Motorcycle Denim is a really cool type of riding gear to wear nowadays. It offers style, comfort, and protection. When you're surrounded by people wearing casual clothes, it doesn't grab attention and blends in nicely. Plus, it doesn't make riders uncomfortable like some other types of gear do (and yeah, this is definitely a downside).
Other kinds of riding gear (Biker chaps, PVC motorcycle jackets, Leather riding pants, you name it) are usually trapped with one unfriendly attribute or another.
They are either not conducive to hot weather because they may suffocate a rider, or they are not conducive for rain and sleet because then, their durability might get tampered with.
Or as is the case with PVC motorcycle jackets, bad for allergy because of the many chemicals and dyes used in producing them and which are more fashionable than protective. But Motorcycle Denim isn’t this way; they are just... denim.
Almost everyone wears (and likes) denim; they are our comfy, regular, to-go clothes that can be worn under any weather be it rain, sleet or snow. How blissful would it be, going for a ride and slipping on a comfortable pair of motorcycle jeans which also doubles as protective gear?
What Is Motorcycle Denim?
Motorcycle Denim is a kind of motorcycle riding jeans made to serve as protective riding gear for riders. On the exterior, it looks like regular denim but it is reinforced with abrasion-resistant materials like aramid, Armalite,
etc. As a rider, imagine there’s one time that all you want to do is go for a light ride or a quick ride to the mall and donning biker leather pants might seem a bit extra and unnecessary.
But at the same time, you cannot afford to be without adequate protection because well, you never know; even accidents happen during short rides. So what do you do? Uh, no idea? Right.
This is exactly the kind of dilemma that Motorcycle Denim has come to solve. It affords riders a casual appearance whilst also ensuring that they are adequately protected from abrasion and crash impact.
Asides from the tear and abrasion-resistant they are made with, the protection offered by Motorcycle Denims is also complemented by body armor. The essence of this armor is to receive the shock or impact of a crash instead of a rider.
So basically, the job of body armor is to lessen or deaden the impact that a crash would otherwise have had on the impact areas of a rider. Impact areas are the parts of the body that a rider reflexively puts out to receive the shock of impact when he is about to crash, and these areas are the hands, knees, thighs etc.
For a pair of Motorcycle Denim, the body armor is placed in the knees, thighs, and hips. While some motorcycle denim is made with built-in pockets to accommodate any choice of detachable body armor, some motorcycle denim has the body armor sewn in.
Deciding on which denim to go for boils down to personal preference. If you are particular about convenience and comfort, the denim with the detachable body armor might be for you. However, detachable armor can easily be shifted by the impact of a hard fall.
Are My Regular Denim and Motorcycle Denim the Same?
The only instance when we can act like your regular denim and motorcycle riding denim is the same is if you’re going for a leisure walk or a drive to the store, then you could use them interchangeably just for the sake of it.
But if the context behind this question is so you can wear your regular denim a-riding, then the answer is a big, resounding NO!
Your regular denim is not recommended for riding because it is not built to protect you from the impact of the asphalt granite on your skin when you fall off your motorcycle. Agreeably, denim is a tough and seemingly durable fabric, and it will do a better job in protecting you than say, a pair of joggers in the case of a crash.
But you will still come out as bruised as you’d be in a pair of joggers especially in a hard fall because denim does not have that much resistance to protect you from abrasion.
In line with this, it can be categorically stated that a pair of regular denim and Motorcycle Denim are two different kinds of jeans. Motorcycle Denim is specifically made to be worn by riders for protection; impact protection and protection against abrasion and cuts.
The main difference between regular denim and Motorcycle Denim is the protective materials with which the latter is made. High-end riding jeans are lined with abrasion-resistant fabrics or textiles like Kevlar, Twaron, and Covec, to protect a rider’s skin from being worn off by friction when he comes in contact with granite in the course of a fall.
Motorcycle Denim also has built-in pockets made to accommodate any choice of armor to protect a rider from the impact of a crash.
How Safe Is My Motorcycle Denim?
First things first, before deciding to buy a pair of motorcycle denim, you must make sure that it is reliable and that it will serve the purpose for which you’re purchasing it.
To adequately determine the abrasion resistance and construction strength of motorcycle denim, you should check that it is CE certified.
CE certification on a pair of motorcycle denim confirms that it is indeed protective and user-friendly ACE-certified motorcycle denim has attached to it, a bold CE tag and it can fall under either of three categories; categories A, AA or AAA.
These categories show the riding strength of a pair of motorcycle denim as well as the level of protection it can offer, both of which are dependent on the kind of riding that a rider plans on.
Just like how there are different kinds of motorcycles and for different purposes, there are different kinds of motorcycle denim to provide adequate protection for riders. For instance, a leisure rider and a track rider may not necessarily wear the same kind of motorcycle denim because the speed they ride on and the level of protection they are expected to have may differ.
In light of this, certified motorcycle riding gear – and by extension, motorcycle denim is categorized into three. Motorcycle denim that fall under Category A are considered to be protective purely for urban riding. Urban riding means inner-city riding and it covers a short distance. Urban riders usually ride at a leisure pace, which is why urban riding is relatively considered to be the safest of all kinds of riding and as such, does not require heavy protection.
The same cannot however be said of riders who cover up to 75 miles per hour, and so are deemed adequately protected by motorcycle denim that falls under Category AA.
Motorcycle denim that is tagged under Category AAA is deemed to provide adequate protection for riders who ride above 75 miles per hour. It is meanwhile important to note that it is possible to have highly protective motorcycle denim these are not CE-certified. The reason for this is that the certification commenced in the year 2018 and does not work retroactively. Also, it is only mandated for motorcycle garments commercialized by companies under the wings of the European Union.
Consequent upon this, any motorcycle denim that was launched before 2018 or launched by companies outside the European Union cannot be validated by CE certification.
Conclusion
Summarily when choosing motorcycle jeans, you should ensure that it is not only adequately resistant to abrasion but also that it provides adequate impact protection. Impact protection is just as important as abrasion protection in terms of protecting your body from damage in the event of a crash. Because, a pair of motorcycle denim that is lacking in the abrasion and impact protection department, is only as good as normal jeans.
