Motorcycle Jacket Safety Certification Video Script

Title: Motorcycle Jacket Safety Standards Explained

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Just like with helmets, motorcycle jackets also come with a variety of safety standards and factors that are important to keep in mind. So, we’ll be helping you decode that mysterious jumble of numbers and letters.

Introduction

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While with motorcycle helmets, you get one test that encompasses most of the helmet, and though there are multiple tests and they do differ, you can rest assured that your helmet has been certified. Except with DOT, but that’s for another time. With jackets, things get a bit more complicated though. You’ve now got to certify two separate items: the jacket material, the hard protectors and their rating, and the jacket’s safety rating. Not to mention all the other small additional safety features to keep in mind. But don’t worry, we’ll be running through all of these aspects as well as the nuances of the language itself.

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Just a quick reminder to make sure to subscribe and if you’re curious to learn more about the features in different jackets to take a look at the rest of our YouTube channel where we review the latest motorcycle helmets and gear.

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First up, it doesn’t make sense to talk about jacket safety before giving a quick word to textile versus leather since this often ends up being very contentious. For a simple answer, most textiles used in jackets nowadays will offer about the same level of abrasion resistance as leather. Nonetheless, you do have some differences. The main one being that leather will last better over multiple impacts than textile, which you’ll usually have to replace after coming into contact with the road. The most important thing to be aware of in terms of textile jackets is that mesh summer jackets will usually be less abrasion resistant since the mesh is going to be a bit weaker. So, like most things in life, you have a sliding scale of a tradeoff of either safety or comfort. Now, onto the hard stuff.

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The main piece of equipment that will absorb any impact from the road will be the protectors that you get in the jacket. You usually get these in the shoulder and elbow, since they are the most exposed areas, and you usually get an option for additional back or chest protectors. The main goal of these pads is to absorb impacts and be abrasion resistant without causing discomfort. So, these protectors come in a variety of materials from nitrile rubber to in house protectors like Revit’s SEESMART or SEEFLEX to high quality brand names like D3O or Knox. The one thing these pads will all have in common is they are all certified to a specific CE level. So, you usually see EN1621 a number and a year. The first set of numbers is the standard that the protectors are certified to, then you have the level, and lastly, the year of the standard used. Within this you have CE Level 1 and CE Level 2 where Level 1 means the protector can transmit a maximum of 18kN of force and at no point can it peak above 24 kN and a level 2 protector can transmit a maximum of 9kN with a max peak of 12kN. So, obviously, level 2 is better though level 1 will do perfectly well for day to day riding. But this is why these protectors are important and why a back protector, which is usually CE Level 2 rated, is so important. Though even here, always double check the size of the pocket and the protectors to make sure they fit snugly and won’t move around.

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Onto jacket certifications now, and you actually have two. First, you have EN13595, which is the older of the two and second, you have FprEN 17092 which is more recent. The main difference between the two is that the prEN standard is newer has reduced the number of test zones from 4 to 3, it applies to all motorcycle protective equipment, and it uses a different abrasion test. Usually, for EN13595 the material of the jacket is tested for seam strength, penetration, and abrasion resistance. The abrasion is measured on a large belt sander apparatus, or a Cambridge machine, moving at about 28 km/h until the test sample develops a hole. So, it gives you a good idea of how well the material stands up to abrasion. The prEN method uses the same tests as the EN13595, but instead of a moving belt, the sample material is mounted on a Darmstadt machine. So, the sample is mounted on a machine that spins it at set test speeds on a special concrete test block. The advantage of the prEn method is the Darmstadt machine gives a more accurate idea of the sample’s performance since it mimics a 75kg weight. So, it has a bit more of a real-world focus, but the downside is it doesn’t tell you how long the sample lasts like with the Cambridge machine.

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With the main standards over with we’ll put it all together and dive into the tag that you get in your jacket as well as three key terms. CE tested, certified, and approved. While they may seem like the same thing, they’re very different. CE tested means the jacket has been tested in house and you don’t usually have a great idea of how well the armor really will perform since maybe only the safest parts of the jacket was tested. CE certified is one step better since it is performed by a certified facility, but the whole jacket still may not have been tested. Lastly, CE approved is the best, since the whole jacket has been tested in a certified third party facility.

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For a last few words on safety, besides lab testing, there are a few things to watch out for that will improve the jacket’s overall performance. For example, reflective panels will make you more visible in the dark, which is one of the main dangers to motorcyclists. As I mentioned earlier, you have different types of textiles that will offer different levels of safety so it’s also good to see what sort of reinforcement you have and what the thickness of the material is. Usually, a good quality jacket that will protect you properly will be about 600 D for thickness while a lighter casual jacket for the city is around 450D.

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If you’re confident in a jacket’s safety, then make sure to head to ChampionHelmets.com where we have a lowest price guarantee and plenty of jacket bundle deals including discounted matching pants.

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Now, you should have a good idea for how these jackets are divided and classed in terms of their safety. So, it’s important to consider the jacket itself and the protectors separately since this is how the testing schemes are organized. And, also make sure to check what level of safety you’re getting. But if you still have any questions, you can always let us know down below and if you liked the video don’t forget to subscribe for more guides and reviews for the latest gear. I’m Sebastian from Champion Helmets and thanks for watching!