SouthWestRides SEMA 2007

FEATURES

SEMA 2007
By Birdman
Posted on Oct 29, 2007

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Once again the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center were filled to the brim with the cream of the crop of custom cars, trick products and the newest in what can make your ride cool. This year showed a marked increase in the number of motorcycles that I have seen in the hall and the products seem to be on their way as well. I’ll give a rundown of the best products that I saw and make sure to take a look at the galleries as well.

As always SEMA is a place to show off up and coming products, but a lot of the time what is shown is simply a product concept. With a good 10 years of attending this show under my belt I’ll try to point out the vaporware.

The Real Deal

First up is the GoPro Camera named the Motorsports Hero. The following is from the press release from GoPro which describes the product pretty well (image that.)

PESCADERO, Calif. (October 23, 2007) – GoPro, a designer and manufacturer of ultra convenient wrist mounted cameras for cars and motorcycles is releasing a new micro, waterproof/shockproof 4 oz. wireless digital video camera called the Motorsports HERO, which records TV resolution video with integrated sound.

Whether it’s laying down fast laps at the track or laying down carves on your favorite country road, gunning for a National Championship or simply enjoying open road with your friends, the Motorsports HERO makes it easy to capture on-board footage that makes you look like a HERO.

In addition to being able to shoot 56 minutes of continuous video, the Motorsports HERO can also capture three megapixel still photos automatically every five seconds while you focus on the drive or ride. This “Photo every five seconds” feature makes it easy to capture high-resolution photos of your favorite motorsports activity from incredible on-car or on-bike angles. With two fully charged NiMH AAA batteries you can shoot over two hours of photos every five seconds, or 1400+ photos.

Included with the Motorsports HERO are a number of attachment accessories for easy interior and exterior mounting of the camera on all vehicles ranging from street cars, formula race cars, motorcycles, ATVs, sand rails, and more. Mount it under the front or rear bumper for low angles close to the pavement or inside on the windshield with the included ratcheted suction cup mount. Triple adjustable pivot angles and micro size and weight make the Motorsports HERO the most convenient on-board video camera available. The camera itself is just barely big enough to house the two AAA batteries that power it.

The Motorsports HERO also includes several curved stick on mounts for mounting the camera on helmets. Top mounted or side mounted...either way the Motorsports HERO is fast to set up and simple to use. The mounts work in both directions so you can instantly switch from forward to rear views without taking your helmet off.

The Motorsports HERO incorporates user adjustable sound recording that yields excellent sound quality during even the most vibration-laden activities that render traditional camera microphone systems useless. This two-stage setting also significantly reduces wind noise without the need for a separate wired microphone.

The Motorsports HERO will be available to consumers in mid November at www.goprocamera.com and leading automotive and motorcycle accessory retailers. It will be showcased at the SEMA Show—the premier automotive specialty products trade event—which takes place in Las Vegas October 30 – November 2. The Motorsports HERO will retail for $179.99.

This was the single most exciting product that I saw at the show for motorcycles. I personally can’t wait to see this product hit the market, as the people and the product are seemingly first rate!

Check it out - GoPro

Coming in with a strong second was a product from Slacker called the Slacker Portable Player. Being a total iTunes freak and a person that works from home I have really never looked into Internet Radio that much. Lucky for me I get exposed to new things from press releases and thus was just introduced to Slacker.com. The site is pretty darn cool. In a nutshell it is the perfect radio station designed by you and updated by professionals. You can update it anytime and even skip songs you don’t like. The whole deal is free online and if you don’t believe me go check it out yourself…that’s the cool thing about the Internet. The portable player is the missing link in the whole Internet to motorcycle deal and will allow its user to take their stations on the road. The product was in prototype form, but as soon as I see it in real form look here for an update and review. The site is real, so check it out today!

The Other Stuff

Plate Flipper
While walking the hall one day I stumbled upon the Plate Flipper. Over the years we have made a lot of jokes about making our plates flip for radar cameras, but I have never seen one actually made. Well, that time has come to an end and now you too can have this very product. It is called the Plate Flipper, it works by flipping a switch. The rest you can figure out for yourself (it is not that hard.) Plate Flipper

Parrot
Thanks to a press release I stopped by the Parrot booth to check out their newest motorcycle Bluetooth product. Well, the product (sic) was a chunk of proto plastic and a description sheet. When they get a real product, I will let you know. They did ask a lot of question about what the product should be, so maybe it will exist one day. Parrot

Marvel Mystery Oil
The only news they had was a diesel product and a bike they will be giving away, but the real cool news for me was the fact they the company is owned by the same company that owns Turtle Wax. I have used MMO successfully in the past and just feel better about it now, just by the ownership fact. Find out about the products and register to win the bike at Marvel Mystery Oil

Turtle Wax
These guys have a new formulation of liquid paste that has all the properties of their legendary Hard Shell Wax. Turtle Wax

AlphaMirror
These guys showed a pretty cool billet mirror with a twist. The twist is that the mirror is auto dimming. The auto dimming is based on LCD technology that protects the rider from glare. Look it up at - AlphaMirror

TriRod
In the Pirelli booth TriRod showed their newest bike a cool trike with 2 wheels up front. Check it out at - TriRod

Battery Bug
These guys showed a very cool battery monitoring device that needs some tweaks to be a motorcycle product, but after a 20-minute meeting with the president of the company we may see a great product from them in the future. (He was furiously taking notes after I left.) Here is their site, the Battery Bug is not on it yet. Argus Analyzers

Other Stuff

Borguet’s had a pretty cool custom quad on display in the front hall, it was noteworthy even though not really a motorcycle.

The biggest news I got at the show was from the custom builder Jesse Rooke. While talking with him at the Kicker Big Air Bash he told me about his new relationship with the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. They will be building a new shop inside the facility that will feature Jesse’s work and a custom motorcycle build shop as well. I’ll be posting more news as I find it, and maybe I’ll get to ride one of those beauties! (Jamie Hacking thinks they rock as well.)

Galleries

There are three galleries for the show.

They are listed below:

Kicker Big Air Bash
SEMA MOTO Stuff
General 2007 SEMA Show