What To Know About CE Certifications For Armor?

When the weather’s great and the open road calls your name, the last thing you’re likely interested in is doing a deep dive on learning the nitty-gritty details about certifications and ratings for garments and gear.

Most bikers think, “Why bother? A rated item’s gotta be better than something that’s unrated, right?

Sure, there’s some truth in that point of view, but when do some digging into, you’ll find out that motorcycle apparel has a number of different CE Ratings. For example, check out this chart:

PPE Type CE Number
Garment Professional EN 1395
Garments Leisure EN 17092
Boots EN 13634:2017
Gloves EN 13594:2015
Elbow Armor EN 1621-1:2012
Shoulder Armor EN 1621-1:2012
Knee Armor EN 1621-1:2012
Hip Armor EN 1621-1:2012
Back Protectors EN 1621-2:2014
Chest Protectors EN 1621-3:2018
Lanyard Activated Air Bag Protectors EN 1621-4:2013
Stone Shield Protector EN 14021:2013

For standards to be harmonized, it must be published in the Official Journal of the European Commission.  This allows for consistency no matter which region, country, or city in Europe you belong.

CE certifications have a 5-year life from the time the product is certified.  Meaning most people won’t know if the certification is new or over 4 years old.

One interesting thing CE considers are zones. Zone 1 is highly likely to abrade and / or take an impact, Zone 2 is highly likely to abrade, but less likely to take an impact, and Zone 3 are areas that are not likely to abrade or impact.