A Thorough Look into Motorcycle Clothing Protection Labeling Standards

With the approval of CE legislation, the garments of the motorcycle considered as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which means that all types of garments would get manufactured under CE approval. All of the motorcycle garments would have CE label with the number assigned to the garment along with motorcycle pictogram.

Motorcycle gear has become a massive industry now. There are so many protective technologies that are available in the market, unfortunately not everyone has information about them. Not everybody knows what should look for in a motorcycle protective gear while shopping.

Every rider has the right to decide himself that what type of protection he can wear comfortably upon his ride, but he must know what a real motorcycle clothing looks like under protection label standards.

Jackets and Pants

There are four areas that one must consider while purchasing protective pants or jackets; armour, construction, materials, and fit.

Armour

· Ideal: Elbow/shoulder should be CE approved for jackets and hip/knee armour for the pants. Chest and the back protectors are good to have. All the CE approved armours should have imprinted CE marking.

· Acceptable: Some of the gears come only with the pockets for armour that is ok. Look for such armours that fit your pockets. As soon as the armour has CE approval marking, you are good to go.

· Beware: No pockets for armour or no armour at all or the armour which does not has CE marking approval are not accepted.

Construction

Usually, people pay attention to armour and materials while shopping for motorcycle gear, but the frequently overlooked aspect of protective gear is seams. Bad seams are just like you are wearing nothing and it doesn’t matter how much thick leather and level 2 armour you are wearing.

· Ideal: Multiple lines on every seam, durable and high quality of nylon thread, and the hidden seams from the outer side of the garment

· Acceptable: Quality of thread is not good or known and lines of stitching without purpose.

· Beware: Few and exposed line with cotton thread are not according to CE protective labelling standards.

Materials

· Ideal: 1.2mm+ leather, top grain, and abrasion-resistance material are acceptable with a high percentage of super-fibre. The 60& Dyneema fibre is currently the standard for a single layer of the abrasion-resistant garment.

· Acceptable: Second layer of abrasion-resistant super-fibre with partial coverage is adequate. For example, jeans with the second layer of Kevlar on the hips, rear, knees, or a soft jacket of leather with reinforced elbows and shoulder of Kevlar.

· Beware: Poor or inadequate coverage of abrasion-resistant super-fibres, fabric blended with polyester, thin leather is not acceptable.

Fit

Protection comes with the right size.

· Ideal: When sitting on the bike, your armour should be on the right location and slide easily. Your pants and jackets connect in such a way that your torso get exposed in a slide.

· Acceptable: Armor sits at the right location while sitting on the bike and does not easily slide. Pants and jackets are fitted and reduce sliding up for the exposure of your torso.

· Beware: The armour which moves effortlessly from its location, or pants and jackets which are loose enough to reveal your skin; is not acceptable under the CE protective labelling standards.

Gloves

When shopping for gloves, look for hard palm sliders. Because fabric or leather palms will slide your palms out of the handle which can twist your hand and risk a major hand fracture. Hard palm sliders help in moving your hands at the speed of your body, which means zero risks of fracture.

· Ideal: Glove having hard palm sliders and hard knuckle protector with CE marking and made up of high-quality leather having reinforced stitching.

· Acceptable: Hard palm sliders and hard knuckle protectors without CE approval are accepted but should be made up of high quality of leather having reinforced stitching.

· Beware: Gloves with soft protector and without extra protectors are not acceptable.

Boots & Shoes

Boots & Shoes are one of the essential gear items in the motorcycle gear kit. One must know how boots look like under CE approval.

· Ideal: CE approved boots with ankle and toe protection. The upper part of boots made up of high-quality leather having reinforced stitching.

· Acceptable: If the boot cannot twist or bend just the way you want to bend or twist your foot, then such kind of boots will not be good for your foot. Boots with durable fabric and good stitching are acceptable.

· Beware: Soles which got twisted or bent easily, single-line seams, flimsy upper side, and without toe protection are not acceptable.

Despite some gears have CE marking but they are not CE approved. For example, shops that sell gloves mainly are not CE approved, but they meet the requirement of CE standards.

Any thoughts on motorcycle clothing protection standards? Leave your comments below.