LABELLED WITH LOVE
Motorcycle clothing needs to be tested and certified to be up to the task, but how to make sense of all the standards…
There has been a CE standard for motorcycle clothing since 2002, but until recently it was not compulsory to have products tested and certified. Making clothing that conforms to a standard adds time and cost to the process and also limits the choice of materials and other design elements, so it isn’t surprising that few companies bothered with it.
That changed recently with the introduction of an updated CE standard EN 17092 - and new legislation that requires all new motorcycle clothing to be tested and approved. The only exception is rain wear – garments with the sole purpose of keeping you dry while riding.
Jackets, jeans and suits must also be labelled and that’s good news for consumers, because that reveals the level of protection offered.
There are three key pieces of information to look for:
1. The CE mark, which will be familiar to most of us by now. On its own, that means nothing.
2. The classification for motorcycle clothing – 17092 – is crucial. This may be followed by other numbers, like the example here. These can be ignored for now, to keep things simple.
3. Finally, look for the motorcycle rider icon, with a letter (or letters) beneath it. This tells you which level of testing was passed.
There are five levels in total. That might seem a lot to remember, but the three most common ones are the ‘A levels’. CE approved impact protectors must cover vulnerable areas (e.g. shoulder, elbow, knee and hip) in order to pass any of the three levels. The key difference between them is the level of abrasion resistance.
■ AAA (triple A) is the highest grade, intended for the highest level of risk, so the fabric has to resist abrasion for at least four seconds at approximately 70mph.
■ AA (double A) is the next level and covers the wide range of risks that riders are likely to encounter, with an abrasion test that lasts for two seconds at roughly 45mph.
■ A grade garments are only required to resist abrasion for one second at 30mph, so they can be lighter and more comfortable, with the trade-off that they are the least protective.
Another way to interpret the grades is according to use. AAA for sport, AA for leisure and A for urban wear. For example, you would expect a one-piece race suit to be labelled AAA, whereas an armoured hoodie might only need to be rated A, with textile riding jackets certified AA.
Which brings us to the other two grades. These are a bit more specialist and you’re less likely to encounter them.
■ B is similar to A, but without impact protectors. Maybe a pair of abrasion-resistant denim jeans.
■ C is for garments designed to hold impact protectors in place - think of the armoured shirts favoured by off-roaders and you’ll get the picture.
Armed with this information, a quick glance at a label will tell you a great deal about the item of clothing you are tempted to buy.
There will still be products in the shops that were made prior to the new standard. Many are labelled along the following lines: ‘Fitted with CE Protectors EN 1621.’
That tells you the armour is approved to the relevant CE standard, but does not mean the clothing has been tested.
There will also be some lines that were certified to the original standard, EN 13595. You can buy those with confidence in their protective qualities, because that was a very stringent procedure.
■ Thanks to Weise Clothing for their help with this article. For more information on their range of motorcycle gear, visit www.weiseclothing.com