{"id":31830,"date":"2019-04-11T16:06:37","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T20:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?p=31830"},"modified":"2019-04-11T21:46:09","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T01:46:09","slug":"lake-george-biker-concerned-with-safety-develops-new-helmet-ready-for-distribution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2019\/04\/lake-george-biker-concerned-with-safety-develops-new-helmet-ready-for-distribution\/","title":{"rendered":"Lake George Biker, Concerned With Safety, Develops New Helmet; Ready For Distribution"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
This motorcycle helmet was developed by Jason Kirshon of Lake George.
Courtesy Kirsch Helmets<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Christine Graf
\nLake George entrepreneur Jason Kirshon decided to develop a better motorcycle helmet after he attended Laconia Motorcycle Week in New Hampshire in 2008.
\n\u201cWhat struck me was that out of 200,000 attending bikers, I only saw one wearing a helmet,\u201d said Kirshon. \u201cAnd that guy was riding a moped.\u201d
\nNew Hampshire is one of just three states with no motorcycle helmet laws. Nineteen states, including New York, have universal helmet laws. In the remaining states, helmets laws apply only to riders under the age of 18 or 21. The age varies by state.
\nKirshon, an avid motorcyclist, understands why helmets are so unpopular. It comes down to comfort.
\n\u201cThere are two types of half-shell helmets,\u201d he said. \u201cThe first is DOT (Department of Transportation) approved. They are extremely big and bulky and have 2.5 to 3 inch-thick of Styrofoam on the inside. They make you look like a mushroom head. They are very uncomfortable and they catch a lot of wind. Wind drag is very uncomfortable on a long ride.\u201d
\nKirshon described the second type of helmet as a novelty helmet. These helmets do not meet DOT safety standards and offer little to no protection. They are illegal to wear in New York and in other states that have helmet laws.
\nBecause it is highly unlikely for the police to stop a rider to do a helmet check, many bikers wear novelty helmets in order to avoid getting tickets. Hundreds of thousands of novelty helmets are sold each year.
\n\u201cA good majority of bikers wear novelty helmets, which is actually kind of scary,\u201d said Kirshon.
\nHe also noted that DOT-approved helmets do not provide adequate protection in many crash scenarios. That is because they are designed to provide protection in cases where crashes are caused by linear acceleration\u2014straight-on impacts.
\n\u201cThe helmet industry has been regulated by DOT since 1974,\u201d said Kirshon. \u201cThe testing parameters were established at that time. They have never developed a more sophisticated line of testing. To this day, helmets are tested purely on linear acceleration. But, in reality, over 80 percent of head injuries are greatly affected by angular acceleration. These are rotational injuries to the brain. The helmet industry does not have that in their testing.\u201d
\nAfter leaving Laconia in 2008, Kirshon said he couldn\u2019t stop thinking about developing a better motorcycle helmet. At the time, he was working in construction.
\n\u201cWhen I left Laconia, that was on my mind,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you have a passion\u2014when you have an obsession\u2014it\u2019s something that never leaves your mind. It is always there.\u201d
\nIn his spare time, he began working on his helmet design. Although not an engineer by trade, he said he has always had an aptitude for math and science.
\n\u201cWhen my passion ignited, I became very academic,\u201d he said. \u201cThere were years of research that went into developing this technology.\u201d
\nUnlike conventional motorcycle helmets, the helmet Kirshon invented has a soft interior that measures just 0.5 inches in thickness. In addition to being comfortable, the helmet conforms to heads of all shapes and sizes. It also stays in place without slipping and has no wind drag.
\n\u201cOur interior\u2014instead of being a rigid structure\u2014it\u2019s a fluid structure. It\u2019s very soft. We have a silicone bladder with a proprietary fluid inside,\u201d he said. \u201cOur shell is very rigid, very strong, but practically impenetrable in comparison to other motorcycle helmet shells. The combination of materials is completely different. The way that it handles energy is completely different. When you are wearing this helmet, it really doesn\u2019t feel like you are wearing anything additional. It has comfort you won\u2019t experience in any other helmet\u201d
\nKirshon obtained a utility patent for his helmet design after several years of working on it. By that point in time, he had invested a considerable amount of time and money in the project.
\n\u201cAs far as testing the product, every so often I would gather up enough money and fly to an impact lab in California and do testing on my helmet,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWe are performing tremendously on the linear acceleration testing. But, above and beyond that, what our helmet does is directly address the angular acceleration problem that the rest of the industry is not looking at.\u201d
\nThree years ago, Kirshon spoke publicly for the first time about his helmet at an event at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The event brought together entrepreneurs, inventors, and investors. That is where he met Donald DeVito. At the time, DeVito was working in investment banking and corporate financing. He said he was very impressed by Kirshon\u2019s presentation.
\n\u201cBecause there were a lot of engineers there, there were a lot of great questions being asked of him. He really got to talk about the technology,\u201d said DeVito. \u201cI was interested in this technology and most importantly in a person like Jay who understood he had a revolutionary innovation but needed a business partner.\u201d
\nDeVito and Kirshon founded Kirsh Helmets in January 2017. Since that time, they have raised $1.5 million in capital and opened an office in the BizLab, a business incubator in Schenectady. They also registered as a START-UP NY company. START-UP NY offers new and expanding businesses the opportunity to operate tax-free for 10 years.
\nThe helmet is currently in pre-sale and will be widely available in the near future. It will be sold online and in stores. Kirsh Helmets will also have representatives at motorcycle events throughout the country. It is there that riders will have a chance to take a test ride in the helmet.
\n\u201cThe proof is in the ride,\u201d said Kirshon.
\nThe helmets retail for $245. In comparison, a standard helmet costs $200 or less.
\n\u201cOur helmet costs more for us to make than the average helmet retails for,\u201d said Kirshon. \u201cBut the helmet industry uses cheap materials and cuts corners. You get an inferior product. We are the exact opposite of what everyone else is doing. The materials we use are top of the line\u2014the best we can get our hands on in every part of the helmet from the rivet to the trim strap to the chin strap to the shell material. We use the highest quality silicon you can get. We are not cutting corners.\u201d
\nKirsh Helmets currently has eight employees. Helmet components\u2014all American made\u2014are being produced in several different regional locations. The company\u2019s Queensbury manufacturing facility is scheduled to open by the end of the month.
\nFor more information, visit kirshhelmets.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christine Graf Lake George entrepreneur Jason Kirshon decided to develop a better motorcycle helmet after he attended Laconia Motorcycle Week in New Hampshire in 2008. \u201cWhat struck me was that out of 200,000 attending bikers, I only saw one wearing a helmet,\u201d said Kirshon. \u201cAnd that guy was riding a moped.\u201d New Hampshire is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":31831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nLake George Biker, Concerned With Safety, Develops New Helmet; Ready For Distribution - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2019\/04\/lake-george-biker-concerned-with-safety-develops-new-helmet-ready-for-distribution\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lake George Biker, Concerned With Safety, Develops New Helmet; 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