to it, anyone who wants to give it a chance can.
To be sure, a steel toe and tarsal protection isn't the only safety feature a good boot needs. A strong shank and ankle support is also a must.
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