To anyone who has bought any old DR boots and is having trouble getting them to fit (this can work even if they are a size too small for you) firstly, do they feel comfortable? If they do, you're lucky and if they are relatively flexible you simply need to give them sparing amounts of neatsfoot oil do this reasonably regularly, maybe twice a year.
If they cripple you getting them on, firstly put them in a bath of HOT water (but not boiling as this can harm them) and leave them in for about an hour then put them on laced up and walk around in them for a while whilst they are still wet, don't use the buckles just yet unless the straps feel very supple, if they are, don't tighten the buckles just yet. After a while they should start to feel more comfortable, if they still hurt pack them out very hard with newspaper then let them dry naturally (don't use heat) then when they are dry try them again, the newspapers may have stretched them just enough, if they still hurt repeat the whole process, you may have to repeat the process quite a few times until they feel comfortable. It is important to do this process very slowly over a few times because if you force the fibres too much on the first go you may irreparably damage them so the fibres must have a time to settle back down before trying again, it's a case of little and often.
When you have got them to fit nice, because the fibres have opened up a bit they can be treated with neatsfoot oil, preferably done on the inside of the leather, I know this will make them a bit greasy for a while but you can always wear old socks for a while with them. The reason that you put the neatsfoot oil on the inside is to add lubrication to the part of the leather that actually needs it. The reason leather cracks is because the random arrangement of the fibres on the inside gets dry and eventually the fibres cut through each other as they dry up. You can apply some to the outside too but mainly concentrate on the inside, you find it is easiest to apply it with a paintbrush. Don't wear the boots then for about a week giving the oil a good while to penetrate and then dry out a little bit.
As for the straps and buckles, when had their last wetting try "working" the leather which should help them remain supple.
I like to use a leather balm after I've let the neatsfoot oil dry out for a month or so, this allows the surface of the leather to shine and offers it protection without using a polish, which builds up after a while.
Then I just give them a light neatsfoot oiling twice a year. If they get soaked let them dry out naturally and when not wearing them I always put a pice of corrugated cardboard that has been rolled up to keep them upright so that they don't flop over to one side and leave creases in the spine at the back. It's surprising how much you can recover and reshape dried and cracked leather.
Just a word of warning though, don't treat them with neatsfoot oil first as this doesn't allow the leather to get really wet which can cause problems shaping and truly softening them.
The reason that leather was used for the soles was partly because that was the traditional sole material and also we were saving rubber as we'd lost a lot of our colonies that produced rubber by the time that DR boots were introduced and if anyone has worn them with the leather soles will tell you that they are lethal! So I'd recommend getting the thin rubber soles and heels glued on to prevent slipping and to protect the shoe leather
I used to do leather crafting and carving so I know a bit about leather care.

email (option): davmax@ntlworld.com

I can just imagine what leather soles would be like, off-road!

Our local shoe repair'er fitted VIBRAM soles onto my MX boots, because they were too slippery -
I do Enduro (fast Trials riding) and spend too much time pushing bikes up slippery hills!

I also use WD40 to soften/waterpoof my boots (have done for lat 5 years) - not really recommended as although it certainly works, it can cause cheaper boots to fall apart if they glued, not stitched together.........

The 'hot water and wear them till they dry' trick was what we used to do with new ammunition boots when I was in the Air Cadets years back...

It was considered the way to get them to fit comfortably and seemed to work...I suspect that the info. was past down to us via an ex serviceman as many people were back then...

We used to shave the inside of the new battledress as well to get rid of the prickly bits.. ..along with other dodges to get the kit looking good...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Dave how are my boots shaping up, In Greece at present, andrew

email (option): warbikes at gee male, dit cmm,( you will have to think about this address)

They are now about a size 9 1/2 I'm still working on getting them shaped, it's a bit hard because all the neatsfoot oil won't allow them to get wet, they soaked in the bath for 24 hours , it left a big film of oil around the bath! It must be doing something, because I could barely get them on before, now the right boot is not too bad a fit but the left one, although it fits is still a bit troublesome around the ankle area, it seems to want to flex in just the wrong area for comfort.

email (option): davmax@ntlworld.com