As you may have read, at the London Bike Show at the Excel, 11 dealers have been cutting their gear with some dodgy stuff and selling gear that have fake labels. Shocked? We are too! How can such well known events like this allow this to happen? Why don’t they have a team working hard to ensure ALL retailers are selling GENUINE bike gear… After all, this is a motorcyclists lifeline and quite frankly what helps them go home to their families every day
Thanks to the DEA… I mean trading standards… making an appearance, the selling of fake gear equipment was soon shut down and we can only hope that those who did buy from those retailers were reimbursed and have thrown the garment(s) away. We understand that motorbike gear is expensive, in fact the hobby as a whole is expensive but you really cannot compromise your safety by buying fake gear. You are much better off buying cheaper but official gear rather than cheaper “higher end” fake gear.
All official bike gear is made to standards that are there to keep you safe and have been tested and proven to be safe enough for you, whereas these fake brands aren’t. All pieces of gear that are authentic WILL and are legally obligated to carry a CE rated labels, impact armour level labels and abrasion rating label such as; A, AA or AAA. Helmets in Europe are legally obligated to carry a sticker that shows the helmet carries the correct and current ECE rating. Other safety ratings for a helmet are not legally obliged but are heavily encouraged. The only exception to this is if the helmet is being used for track days, then you will need the gold ACU certification sticker on your helmet.
How would you respond if you knew that there were companies out there making knock off helmets that are made to look like big branded ones? Outrageous right? There was an episode of a tv show called “Fake Britain” where they looked into all the fake gear that’s being sold and there was a scene where they were looking at fake helmets. The presenter was able to break the helmet with his bare hands and you could really see how dangerous these helmets really are and how they could do more bad than good. The best advice we can give from experienced riders here at bike stop is for anyone who rides whether you’re just starting out or a veteran rider, is it buy your gear from a reputable shop, get sized up correct and make sure you’re comfortable in what you’re wearing. To make sure you’re not buying fake gear you should look out for these things in particular;
· How heavy is it? If a piece of gear is particularly heavy, it’s a good starting point as it shows the quality.
· Check whether the armour is replaceable or not. Armour degrade with use and time so there may come a day where you need to replace the armour.
· The most important part to look out for is official certification. ALL gear will carry a (in Europe) CE label which highlights what armour it has, abrasion rating, what year the standards were tested.
And just look for overall quality like you would when shopping for normal clothes. Check stitching, check seem or any defects in general.
