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I found out about Gasolina boots through friends in the British motorcycle crowd (thanks Tom). "Yeah, I think they're gas boots or something", he said when I asked about them. Closer inspection of the boots revealed the name "Gasolina" (right there, on the boots themselves). Tom couldn't remember how he found out about them, but did remember that they were custom-made and took a while to get. Being built like a bowling ball, I am used to getting stuff custom if I want it to actually fit. A web inquiry led me right to the website: http://www.gasolinaboots.com/ from which I printed out the measuring guide and proceeded to order my boots. As mentioned on their website, Gasolina doesn't sell pre-made boots in "standard" sizes and requires the measurements because sizes can vary so much. IF one is very lucky and one's measurements match something in stock, one's boots would ship quickly from Gasolina's US distributor. I knew I had no change of that as I have a wide foot and very big calves. I tell people the giant calf on the left side is the result of having once owned a vintage Moto Guzzi and dealing with it's "robust" shifting.... $204 (including shipping) for custom-made boots seemed like a good deal. Email communication with Gasolina Boots was good and I received my new boots in about eight weeks.
Here's what Gasolina has to say
about their Classic boots: I unpacked the boots and gave them a good going-over. The outer leather looks to be of good quality and of reasonable uniform thickness. They are vat dyed which means that the colour shouldn't be prone scuffing off in normal wear. The inside of the boots are lined in very soft natural tan leather that looks to me to be pigskin. The soles are rubber and attached with Goodyear welt construction. This is a "sewn" construction and allows the boots to be re-soled in the future if needed.
There is a heavy-duty zipper running down the back of the boot with a leather placket inside to block wind and protect one's socks, pants and skin. Two buckled straps - one near the heel, one at the calf - help secure the boot when worn. With both straps undone and the zipper fully down, I can get the boots on fairly easily. With the lower strap buckled I can get the boots on with the use of a shoe-horn. Once on, the Gasolina boots fit quite well. I have very big calves and feel bad for the "extra" cow that probably gave it's life to make my boots. The heel cup was stiff and rubbed against the bottom of my ankle but that was about the only sign that these were new boots. Once broken in, I would expect these to be comfortable boots. Rare in a riding boot, I'd expect to be able to walk around off the bike in these with ease. There is extra leather on both boots behind the toe area so even if one owns an older BSA or Triumph (right foot shifters) one should be OK with these boots. The ankles also have some extra leather. I did treat my boots to help with water resistance, but would NOT recommend these (or most other leather boots) as rain gear.
These boots are made for riding
and they perform quite well. They are flexible enough (even new)
for easy shifting and braking. No pinching or binding and the sole-heel is
just right so Having these boots in my closet should certainly help alleviate my ATGATT failures. I like the look of the Gasolina Classics and consider them to be a very good value at around $200. The problem is that they will likely cost me more money as I now feel I need custom-made jodhpurs and deer-skin gauntlets. Oh, and maybe a pair of $130 Nannini leather goggles... David Harrington
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ATGATT - All The Gear All The
Time. To me, that means a helmet, jacket, long trousers, gloves and
boots... all the time. I admit to failing at this more often than I
should. Even in this hot weather I wear a helmet, long pants, a mesh
jacket (with armor) and summer gloves. What I often DON'T do is
cover my ankles. Yeah, I'm wearing regular shoes. ATGATT failure. Hoping
that paying attention to some of the cool riding boots out there will help
me overcome this failure - let's look at Gasolina's custom offering.
far as thickness and "feel" is concerned. During one ride, I
stopped at a park and did about two miles of walking in the Gasonlina
boots. I could tell that they were new and experienced some ankle rubbing
and slight inching on the top of my foot. Both of these concerns will
probably go away as the boots break in. 
