Starfire's Composite Motorcycle Brakes Excel on Test Track

MALTA, N.Y.--Jan. 10, 2005--Jason DiSalvo, one of the world's foremost motorcycle racers rated Starfire's new brakes "a 12 on a scale of one to ten" after completing a 3 day test track evaluation of a 2004 Yamaha YZF-R1 motorbike equipped with the company's STARBLADE(TM) composite brake rotors. The new generation ceramic composite brake rotor and pad combination exhibited "very consistent and predictable" modulation and control with a "feel" that was superior to conventional steel rotors or other types of ceramic rotors that Mr. DiSalvo has tested.

This result marks a significant milestone in Starfire's development of a new generation of composite brake technology for motorcycles, passenger vehicles, light trucks, aircraft and other platforms. These braking applications are demanding higher performance friction materials to address weight, wear, performance and cost requirements.

Starfire also reported an 8 percent per axle improvement in SUV city fuel economy, as measured by an independent lab, through its light weight composite brake technology. Fuel-efficiency benefits are due in large part to reduced weight. The STARBrake(TM) rotors for a Chevy Tahoe weigh only 25 percent of standard rotors. Lighter brakes also contribute to better and safer handling. Composite brakes exhibit no fade and are expected to last the life of the vehicle. Longer life also means less wear which will reduce the amount of dust particles emitted in the environment.

Richard Saburro, Starfire's President and CEO, observed that, "These results validate the benefits of our unique advanced-ceramics technologies in transportation. We are now preparing to enter production and sales of motorcycle rotors to begin in the first quarter of 2005."

Starfire Systems, develops and manufactures high performance products and materials made from silicon carbide advanced ceramics, enabled by the company's ceramic-forming polymers and composite components that break through traditional cost, design, and performance barriers. Starfire is located at NYSERDA's Saratoga Technology + Energy Park (STEP), Malta, NY.