Motorcycle Show Live NEC Birmingham - Dr Damian Smith
Motorcycle Show Live NEC Birmingham - Dr Damian Smith
So here I am at the NEC in Birmingham, England, for Motocycle Live 2010. Yep, we made it over from the Isle of Man despite the weather, all in the name of seeing what’s new in motorcycle safety, for all you UK TT-enthusiasts (And all those Germans!). Most excitingly this year, I’ve finally a chance to catch up with the Thermahelm Team.
As a GP living on the Isle of Man, obviously safety is close to my heart, and I’ve had my eye on this innovative patented technology from its inception a couple of years ago, when I was involved in the initial proof-of-concept feasibility studies. A lot of water has gone under the bridge for the company since then, and today I got to try on the finished product.
My verdict? - NICE. The Thermahelm Team have obviously worked extremely hard to turn what was at one point ‘just a clever idea’ into what is now a very clever, real, quality product.
And that’s the feel you get in the hand and on the head with a Thermahelm - quality. It has the feel of comparable top end, made-to-order helmets, but without the price tag of some, and with the priceless addition of their unique, potentially life-saving brain-cooling technology. I won’t even attempt to describe it here myself, but in case you’ve been under a rock for the last twenty-four months, have a look on the net at the positive press this ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ idea has been generating.
Now although they won’t thank me for saying it, the real win for the Thermahelm design team is to have crammed all the comfort and safety features of a regular helmet, AND the Thermapack Halo device, into a product that feels ‘familiar’. It really is just like your existing high end helmet, and you could switch today, without knowing it - if you can ignore this particular helmet’s sharp aesthetics and the fact that it just might save your life that is!
Talking to Thermahelm’s inventor Julian Preston-Powers, its clear there is also more to come. The company are aggressively pushing other logical but disruptive technologies into the motorcycle helmet space. How about automated GPS that alerts emergency services of your whereabouts, or a docking station for your helmet to clean and refresh it between rides?
Rest assured, there will be more to come from Thermahelm, but NDAs prevent me from saying what! In the meantime, I’ll just say ‘Well done guys’.
Dr Damian Smith
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