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European CE Certification

CE-Certified Motorcycle Apparel (Not just the armour!)

What is CE certification? And why should you care? Let us provide you with an overview of PPE regulation and CE certification and what it means for you.

Well, basically CE-Certification assesses each garment using a cross section of three tests.

Impact Protection Test

Impact protectors reduce the energy transferred during an impact. The protectors absorb energy in the most exposed areas: the elbows, shoulders, hips and knees. The CE-Certification test also ensures the protectors stay in place in a crash scenario.

Abrasion Resistance Test

An abrasion resistance test measures how long the material(s) used in a motorcycle garment can withstand a slide along a road before being worn away. The CE-Certification for abrasion resistance is scored according to known levels of impact-abrasion risk for different zones of the body and then weighted according to the level of risk.

Burst Resistance Test

A burst resistance test measures the level to which a garment remains intact in a crash. CE-Certification scores for burst resistance are biased towards the importance of good quality seams, which endure greater loads in a crash than other areas of a garment.

In summary, this new CE-Certification is designed to give motorcyclists peace of mind when buying apparel – if it’s CE-Certified apparel, it’s been proven to conform to an internationally recognised safety standard and will protect riders in the event of a crash.

As a guideline, Performance levels as defined in EN 17092-1:2020 for Provisional European Standard EN  17092-1:2020 defines five classifications of motorcyclists' clothing are as follows:  

  • EN 17092-2:2020— Class AAA garments.  The  highest  level  of  protection, against  the  highest  level  of  risks.  Some common examples are:  one-piece or two-piece suits. These garments are likely to have severe and limiting ergonomic, weight and thermal penalties, which some riders will not find acceptable for their specific riding activities.
  • EN 17092-3:2020 — Class AA garments.  The second highest level of protection, against the risks of the greatest diversity of riding activities. Some common examples  are:  garments  designed  to  be  worn  by  themselves  or  to  be  worn  over  other    These garments are expected to have lower ergonomic and weight penalties than Class AAA garments and some riders will not find these penalties acceptable for their specific riding activities.
  • EN 17092-4:2020— Class A garments. The third highest level of protection. Some common examples are: garments, designed to be worn by them self or to be worn over other clothing by riders in extremely hot environments. Class A garments are expected to have the least ergonomic and weight penalties.
  • EN 17092-5:2020— Class B garments. This class is for specialized garments, designed to provide the equivalent abrasion protection of Class A garments but without the inclusion of impact protectors. Class B garments do not offer impact protection and it is recommended that they be worn with, at least, EN 1621-1 shoulder and elbow impact protectors, in the case of a jacket, or EN 1621-1 knee impact protectors, in the case of trousers,, in order to offer complete minimum protection. Some common examples are modular garments suitable to be combined with other garments providing impact protection
  • EN 17092-6:2020— Class C garments. This class is for specialised non-shell garments, designed  only  to  hold  one  or  more  impact  protectors  in  place,  either  as  an undergarment  or  as  an  over-garment.  Class C garments are designed to provide impact protection for areas covered by the impact protector(s) and they do not offer complete minimum impact protection.  Class C garments are designed to offer supplemental impact protection only. It is  intended that class C garments be worn in combination with Class AAA /AA/A or B to enhance the protection Class AAA /AA/A or B

Some common examples are: modular garments suitable to be combined with other garments providing impact and abrasion protection or only abrasion protection.

However, no item of PPE can provide full protection and care must be taken while carrying out a risk related activity.

 

 

 

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