The surest way to buy effective protective gear is to choose products that have been tested against recognised standards. Look for a CE label indicating that the item complies with the relevant European standard for motorcycle protective clothing.¹

• Motorcycle jackets, pants or suits that comply will be labelled EN 13595.
• The standard for impact protectors is EN 1621.
• Gloves EN 13594, and Boots EN 13634.

Simple. Until you discover most of the gear currently sold in New Zealand does not carry a CE label. The only exceptions are impact protectors. Many locally available jackets and pants have impact protectors labelled EN 1621-1 and EN 1621-2 (back protectors). These labels refer to the impact protector only. They do not include the jacket or pants which must be labelled EN 13595 if they comply.

Ask your motorcycle accessories dealer to bring in products that comply with EU standards, or keep your eyes peeled for tests in motorcycle mags such as RiDE and MCN (Motorcycle News). These regularly compare products using the formats required in Europe. The results are often disturbing as many well known brands have failed these tests, although the good news is that many expensive products are not necessarily better.

If a product has not been tested, it's impossible to know how it will perform in the split-second it may be needed. However, there are design and construction features that will help you recognise gear far more likely to do the job.

1) By law in Europe any protective equipment (including clothing) must comply with the relevant standard. Under this law, motorcycle gear can only be designated protective if it provides protection from injury and demonstrates specific levels of abrasion, tear, burst and impact resistance. It must display a permanently attached CE label (Conformite European), certifying that it has been independently tested and identifying the number of the relevant standard. Weather gear cannot be called protective.