Tag Archives: leather pants

Motorcycle News, News

Varied protection for country and urban riders

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Urban and country riders need different levels of abrasion, impact and seam-bursting protection in their riding gear, according to MotoCAP chief scientist Chris Hurren.

He explains the differences in this video from MotoCAP, the world’s first safety and comfort ratings system for motorcycle clothing which launched on 18 September 2018.

Jackets and pants tested

Almost a year after launching, the Australian testing facility has now rated 146 items.

The latest inclusion is comfort and safety ratings for four jackets and seven pairs of pants.

Alpinestars SP-X perforated leather pants four stars for thermal comfort, the highest rating for leather pants in this category yet.

The pants also obtained three out of five stars in protection.Chris Hurren Varied protection for country and urban riders MotoCAP

The MotoDry Advent Tour textile pants received the maximum score of 10 for water resistance, only the second pair of pants so far to earn the highest score.

The pants only scored half a star for protection, but were awarded three stars for comfort.

The Merlin Hamlin Zip-up Hoodie jacket was awarded the highest rating for thermal comfort in this release, scoring three out of five stars, and one out of five stars for protection.Chris Hurren Varied protection for country and urban riders MotoCAP

MotoCAP ratings explained

The brief MotoCAP video follows recent seminars across the country by MotoCAP researchers from the Deakin University.

If you are interested in having a MotoCAP researcher talk to your riders group, click here to contact them.

Chris says he briefs riders on MotoCAP aims, how a rider can use the service to select the right gear, what is tested and why, plus “some of the science that we do to back up our work”.

Typical rider questions are:

  • Q: Who funds the program?
  • A: MotoCAP is a not-for-profit organisation in partnership with and funded by: from NSW – Transport for NSW, SIRA and the NRMA; from Victoria – VicRoads, TAC and RACV; from South Australia – DPTI, MAC and RAA; from Queensland – TMR and RACQ; from Western Australia – the Western Australian Road Safety Commission; plus the Australian Motorcycle Council and the New Zealand Accident Compensation Corporation.
  • Q: How many garments are tested a year?
  • A: It was launched in September 2018 and has so far tested 146 articles of clothing.
  • Q: Are any companies getting on board with the program?
  • A: Despite invitations, no manufacturer has yet come forward to have their gear tested. Instead, they use a system of secret buying.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Motorcycle News, News

Why does riding gear fail abrasion tests?

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Motorcycle jackets and pants tested in the MotoCAP safety and comfort ratings have failed in the abrasion tests, but could easily be made safer, says a technical expert.

Back in 2015, Deakin University fibre science and technology senior researcher Chris Hurren warned that eight out of 10 of the most commonly worn motorcycle suits in Australia had failed their abrasion tests.

These tests were the precursor for the development of MotoCAP, the world’s first safety ratings for motorcycle protective gear which launched in September 2018.

Over the past few years, motorcycle clothing does not appear to have improved.

In recent MotoCAP ratings, leather and textile pants and jackets have failed dismally in abrasion tests.

Textile abrasion fail

Chris says textile pants and jackets are typically made of 600 denier woven nylon or polyester fabrics.

“These have relatively low abrasion resistance when tested on the Cambridge impact abrasion tester,” he says.

Motocap Motorcycle clothing rating system launched target abrasion tests
MotoCAP testing equipment at the Deakin Uni Geelong campus

“Where these fabrics are used as the shell fabric in important protection areas such as the elbow and shoulder of a jacket they generally do not provide the levels of protection desired in a protective motorcycle garment.

“These jackets could be improved in their protective performance by manufacturers by adding further protective layers or by use of a heavy shell fabric in these critical protection areas. 

“These garments are still capable of providing better protection to a rider than if they were to ride in normal clothing especially when they are worn with their shoulder and elbow impact protectors in place. This is the class of garment that will benefit the most from improvement in protection levels into the future.”

Leather abrasion tests 

Motocap Motorcycle clothing rating system launched The world’s first motorcycle clothing safety ratings program, MotoCAP, has given only half a star to two stars to eight more pair of textile pants. abrasion tests
A dummy dressed in riding gear is tested for abrasion resistance

More interestingly, leather appears to be not much better than textile gear.

“A number of the leather garments reported in (the latest tests) were made from thinner, supple leather,” Chris says.

“While this is more comfortable for the wearer, these leathers typically do not provide the same level of abrasion protection of a thicker leather.

“Where a thinner leather is used there needs to be additional protection put into the critical abrasion risk areas.

“The high level of impact protection seen in some of these garments was quite encouraging.”

Motorbike Writer publishes every new release of gear tested by MotoCAP, so stay tuned for more updates.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Motorcycle News, News

Leather pants surprise MotoCAP ratings

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In a surprise result, leather pants may be no safer than some denim riding jeans, according to the latest ratings from MotoCAP.

The world’s first safety and comfort ratings system for motorcycle clothing has found only one out of seven pairs of leather pants that rated four stars for safety.

Draggin Next Gen and Triumph Hero Riding jeans previously top-scored with four out of a maximum of five stars.

Of the seven pairs of leather pants tested, two rated three stars and four rated just two stars.

Leather pants in surprise MotoCAP ratings
Click here for the full ratings

Deakin Uni Institute for Frontier Materials Senior Research Fellow and Honda GB400 rider Chris Hurren says the leather pants were mainly marked down because of low impact protection, not abrasion resistance.

“The results show the need for a holistic approach to safety, including impact protection, as a number of products performed well in abrasion and burst strength tests, but fell short in impact protection, leading to lower overall ratings,” he says.

“Some would have been five stars if they just had impact protectors in them.”

Chris says many garments don’t come with impact protectors or only a few protectors.

“Some of the garments could be five star if they just had a full set of certified protectors,” he says.

“Then it’s the rider’s choice if they want to throw them away if they don’t want to wear them.”

As expected, leather pants didn’t rate well for thermal comfort with one pair scoring half a star and two pair top-scoring with just two stars.

MotoCAP advises riders to consider both the safety and comfort ratings when choosing the right gear for their ride.

MotoCAP scores

So far, MotoCAP has tested 18 textile and leather jackets, 18 pairs of jeans and leggings, seven pair of leather pants and eight pair of gloves.

These latest ratings mean they have now tested products in every class: gloves, leather jackets, leather pants, textile jackets, textile pants, ladies leggings and denim jeans. 

In the next few weeks MotoCAP will post ratings for more gloves, textile jackets and textile pants.

Chris says they will have more than 150 products on the website by June 30.

Motocap Motorcycle clothing rating system launched target
MotoCAP testing equipment at the Deakin Uni Geelong campus surprise

“We have purposely targeted only 10% of the market in the first year so that manufacturers have a chance to come along with the scheme,” he says.

“We do not want to put a manufacturer out of business as we want them to improve their products and think about protection and thermal comfort in their design.”

“If they follow this path like car manufacturers did for ANCAP then the rider will always be the winner.”

So far, not article of motorcycle clothing has been provided by a manufacturer.

All have been bought by MotoCAP using a secretive buying system to guarantee integrity.

Click here to find out how the pants were selected in secret.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com