How protected are we??

[Tack]

In the August edition of Superbike (it's an english mag....I get it electronically on Zinio much much cheaper and earlier then buying it...basically I get 12 issues for the price of one mag here...only problem is it's net based...but I don't mind ) they talk about protective gear and European standards. What's interesting is that it appears that alot, if not all, big name European manufacturers, do not meet their own standards .

Here is some retyped exerpts:


"Most of us assume that our biking kit would save our skin in a crash.
But how confident can we be?
Even though European stabdards have been established, most manufacturers refuse to comply.
What are they afraid of?

The Personal Protective Equipement (PPE) Directive, which became law on June 30 1995, makes it illegal for a manufacturere or distributor to market non-approved motorcycle clothing as protective equipement.

In the eyes of the law, there are only two types of clothing: protective (i.e. CE-approved) and non-approved.

When the law came into effect, most manufacturers chose to ignore it and refused to fall into line. In spite of the legislation, many of these makers continue to make bold claims about the protectiveness of their garments.

This leads to consumer uncertainy and masks the distinction between claimed protectiveness and against actual measured performance. If you buy a non-approved suit, for instance, there is no quarantee that it will withstand a skirmish with the tarmac. No one would buy an unstamped helmet, so why should we have a lower expectation for clothing?

A great deal of hard work has been done to establish workable test standards. The British Standards Institution (BSI) working along side Cambridge University and notified body SATRE, contributed eight draft product standards, covering jackets, trousers, one and two-piece suits, gloves and boots, to the European Standards Committee. The standard specified two levels of protection; level 1 clothing should provide adequate protection at urban speeds up to 30mph (80KM/H), level 2 clothing should provide protection at higher speeds but subsequently need repair. The original UK proposal also specified level 3, which should withstand multiple accidents, but this class was deleted after a group of Continemtal manufacturers lobbied in opposition."

* Armour
The PPE directive position on armour is very tight. All protectors must be CE-approved. Therefore, if clothing carries a CE label, it often relates only to the armour. Don't make the mistake of assuming the whole garment is approved. Approved garments must be fully labelled with information about how, where and by whom they were tested.

Then there was silence

We contacted several leading manufacturers to ask why their garments are not CE-approved. At the time of going to print, none of them had submitted a reponse.

[L3raven]

you'll find some small company's like BIKERS GEAR AUSTRALIA which is a ebay type store is CE aproved and pretty cheap and good GENIUNE EXCELLENT QUALITY. And trust me i binned it hard at my local track and the suit did very well at holding up.

[aardvark]

I get it electronically on Zinio much much cheaper and earlier then buying it...

I thought about doing that a long time ago. But until I can find a way to read the digital mag comfortably in the toilet, I'll stick to the paper copy.

[Neka79]

yea..my "bikers club" gear has been down more times than paris hilton, but still goes hard ...unlike mina...

its kinda upsetting that they dont have to adhere to those standards tho isnt it..what a load of shit...

[Tack]

you'll find some small company's like BIKERS GEAR AUSTRALIA which is a ebay type store is CE aproved and pretty cheap and good GENIUNE EXCELLENT QUALITY. And trust me i binned it hard at my local track and the suit did very well at holding up.

yeah the interesting thing was that the article listed a whole heap of motorcycle gear that does conform to the standards but none of it was the well known brands that we all know.......the only ones I recognised was Sidi and oxtar and they were both for boots. The rest look like smaller leathers manufacturers.

But until I can find a way to read the digital mag comfortably in the toilet

You can always download it on a lap top and take it in with you.....

And you can do real nice zooms on the centrefold while ur there....

Another interesting device that they had advertised in their "new stuff" section was a NEW sort of safety alarm..... it has some sort of spring loaded pin.....with a blank shot gun shell attached... it works off a trip wire.... ...

The shell is a blank and must only accept their shell casing (hopefully)buuuuuuuuuttt....just imagine that going offf in the middle of the night.... ...

Al I can say is you won't have any possums bothering your place after that...

[mrmina]

its kinda upsetting that they dont have to adhere to those standards tho isnt it..what a load of shit...

but i thought everything manufactured has to adhere to a miniuim standard. Maybe they do!

[Burky]

but i thought everything manufactured has to adhere to a miniuim standard. Maybe they do!

I think in Australia it only applies if there is any Australian standard (some European are accepted) and some government official has some spare time or needs to justify their job.

[mrmina]

but i thought everything manufactured has to adhere to a miniuim standard. Maybe they do!

I think in Australia it only applies if there is any Australian standard (some European are accepted) and some government official has some spare time or needs to justify their job.

well they do work for the government.

i thing regardless if its manufacturered here or oversea's, its gotta stick to something to come across the boarder.

[mick_dundee]

Only equipment in Aus that needs to conform to a standard is your lid, MCC of NSW has been working on this for a while I believe. Euro standards are expensive and AFAIK Dainese and Tiger Angel are about the only ones that conform as far as bike gear goes.

More info at http://www.roadsafety.mccofnsw.org.au/a/11.html

[diesel]

spot on mick,
you won't find a sticker on ur jacket or any other gear except ur helmet.

i think the main issue there is it isn't law to wear protective equipment bar ur lid so the gvt has no need to step in to make sure safety gear is up to scratch. our market relies purely on demand.
ppl assume that if they buy leathers it will protect them, but it's really the stiching that goes and leaves ur skin exposed.
at this point i'd really like to recomend agv for leathers. affordable and very good quality, good enough for road use anyway. i came of my zx2 doin roughly 80 when i decided to go gravel surfing, and the stiching was perfect. a few grazes on the leather but otherwise fine.

[Neka79]

spot on mick,
you won't find a sticker on ur jacket or any other gear except ur helmet.

i think the main issue there is it isn't law to wear protective equipment bar ur lid so the gvt has no need to step in to make sure safety gear is up to scratch. our market relies purely on demand.
ppl assume that if they buy leathers it will protect them, but it's really the stiching that goes and leaves ur skin exposed.
at this point i'd really like to recomend agv for leathers. affordable and very good quality, good enough for road use anyway. i came of my zx2 doin roughly 80 when i decided to go gravel surfing, and the stiching was perfect. a few grazes on the leather but otherwise fine.

yea but lets face it, cheaper gear can be ok..depending on its use..as stated, my cheap bikers club have been down many times..once at 160kph...ALL the way down the road (i didnt slide into grass etc)