I can CE clearly now
These days most motorcycle clothing, whether leather or textile, boasts “CE Protectors” or CE armour” but what does that mean to you, the rider?
Twenty years ago armoured motorcycle clothing was almost unheard of. When ProTek (who evolved into Knox) unveiled a textile jacket fitted with protectors at the Motorcycle Trade Show in 1988 it was considered so innovative that it won an award for ‘Best Safety Product’. Within a matter of months the majority of clothing manufacturers were producing ‘armoured’ bike wear, eagerly snapped up by riders seeking extra protection. The only problem was that, unlike helmets, there was no industry standard for armour, which meant that consumers had know way of knowing whether the padding inside their jacket was up to the job or not.
This all changed in 1995, when a new European law called the Personal Protective Equipment Directive [PPE] came into force. This made CE-marking compulsory for all protective equipment, including impact protectors for motorcyclists. To obtain the CE mark (under standard EN1621-1) protective equipment had to be independently tested and approved by a recognised testing house. Overnight it became apparent that a huge number of so-called protectors failed to meet the new standards, in spite of the fact that clothing brands had three years to prepare for the introduction of PPE.
Crash, bang, wallop
The test itself is quite simple. A weight of 5KG (11 lb) is dropped onto the protector from a height of one metre, creating an impact force of 50 Joules. The protector needs to absorb at least 15kN (30%) of the energy from the impact. These figures are chosen for a good reason. An average human arm weighs just under 5KG and a metre is the distance from the elbow to the ground. So the CE test measures a similar impact to falling over. Meanwhile the armour needs to absorb enough energy from the impact to prevent the bone from shattering, as it’s incredibly difficult to heal this type of injury.
Hard or soft?
Armour with a hard outer shell looks reassuringly tough but the really important function of these items is to absorb energy from an impact, like a crumple zone. Remember that it’s the polystyrene liner inside your helmet, not the hard outer shell that prevents your brain from being turned into ‘scrambled egg’ in a crash! Motocross roost deflectors look impressive, but they’re designed to guard against stones and lumps of dirt that are thrown up in a race, not to protect the rider’s bones in a crash. When a stuntman jumps off a tall building, he needs a pile of empty cardboard boxes to land on to cushion the fall and that’s the principle of body armour. That’s not to say that hard shells don’t work, they distribute energy very well. They just need the crumple zone behind them to absorb the distributed energy.
CE You
Don’t be fooled into thinking that anything is better than nothing. Just because something looks like it will cushion you in a fall doesn’t necessarily mean it will do any good. In a recent test conducted by a motorcycle magazine it was proved that a cheese & cabbage sandwich provided more protection than some non-CE armour. This would be quite amusing were it not for the fact that a significant number of jackets are fitted with CE-approved armour in the shoulders & elbows but just a piece of soft foam in the back. The good news is that it is not expensive to upgrade the protectors in your bike clothing – a pair of CE-approved protectors, like the Knox Flexiform, costs as little as £12.99.
The introduction of the CE standard means that today’s road rider is better protected from impacts in an accident than top level MotoGP riders just 20 years ago.
For more information call 01900 825825 or visit http://www.planet-knox.com/
Twenty years ago armoured motorcycle clothing was almost unheard of. When ProTek (who evolved into Knox) unveiled a textile jacket fitted with protectors at the Motorcycle Trade Show in 1988 it was considered so innovative that it won an award for ‘Best Safety Product’. Within a matter of months the majority of clothing manufacturers were producing ‘armoured’ bike wear, eagerly snapped up by riders seeking extra protection. The only problem was that, unlike helmets, there was no industry standard for armour, which meant that consumers had know way of knowing whether the padding inside their jacket was up to the job or not.
This all changed in 1995, when a new European law called the Personal Protective Equipment Directive [PPE] came into force. This made CE-marking compulsory for all protective equipment, including impact protectors for motorcyclists. To obtain the CE mark (under standard EN1621-1) protective equipment had to be independently tested and approved by a recognised testing house. Overnight it became apparent that a huge number of so-called protectors failed to meet the new standards, in spite of the fact that clothing brands had three years to prepare for the introduction of PPE.
Crash, bang, wallop
The test itself is quite simple. A weight of 5KG (11 lb) is dropped onto the protector from a height of one metre, creating an impact force of 50 Joules. The protector needs to absorb at least 15kN (30%) of the energy from the impact. These figures are chosen for a good reason. An average human arm weighs just under 5KG and a metre is the distance from the elbow to the ground. So the CE test measures a similar impact to falling over. Meanwhile the armour needs to absorb enough energy from the impact to prevent the bone from shattering, as it’s incredibly difficult to heal this type of injury.
Hard or soft?
Armour with a hard outer shell looks reassuringly tough but the really important function of these items is to absorb energy from an impact, like a crumple zone. Remember that it’s the polystyrene liner inside your helmet, not the hard outer shell that prevents your brain from being turned into ‘scrambled egg’ in a crash! Motocross roost deflectors look impressive, but they’re designed to guard against stones and lumps of dirt that are thrown up in a race, not to protect the rider’s bones in a crash. When a stuntman jumps off a tall building, he needs a pile of empty cardboard boxes to land on to cushion the fall and that’s the principle of body armour. That’s not to say that hard shells don’t work, they distribute energy very well. They just need the crumple zone behind them to absorb the distributed energy.
CE You
Don’t be fooled into thinking that anything is better than nothing. Just because something looks like it will cushion you in a fall doesn’t necessarily mean it will do any good. In a recent test conducted by a motorcycle magazine it was proved that a cheese & cabbage sandwich provided more protection than some non-CE armour. This would be quite amusing were it not for the fact that a significant number of jackets are fitted with CE-approved armour in the shoulders & elbows but just a piece of soft foam in the back. The good news is that it is not expensive to upgrade the protectors in your bike clothing – a pair of CE-approved protectors, like the Knox Flexiform, costs as little as £12.99.
The introduction of the CE standard means that today’s road rider is better protected from impacts in an accident than top level MotoGP riders just 20 years ago.
For more information call 01900 825825 or visit http://www.planet-knox.com/