MotoBailey Boot Review: Are They As Tough As They Say?

“Shoe, the whole shoe and nothing but the shoe”

We don’t want to spam our fans with too many “independent” product reviews, there are enough of them out there already.

We get many requests from manufacturers, but we are very picky. We simply don’t like to write a positive review on products we don’t really like, products that don’t work or stuff that simply sucks and lie about it. Of cours,e we like to receive free products, but hey: if we want something, we simply buy it. Remember that BikeBrewers is all about hobby and passion!

So when Jennifer of MotoBailey Shoe Co. reached out, we were a bit hesitant. Until Jennifer Bailey sent us the boots that was.

The Bailey Bunch

In preparation for this article, I spoke to Jennifer and Blake to get a bit of background on them and their company. All very well to start producing motorcycle gear, but how about their ‘street cred’? No doubts there. Oh yes, they are riders too! Blake started off on a Suzuki GSR 813 with a big bore kit, yosh cams. It was dropped and stretched 6”.

He can currently be spotted riding a flat track inspired 2007 Yamaha YZ 450F with a R1 front end fitted into a custom subframe. Good enough we say.

However, Jennifer has a bike which is more according to our taste. A Lovely 1974 Honda CB550. Right girl! You’ve got it!

Ambitious couple

Currently, the company employs a staff of six. But if this couple has their way that won’t be for long. Blake dreams of giving Rev’it! a run for their money. His vision? “Buying that company and moving it to the States!”. Nothing wrong with a bit of ambition.

He adds: “it might sound cheesy, but this really is a big deal for us. We really are trying to only provide what people actually want, so when we have customers buy our products, we consider them part of our motofamily and we take all feedback and recommendations in consideration when designing our future lines.”

No! Not another boring review!

There are quite some reviews on the boots on their website, but in all honesty we found them a bit boring and were basically all written along the same lines. At Bikebrewers we try to do things differently. And that is exactly what we decided to do.

But before we went ahead with our plans, we wanted to make sure that Blake and Jennifer Bailey share our wicked sense of humor. When we explained to them what we had in mind, Jennifer retorted that her husband has a military background and that they are Texans. He had tested the boots by shooting at them with a revolver. Good enough for us.

Actually, we could have already guessed from the answer Blake gave us to the question at what age he had started riding bikes and why. His reply? “I started riding illegally at the age of 18. Why? Compensation for a small penis and stubby thumbs!”

Say no more. We are on the same page brother!

Right, important features of the boots according to the manufacturer:

1. They look great
2. They have important safety features

When we asked Blake Bailey the reason why he decided producing boots in the first place he answered: “I wanted to ride every day and I couldn’t find a boot that allowed me to do it.” Good enough reason to start producing yourself.

We like that.

“Testing, testing one, two three!”

• Fashionable?

But to make sure that this claim actually holds in real life bike, Bikebrewers let our editor Ron Betist a.k.a. ‘Dandy Rider’ to check them out and put them to his rigorous ‘fashion test’. The results of this can be viewed in this clip:

• Safe?

Now then, about the safety claims;

All very nice to advertise your boots with “World’s 1st Patented Kevlar Moto Boots”. Kevlar huh?! So that means that they are ultra-strong? Ok. Well, let’s check that out!

And there is really only one man for the job; Arjan van den Boom of Ironwood Custom Motorcycles, a.k.a. as ‘Sturdy Builder’.

He really went to town on these boots as can be enjoyed in this video:

The ‘looks department’

Although the videos are intended to underline the fashionability and safety claims, we think it is only than fair to also share our thoughts on these boots with you in this article.

Blake Bailey was right in his claim that the shoes can be worn daily and look good under many different circumstances. We have been testing them throughout the summer while wearing jeans and other casual pants, but they are a pretty cool choice when wearing a suit too.

It gives a little edge to your appearance walking into a room dressed up donning these boots. It used to be hip to wear a suit and sneakers, we say it is better to replace those with boots.

Looking sharp is one thing, but comfort is another. Moto Baliley are scoring sufficient points in that field too. They need some breaking in, but after that they can be worn easily all day.

One thing to bear in mind though is the sizing. Before ordering your pair online, it may be good to  measure your feet. I normally have a size 11, but these were just a tad too small for me. No, worries here, as they come in half sizes to. For me 11,5 did the trick.

Made it home safe

The claim to ‘safety fame’ can be awarded we think. Arjan took the boots apart, which was no easy task. While dissecting the boots it became clear that Moto Bailey have added quite some tech stuff to keep their clients safe.

Neatly tucked away behind the fancy chequered inner lining and some fine cushioning is a full layer of Kevlar going all the way around the heel from side to side, covering the entire back section of the shoe. Even the lip of the shoe (the part covering the instep of your feet) has this cushioning and kevlar protection.

The front section features heavy protection too. From the nose up to the sides we find heavy woven Kevlar protection too.

A little summary for those who want to buy MotoBailey boots:

Things we like:

• Beautiful design
• Feel and look like normal boots
• High-quality materials
• Reasonable pricing
• Same number of color options like the Model T Ford…
• Reinforcement for shifter on top of shoe left and right.

• • Very Feng Shui and fit for classic British bikes too.

Things we don’t like:

• …same number of color options like the Model T Ford
• Not that big of a deal but the shoes run a little small
• Leather laces are not ideal, but easy to replace with more practical ones