CE Certification for Motorcycle Suits Explained

A CE mark on a motorcycle suit confirms it passed testing under a recognised European standard, but the mark alone doesn't say how well it performed. That's what the classification underneath it is for. Understanding EN 17092 properly means understanding the full 5-class system, not just knowing to look for "CE" on a swing tag.

EN 17092 is the European standard for motorcycle rider protective garments, replacing the older EN 13595 standard. It tests three core properties of a garment: abrasion resistance (how long the material resists wearing through when dragged across a surface at speed), seam strength (how much force the stitching can withstand before failing), and impact protection area coverage (whether armour placement covers the zones the standard requires for that class). Critically, it's a garment-level standard. It doesn't certify the impact armour itself, which is tested separately under EN 1621-1 and EN 1621-2.

EN 17092 defines five classes, and it's a genuinely common misconception that the scale only runs from AAA to A. Classes B and C exist too, and understanding what they cover (and don't) matters for anyone comparing gear across the full market, not just race suits specifically.

For a genuine race suit or serious trackday leathers, Class AAA is the relevant benchmark. It's the only class that combines the strongest abrasion resistance and seam strength requirements with full impact armour coverage. A suit marketed as "race-ready" or "track-spec" that isn't Class AAA is worth questioning closely; the classification isn't a marketing tier, it's tied to specific, testable performance thresholds the garment has to actually pass. Class B and C garments, while legitimately certified under the same standard, are built for entirely different use cases and shouldn't be treated as adequate substitutes for a genuine race suit.

EN 17092 replaced the older EN 13595 standard, which used a different classification approach. This matters practically for anyone buying secondhand or older gear: a suit certified under the previous standard isn't automatically equivalent to a current EN 17092 class, and comparing a listing's stated certification against the current standard is worth doing before assuming an older garment meets current requirements. For any suit bought new today, EN 17092 is the standard that should be referenced, and any listing citing the older standard alone is worth asking about directly.

A genuine CE Class AAA certification should be traceable to an actual certificate issued by a notified body, not just a claim printed on a label or a product page. This applies whether it's a full race suit, a CE rated motorcycle jacket, or any other single piece of riding gear. A reputable manufacturer will be able to provide the certificate itself, including a certificate number and the name of the notified body that issued it, on request, or published directly on their own site. Being unable or unwilling to provide this when asked is a reasonable red flag, since certification is a documented, third-party-verified process, not a self-declared claim.

It's also worth checking that the certification actually applies to the specific product being bought, not just the brand generally. A manufacturer's flagship race suit being Class AAA certified doesn't automatically mean every product in their range carries the same classification, and different models within one brand's lineup can legitimately sit at different classes for different use cases.

It's worth being explicit about a real limitation of the standard: EN 17092 testing is conducted on the garment itself, not on a specific rider wearing it. A Class AAA suit's armour is positioned correctly on the test garment, but whether that positioning holds true once worn by an individual rider depends entirely on fit, a topic the certification doesn't address at all. This is precisely why fit and certification need to be evaluated as two separate questions, not one; see our guide on how a race suit should fit for the fit side of this equation.

NFmoto's Vyper and Pro GP base patterns are independently tested and certified, with real certificate numbers and notified bodies on record. See our CE Certifications page to view and download the actual certificates rather than taking a classification claim on trust.