Chanel motorcycle

Triton motorcycle for Chanel
The fashion websites were buzzing yesterday with news of a Chanel shoot on Rue Royale in Paris: It’s apparently for the press kit of Chanel’s next collection. Karl Lagerfeld was there, and so was this custom motorcycle. According to WWD Fashion, the bike was built in Toulouse but “won’t be commercialized”. Does anyone know who might have built this cafe racer? Our guess is that it’s based on a Triumph Bonneville a Triton. And apart from that ghastly logo on the pipes, it doesn’t look too bad at all. [Photo by Stephane Feugere.]

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Add a comment. | Posted on 21 Jul 2009 in Custom Motorcycles.

  • The Ogre

    Beautiful bike – but with no front brake, I doubt it will ever be ridden…

  • Andrew

    There is some sort of writing on the frame under the handlebars, “combo” with some other stuff. This could help lead to the manufacturer.

  • Hugo

    31 Rue Cambon (“31 CAMBON” on the frame) is the address of a Chanel store so probably not much help in finding the builder…

  • mark

    Pic with model and Lagerfeld.

    “These pictures, courtesy of Stephane Feugere, show Lara Stone and Baptiste Giacobini shooting the press kit for Chanel’s pre-spring 2010 collection at the Chanel boutique on Rue Royale in Paris. The event took place last Friday and the man behind it is Karl Lagerfeld, who commissioned this Triton caf”

    Looks like it is Lager’s bike … nice bike.

  • mark

    Anybody know what a “Rickman” is?

  • http://www.pipeburn.com pipeburn

    guys, just be careful of fake chinese knock-offs

  • http://integrl.com mitch

    From Hell for Leather: ‘Karl apparently commissioned this Triton café racer to serve as a prop in the press images for his Spring/Summer 2010 collection for Chanel. ‘

  • Colin Cox

    The bike looks like a “Triton”. The frame is a norton slimline featherbed frame with what looks like a Triumph motor. Probably mostly for show hence, no front brake.

  • baci

    I think this signals the re-emergence of the cafe aesthetic into chopper crazed motorcycle mainstream. At least in the US. For too long we’ve been pulverized by OCC and west coast chopper drivel. I’m looking forward to a cafe-esque resurgence in American media. The earth needs to adopt the lean mean and forward leaning profile represented by cafe’ culture….whoa how did I get up on this soap box?

  • http://www.bikeexif.com Chris Hunter

    Baci,

    I sincerely hope you’re right. Judging by the troubles besetting most US chopper/cruiser makers, we may be seeing the end of that era.

    The US auto industry has slimmed down, maybe the US chopper industry will be next.

  • Rainman

    I hope someone crashes it on Fifth Avenue in a ball of flames in front of horrified tourists at 51st Street.

  • Decster

    probably gonna sit in a window in Paris for a few weeks then a storeroom for about 20 years : ( till Lagerfield dies and then flogged with the rest of his estate…

  • Tinker

    Karl Lagerfeld — the epitome of bad boy!

    Never mind the front brake, it has no side stand or center stand, so you have to wait around for your ground crew to catch up so you can park it, or just drop it on the ground like a bicycle. Lean it against a parking meter outside the local espresso joint?

    REALLY practical.

    Maybe the local “coco” joint will let you maintain a stand in their parking lot.

  • http://www.harvestclassic.org Russell

    what’s with the 2″ of fork travel? Why not slide the forks back where they belong and make it rideable? Form has been placed way before function in this bike.

  • Lobo

    Looks like an anorexic supermodel………all skin and bones with the shoulder blades protruding.

    Beautiful butt …..err but.

  • http://ffphoto.com FFphoto

    I don’t think that Chanel or Karl Lagerfeld will have any sort of influence on the types of custom motorcycles that Americans ride. However they might have noticed a resurgence in cafe racer popularity and are just jumping on the bandwagon.

  • sticks

    @Russell:

    Its a bike commissioned for CHANEL. Of course its form over function. Its a fashion company!

  • http://tetradugenica.tumblr.com Myf

    Karl’s been slipping as a designer for a while. This motorcycle sort of reflects it. A designer is usually treading water when the clothes they design seem like some ego projection in tulle, and this smacks of the same problem.
    Purely conjecture, of course, but I would guess he had some assistant show the builder a few photos, a black shadow , other bikes that spring to mind and said to integrate it with Chanel and gives them a folder with reference. Not exactly a chanel suit as motorcycle but just a chanel-y motorcycle. The builder works hard to try and combine the references and unveils it, they say ‘ohh , we need the logo there in both forms, so you get the slapped on cc.
    Bare in mind that all of this is probably wrong. Hahaha

  • http://classicspirit.fr Piero

    I guess the guy in Toulouse who did it is the same who built Ala’verda, the green motorcycle with a commando engine in a tubular laverda frame

  • Franck

    Here are more inforamtion abourt this amazing bike:
    http://vintage-motorbikes.com/welcome/Triton_fr.html