Ex-motorcycle racer turns inventor
BILL McDONALD
 bmcdonald@ctpost.com
Connecticut Post OnlineArticle Last Updated:07/23/2007 05:00:42 AM EDT MILFORD

 — One of John Slater's greatest joys in life is building racing motorcycles from the ground up in his 1,000-square-foot shop at the end of Plains Road.
Along the way, he invented a product called "Slater Skin," an engine heat shield that has drawn national attention in the motorcycle industry.
Slater Skin is a thermal-formed, plastic covering that protects the rider from engine heat while providing enhanced airflow cooling over the engine.
The product may revolutionize the sport of motocross, as it makes the engine cover resist enough heat to show a racing sponsor's name in big letters, as is done with race cars.
John Andros, of Westport, a former motorcycle racer and friend of Slater, said that racing motorcycles could eventually become their own billboards.
"Before this, the sponsor's name was small, just crammed all over the fenders," Andros said. "Now, it's almost like a billboard. That's what he's trying to do: give more exposure to the industry. And, it's working."
National attention has included free help from the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program in Houston, which is supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Slater, 42, of Shelton, won't give away any of his secrets.
"I'm self-taught. I'm a motorcycle mechanic," said Slater, president of Slater Racing Products at 667 Plains Road.
The Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program is a nonprofit, NASA-funded organization that helps small businesses with engineering challenges, said A.J. Lucas, deputy program director for the SATOP New York and New England region.
"Slater said he was on the verge of something that was going to be big, so we provided engineering help," Lucas said. "We're interested in general business growth. In his case, it was being able to attract advertising sponsors to support motorcycle racing."
Slater, a graduate of Shelton High School, followed his post-secondary education with a year in the auto-body program at Emmett O'Brien Technical High School in Ansonia.
"That year in body shop helped me deal with prototype molds in clay. After that, I just tinkered," Slater said. "I'm an inventor. I create things. I get up in the middle of the night and write things down."
He spent most of his 20s racing around the country while doing construction work to support his hobby. His pinnacle was making the 1992 U.S. Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing Team.
"After that, I started my own business and [started] getting involved in plastics," he said. "The sport was starting to step up. There was more sponsorship needed for advertising."
The product has gone through several improvements, and therefore several patents. Frank Canevari, a former motorcycle racer and president of Newhart Plastics in Milford, has dealt with Slater for 10 years.
"He brings me the plastic sheet with the sponsor's name on it. We mold it to the mold, and he puts it on the motorcycle," Canevari said. "The Slater Skin is known for both air flow and protecting the rider from the heat of the engine.
"He's got a good product going," he added. "When he perfects it, he wants to produce it himself. He's still working to perfect it."

Over the bars....!