2011 Vemar Helmets
2011 Vemar Chimaera (Vemar Jiano EVO TC in the U.S.A.)
November 6, 2010 – I stopped by the Vemar booth at the show to see what’s new.
Vemar is a small family-owned company that makes some very interesting helmets which almost always have unique features that no one else has thought of.
Vemar helmets are distributed by our friends at Motonation in the U.S. and we have been reviewing Vemar helmets for many years, since the original Vemar VSR.
More recent Vemar helmet reviews can be found on webBikeWorld.com, including the Vemar VSREV (review) and the Vemar VTXE.
We also have reviews of the Vemar Jiano flip-up andVemar CiKiQui (with Bluetooth intercom). We haven’t reviewed a Vemar helmet in about a year or so and need to get to the very popular Eclipse race helmet, which also comes in a carbon fiber version.
Vemar had a wide array of 2011 helmets on display at EICMA and the most interesting is the new Vemar Chimaera, which will be called the Vemar Jiano EVO TC in the U.S.A. The “EVO” means evolution (of the original Jiano) and the “TC” stands for “tri-composite”.
This will be a high-tech flip-up, made from composite fibers rather than polycarbonate, which should significantly reduce the weight. The photos below show a size M Chimaera, and although I didn’t have a scale, it felt lighter than the average flip-up.
Vemar Chimaera (Vemar Jiano EVO TC) Helmet
LED Cheek Pad
Besides the very good looks and the Vemar signature squared-off rear shape of the helmet, the Chimaera will also introduce another unique feature: an accessory cheek pad with a self-contained battery pack and LED lights!
This is one of those “Why didn’t I think of that?” ideas, where the cheek pad can be easily installed on any helmet and presto, you have light at night with 4 very bright LEDs. I’m not sure if Vemar has named the cheek pad accessory, but it was originally designed for a European police force. Here are two photos:
New Design for Internal Sun Visor
Vemar also showed me a prototype helmet with a removable chin bar, dual-homologated as a full-face or open-face helmet. Here’s an interesting feature: the internally rotating sun visor is nearly flat across the bottom AND it rotates all the way down as far as it can go, until it touches the top of the cheek pads on either side!
Here’s a photo:
I’d like to think that our constant harping on the problem of a.) too much curvature along the bottom of most internal sun visors and b.) that they don’t rotate down far enough has finally gotten some notice by the manufacturers. It remains to be seen, if you can stand a pun, how this will work on the road, but in the meantime, Vemar gets an “A” for effort!
I forgot to ask if this newly designed sun visor will be used in the Vemar Chimaera, but let’s hope so. I hope to get a Vemar Chimaera, aka Vemar Jiano EVO TC, as soon as possible for a full webBikeWorld review.
Vemar High-Visibility and Luminescent Paint Treatment
By the way, Vemar also showed me a prototype helmet that will have an optional full luminescent paint scheme. Vemar makes helmets for fire and police forces also, and the luminescent coating is not simply a decal like the other (few) helmets with this feature. It is a full luminescent coating that they said will last up to 8 hours at night. It is also high-visibility during the day, so it’s a two-for-one safety feature. Should be interesting…
Vemar Powerpuff Girls and Hello Kitty Helmets!
In other news at Vemar, they have licensed both the Hello Kitty and Powerpuff Girls brands for what has turned out to be, believe it or not, a very popular line of scooter helmets! And in the “Wait: that’s not all” department, 30% of the buyers of these helmets are men! Apparently, it’s a big fashion statement here in Europe.
I have been surprised to see more scooters here than motorcycles — a huge number of scooters, in fact, and more than I remember seeing in Europe before. So for some reason, the Hello Kitty helmets have become the fashion. The colors are bright enough, to be sure, so maybe there’s a hidden safety factor involved. And what car driver would want to run over a scooterist wearing a Hello Kitty helmet?
UPDATE: Correction to the photos I originally posted, which are, as one sharp-eyed reader informed me, the Powerpuff Girls and not Hello Kitty. I have added photos of the Hello Kitty photos below also; two of which are in the Hello Kitty Christmas color scheme! This marks the first time I have seen a Christmas-themed motorcycle helmet!
Vemar Hello Kitty Helmets
Vemar Powerpuff Girls Helmets
Vemar Children’s Flip-up
Another nice helmet I saw hidden in the corner is the Vemar children’s flip-up shown in the photos below. Not only is it a very nice-looking helmet, which comes in sizes ranging from XXXS all the way up to XS, it is also a full-featured helmet that gives away nothing to its bigger brothers and sisters.
Specs include the following:
- Outer shell: shell ATM (Advanced Thermo Material).
- Sizes: XS to XXXS
- EPS: EPS-density controlled in one size
- Visor: Injection molded polycarbonate, thickness mm. 2.2 with treatment resistant.
- Interior: Removable, washable, breathable fabric, processing (ASP Antimicrobical Sanitized Protection)
- Strap: With the closure release micrometer
- Ventilation system VKS Vemar Klima System with two adjustable air vents on top and an adjustable front air intake, along with two side vents.
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