This is the Danner Moto GTX Boot, each is made in the USA using stitchdown construction, a full-grain leather upper, a waterproof GORE-TEX liner, D3O® armor ankle protection, and a Vibram® 148 Kletterlift Megagrip outsole.
Although these boots are intended for motorcycle use, they were designed to be comfortable to wear around town for prolonged periods – unlike regular moto boots. They have armor for the ankle and a medial shift guard for changing gears without wearing a hole in the boot.
This is the Danner Moto GTX, it’s a motorcycle boot developed by Danner in collaboration with See See Motor Coffee Co. and Vahna. Danner first made a motorcycle boot more than 50 years ago, and the Moto GTX is essentially a return to that heritage.
History Speedrun: The Danner Shoe Mfg. Co.
The Danner Shoe Mfg. Co. was founded in 1932 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, by Charles Danner, with a little help from his father-in-law William Weyenberg. The region’s proximity to the Great Lakes supported a thriving leather tanning industry, making it a natural home for a bootmaker with national ambitions.
With just five employees at the start, Danner set out to build affordable, long-lasting work boots during the depths of the Great Depression – initially selling them for $4 a pair, not a small sum of money back in the day.
In 1936, Charles heard about the booming timber trade in the Pacific Northwest and he relocated the company to Portland, Oregon. The move proved transformative for the company, Danner quickly became one of the major producers of calked (spiked-soled) logging boots in the region, selling them for $20 a pair.
Charles’s sons, John and Bill, joined the business in 1939. Both served in World War II, during which time Danner won a government contract to supply work boots, this prompted the construction of a much larger factory in North Portland.
After the war, Bill returned to bootmaking while John attended law school before rejoining the company in the 1950s. Together, they expanded the product line and opened Danner’s first retail store, and they formally took over the business from their father in 1957.
The outdoor recreation boom of the 1950s and 1960s opened a huge new chapter for the company, Danner became one of the few domestic manufacturers of hiking boots, and in the early 1970s released the 6490 Mountain Trail – this was a lace-to-toe design with a one-piece leather upper that weighed over a pound less than competing boots of the era.
This is the Danner Moto GTX Boot, each is made in the USA using stitchdown construction, a full-grain leather upper, a waterproof GORE-TEX liner, D3O® armor ankle protection, and a Vibram® 148 Kletterlift Megagrip outsole.
It was a hit with hikers and outdoor magazines alike, pushing production to 480 handmade pairs a day. In 1979, Danner partnered with W.L. Gore & Associates to create the first fully waterproof hiking boot using Gore-Tex fabric, this was a breakthrough that reshaped the industry and still reverberates today.
The result was the Danner Light, and the Mountain Light followed as an evolution of Danner’s earlier 6490-style hiking boot, combining the same one-piece leather-upper formula with waterproof Gore-Tex construction.
Despite some changes in ownership, Danner continues to manufacture many of its most popular boot lines at its 59,000 sq ft Portland factory, and still supplies footwear to the U.S. military, law enforcement, and outdoor enthusiasts around the world.
The Danner Moto GTX Boot
This is the Danner Moto GTX, it’s a motorcycle boot developed by Danner in collaboration with See See Motor Coffee Co. and Vahna. Danner first made a motorcycle boot more than 50 years ago, and the Moto GTX is essentially a return to that heritage.
The boot is built around a tough 5.5 oz full-grain leather upper with an additional leather layer over the toe for abrasion resistance, and a medial shift guard on the inside of the boot to protect against wear from the gear lever.
D3O soft armor is fitted inside the collar around the ankle – this is a state-of-the-art material that remains soft and flexible under normal conditions but stiffens instantly on impact, providing a level of protection typically found in dedicated hard motorcycle gear without sacrificing comfort.
The Moto GTX uses a 100% waterproof and breathable Gore-Tex liner to keep feet dry in all conditions, this is paired with a perforated polyurethane footbed designed for shock absorption and airflow. The outsole is a Vibram 148 Kletterlift with Megagrip, offering good traction on both wet and dry surfaces along with a slight arch profile for optimal grip on foot pegs. A fiberglass shank provides structural support through the midsole.
The outsole is a Vibram 148 Kletterlift with Megagrip, offering good traction on both wet and dry surfaces along with a slight arch profile for optimal grip on foot pegs. A fiberglass shank provides structural support through the midsole.
Each pair is made entirely in the USA at Danner’s Portland, Oregon factory using stitchdown construction, which provides a wider, more stable platform underfoot and allows the boots to be resoled through Danner’s recrafting program when the time comes.
The boot sits on Danner’s 503 last with a lace-to-toe closure that fits true to size, stands 6 inches tall, and weighs 61 oz per pair. It comes with Danner’s 365-day warranty and retails for $500 USD. You can visit the official store here if you’d like to read more or order a pair.
Images courtesy of Danner
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Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
