Troy Lee | Justin Barcia’s Painted Arai Helmet

The first helmet that Barcia and Troy Lee Designs created together was big on color and caught everyone’s attention. Unfortunately, Monster Energy felt it overshadowed their logos on the side and requested a new, more subdued design.

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Over the past 15 years, Troy Lee Designs has grown from a boutique art studio for motorsports stars into a full-fledged gear brand with a full line of riding apparel complete with a high-end helmet, but the company’s namesake still makes it a point to pick up the paint gun when an opportunity arises. TLD has been tapped to create the custom painted Arai helmets that Justin Barcia will wear each weekend, which will feature inspiration from Troy Lee’s deep archive and some input from Barcia, a rider known for his neon gear and flashy style. “It’s awesome that Arai allows us to paint their helmets because that’s where I started,” shared Troy Lee as he checked in with the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing rider at Anaheim Two. “To work with Barcia this year is amazing, he’s a super good person. He wanted some loud, wild stuff, which I love doing.”

The first project between TLD and Barcia was actually the lid that BamBam wore at the Monster Energy Cup (the helmet shown at the top of the page), which featured bright blue and pink patterns and a cartoon frog. Unfortunately, the colors didn’t mesh with the requirements in Barcia’s contract with Monster Energy, as the brand prefers to have their M claw logo on a black base, and a redesign was necessary for the 2020 season (Barcia wore an all-black helmet at Anaheim One and St. Louis while the three parties worked through the issues). “We had to find a balance with Monster Energy, so there is a bit more black on there and we detuned the colors a bit, but we found a good balance,” explained Lee of the new scheme. “Monster Energy saw what we were going for, that he wanted a wilder helmet with colors, and we found a happy medium.”

The all-black Arai VX-PRO4 that Barcia wore for two rounds while Troy Lee Designs and Monster Energy finalized the 2020 scheme.

Barcia’s new helmets will be mostly black on the sides with the necessary branding, which leaves the top and back free for plenty of flair. Lee has filled those spaces with the same blue/pink/green colors and amphibian of the original helmet, which now pop even more thanks to the solid shell. “I stole a little bit from Bradshaw because Barcia loved the old helmets with the big yellow stripes,” explained Lee. “The frog is because his mom used to call him a frog. We stretched it out and made him like a Supercross frog [Laughs].” The finished product is the image at the bottom of the article.

Cartoons have an element on of TLD’s iconic lids, from the mini MC that was on the back of McGrath’s Bell Moto 7 to Doug Henry’s fire-breathing carburetor, so it’s fitting that Barcia gets one of his own. “Guillaume Tanghe, our French artist, drew the cartoon. I drew what I wanted and then he kicked my butt [Laughs],” joked Lee. “All of my artists I feel are better than me and it’s nice to have a company where I can hire amazing people. I truly have some gifted artists working with me.”

PPG paint cans line the shelves in the Troy Lee Designs supply room, a relationship that dates back decades and extends to the sponsorship of the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM race team. “Jim Downey has been amazing over there and they’ve sponsored us since we started SuperMoto racing. PPG makes a lot of great products,” noted Lee.

If you like what Troy Lee and Barcia have come up with, you might be in luck. We’ve heard that the two worked together for the Barcia signature replica VX-PRO4 that should be in the upcoming Arai catalog.

Barcia’s final design for 2020 is a mix of the two helmets above and has a bit more black to fulfill Monster Energy’s requirements, but all of the unique elements like color and cartoons that Troy Lee Designs is known for.