The Special Equipment Marketing Association (SEMA) tradeshow held annually in Las Vegas is the largest gathering of automotive and related specialty product manufacturers in the world. Held each year in the Las Vegas Convention center, the show attracts over 100,000 people and is one of the largest events the city hosts. As a sign of the continued growth of the street bike movement, custom sport bikes and stunt riders are becoming a part of the SEMA scene as well. This year top stunter Kane Friesen was there and bouncing between the Dunlop Tires and Odyssey Battery displays, where he and Derrick "D-Mann" Daigle were signing autographs for fans. Jamal "J-Beats" Kindred was also in attendance shopping for sponsors outside of the typical motorcycle circles, and custom bike builders RIS Designs, Sesto Custom Cycles and Burn Films all had bikes on display at the event as well.
Here are our picks for the five coolest developments we saw at SEMA:
Alsa Corp is a leader in paint supplies and featured their paints and paint additives in indoor and outdoor displays both. The coolest product in their line up is the Eclipse temperature-sensitive, color-changing paint. Placing an Eclipse painted part in direct sunlight will cause the color to change, in the case of the samples we viewefrom black to white. After removing it from the heat source, the paint changed back to black in only a matter of minutes. Outside, a chameleon flake colored Bentley sparkled in the sun like the rainbow mist at the base of a waterfall. A live demonstration of Alsa's "chrome in a can" paint product looked close to the real thing at a fraction of a cost.
Spectra Chrome "spray-on" chrome systems had one of the shiniest displays at SEMA with a sea of tiles, fenders and flooring surrounding a chrome-painted, tiger-themed Hayabusa. At retail price of less then $8,000, Spectra Chrome's HV-T chrome spraying system includes everything you need to become a chrome painter. Materials to chrome-paint a typical motorcycle application start at about $250, and the company claims that the final surface is as durable as paint.
3. Pioneer Shallow-Mount SubwoofersWith more and more stereo equipment finding its way on to custom bikes, subwoofer placement has always been a challenge. Previously, because of its size, the subwoofer had to be mounted in the tail section, under bodywork or mounted inside stretched swing arms. Pioneer might have the solution to this "where-to-mount" problem with these new shallow-mount subwoofers that only require a few inches of mounting space and still providing deep, rich bass.
2. Dub Magazine/RIS Design Hayabusa
Dub Magazine is the leader in covering the hip-hop culture, and specifically celebrity-owned vehicles. A baby blue, Dub-designed 2007 Cadillac EXT on display at SEMA had a matching RIS Designs-built Hayabusa strapped in the bed. If the trend of matching custom sportbikes and cars continues, the market for custom bikes could see tremendous growth soon.
1. TONS of Car Show Models
Need I say more? Just check out these pictures!