By Steve Forand
As anyone who has recently purchased new riding gear, the variety of manufacturers, styles, protection and safety features are overwhelming. This is an advantage for the shopper, no matter what type of riding enjoyed. Although established companies remain competitive, the number of new companies flooding the digital markets is remarkable. At this year’s MOA Rally in Vermont, riding apparel vendors were well represented. However, I observed that most of the gear was oriented towards the GS community. Not a bad look if you are gearing up to ride the trails in the Rocky Mountains with your R1300 GS (550lbs+)! Those of us who prefer a more urban style of riding gear had few options.
Returning home I began my online search for new riding pants. Almost instantly, I was inundated with dozens of ads for riding gear from companies I was unfamiliar with. Wow! So now I needed to sort out who these companies were, the type of materials, and a safety rating if available. Also sorting through reviews, which as we know, can be highly suspect. Caveat Emptor!
Regarding US federal safety standards for motorcycle gear, only helmets are legally mandated to meet DOT standards. DOT compliance is self-certified by the manufacturer. No independent testing is required. There is no agency, public or private that test motorcycle riding gear, other then Snell, which limits its testing to helmets.
Other than the experiences of other riders, how do you determine the quality of the gear you are depending on to protect you? Online purchase can be especially difficult as you don’t have the benefit of hands-on examination. Why do Klim high visibility jackets fade within the first year? I just threw that in to see if you’re reading this article! Now back to shopping for gear.
All of us are familiar with the CE ratings of motorcycle gear sold in Europe. “Conformite Europeene” are standards adopted by the EU to regulate, among other products, riding apparel. According to Regulation (EU) 2016/425, all motorcycle protective clothing is classified as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Gear is tested by accredited institutes to meet EU standards and those that pass is awarded the CE mark.
Garment Protection
Garments are tested in five areas:
• Impact and abrasion resistance –
• Tear strength –
• Seam strength –
• Dimensional stability – How they retain their properties after repeated wear and laundering-
• Innocuousness – The addition of other dyes, materials, chemicals in the product.
Garments are rated as C, B, A, AA, AAA.
• ‘C’ hold armor in place but do not meet the minimum abrasion/impact standards
• ‘B’ meets class ‘A’ abrasion resistance protection standards but no impact protection. Usually paired with other classes to offer additional protection.
• ‘A’ minimum impact and abrasion protection determined by CE regulations
• ‘AA’ Higher than class ‘A’, more impact and abrasion protection. Many textile and leather clothing fall into this category.
• ‘AAA’ Highest CE level impact/abrasion. Full leathers and racing level gear.
Armor Protection
Armor impact protection has its own criteria and falls into either CE Level 1 or Level 2. Measurement of force absorption is in KN (Kilo Newtons) or 1000 Newtons. What’s a Kilo Newton? It is the equivalent of 224.8 pounds of force (LBF).
CE Level 1 transmits no more than 35KN (or 7868LBF) after being hit with 50 joules of energy
CE Level 2 transmits no more than 20KN (or 4496LBF) for limbs and 9KN (or 2023LBF) for back protection with 50 Joules of energy.
(A Pro baseball pitcher throwing a 95mph fastball generates about 100 joules of kinetic energy. For the nerds: KE=1/2Mass times the velocity squared.)
What does this mean for actual injuries?
It requires a 3.3 to 4KN impact to fracture larger bones
• Ribs 3.3KN or 741LB
• Femur 4.0KN or 900LBF
• Skull 4.9KN or 1100LBF
So, let’s get back to the riding pants purchase. After searching through several unfamiliar companies, I found some riding pants that met my requirements. They were more jean like material, fully Kevlar lined (not just knees and seat), and CE 2 armor protection in the knee and hips. Rippl impact gear in London, England was having a sale and I ordered a pair. They are labeled as PPE for motorcyclists, CE 2 armor and AA garment classification. They are comfortable, well made and time will tell on how they hold up.
Information for this article came from a variety of sources including:
Bohn Body Armor
Study.com
Beyond Riders
Rippl Impact Gear
NOT AI generated
