Combining his expertise as an artist and designer with his experience as a Supermoto racer and the owner of the championship-winning Troy Lee Designs Supermoto team, TLD founder Troy Lee created his concept of the ultimate fun-bike for the streets – based on the same Honda CRF450R platform that his team races in the AMA Supermoto series.
Below is a copy of the company’s press release regarding the ‘Canyon Chaser’ concept, which they introduced at the Indianapolis Dealer Show, as well as a few more pictures of this beautiful one-off creation from master designer Troy Lee.
Perpetuating their ongoing commitment to design excellence, Troy Lee Designs is proud to unveil the new Troy Lee Designs “Canyon Chaser” 450cc street concept bike this weekend. As a natural extension of the Red Bull Championship winning Supermoto Team, this street fighter version of the Honda 450cc race bike is a design exercise to test the market’s interest in a fun to ride street bike, filling a niche between the big “Cruiser” bike and the race inspired “Sport Bikes”.
Troy Lee Designs (TLD) is well known for their unique helmet designs and quality race apparel, but this project illustrates the superior design capabilities and influence of owner and racer, Troy Lee. Much like companies such as “Pininfarina design house”, Troy Lee is often called upon for design initiatives by notable brands such as American Honda, Land Rover, Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, and Nissan. In 2006, TLD designed the paint scheme of the new Champ Car body, and in 2007 TLD was hired by Jimmy Vasser’s Team PKV and Team Flying Lizard Porsche’s to design their entire race team aesthetic packages. TLD generates helmet designs for a majority of the NASCAR pit teams and many of “the World’s Fastest Racers” as well.
According to Jeff Ward, current AMA National Supermoto Champion and past Rookie of the Year at the Indy 500, “I race these things but rarely ride on the street. I can see myself owning one of these if Troy will build me one! This is the coolest street bike I have ever seen and I want one!”
Troy Lee, the creative spark behind the TLD family, says, “I’m an artist at heart and I love to create cool things, and this project was nothing more than my pursuit of the ultimate fun bike for in the city, and on the streets. The 450cc Motocross/Supermoto platform is the workhorse of the racing world, yet there is nothing on the street, or in the showrooms at the moment, that excites me based off of them. This is my stab at exposing it’s potential as a fun and streetable machine for all levels of motorcycle enthusiasts.”
