The Golden Thread of MRD 0.3
When it came to deciding the colours for MRD we have to go back 3 years from it's BMX birth to when i was a 16 year old schoolboy racing mainly at R.S.S.C in Dorset and Hampshire as well as the Vale of the White SSC. I was racing a Kawasaki A5 in 79, recently off an RM125 Suzuki that wore out, yellow Sinisalo racepants and a yellow Bell Moto3 lid, Blue or White JT race Jersey and yellow and red JT raceboots. Excuse the blurry photo below of me but it illustrates well enough the beginnings. Apologies for no photo credits.
Colour combination favorites that were in the running as well were the Red, yellow white and Black of the Wheelsmith Maico livery that Gaylon Mosier number 13 here wore, also the Broc Glover white yellow and Black gear was high up on the list. But none of them made it to the top of the list.
Gaylon Mosier Maico 1977
Darrell Schultz on the Wheelsmith Maico, Trans AMA 1979.
Broc Glover Factory Yamaha.
That was where Brad came in. So in 82/83 when i had to chose MRD colours for the team I was building, Brad's Green White, Blue and yellow were where it was at for me. Looking back as i write this, it must have been a real flag in the ground moment as previously the very first number plates were red white and blue, to match the Mongoose livery i raced in at the start of my time racing BMX, a year on GT in Blue, Yellow and white and later Lee Coopers Red White and Blue. The pics of the 500cc MX World Champion Brad Lackey give a good indication of the MRD vibe i was trying to bring to BMX, my own race gear at RSSC a nod to it but dragging the yellow in from my Suzuki days. Surgical, measured and a little cool, but with the yellow bringing warmth and contrast. That was the beginning. I want to add the Broc Glover was a badass then, I loved the European racers but he competed stateside and at the MXDN at the top level on inferior bikes against the Factory Hondas which at the time were years ahead in terms of their engineering and ride ability.
Brad Lackey Factory Kawasaki