You've got my number( Plate), why don't you use it?

I have to thank the Undertones for that little gift of a heading. Numberplates have always been a thing for me. Back in the late 70's and early 80's Motocross was becoming Americanised. Brands like JT were challenging Europe's established apparel makers like Sinisalo, Yoko, Alpine Stars, M Robert and Hallman ( later to become THOR ) to name a few. As the gear manufacturers upped their games so te factory bikes started to look a lot better too with molded plastics that provided a look that was very stylish and also functional. Sometimes they went too far, as did I with huge SX number plates but at other times they nailed it and Fox bought out a new much more robust number plate decal that in 1979 appeared on Brad Lackey's Kawasaki. That was a bike and rider who were very influential to how MRD would look and the vibe it would try to develop. Clean, tech, clinical and minimal. Looking back at my early designs that were sketched out on a kitchen table at 153 Dorchester Road in Oakdale, a suburb of Poole, i was just finding my way and trying out ideas. My Dad was a self employed compositor, so i was around artwork and creatives all the time and in 1980 I'd seen the Haro plates Bob was making which looked way better than everyone elses at the time. So i thought I'd have a go at making my own, just for friends. That's how it started. Peter Middleton, Greg Alderman, Kathy Bebbington and a few others had the first ones. They were all hand cut and then decals applied. To accommodate the bend of the bars boiling hot water was poured on the ends and cable tied to the bars to keep it's shape until they cooled down. Later I would progress to getting cutters made to stamp out the plates on huge presses, which made producing higher number easier. I sold these at races from the back of my 1275 Longman Mini and later filling the boot of my 2002 BMW that I paid £800.00 for when I signed for Lee Cooper in 1983. MRD was DIY from the get go and soon enough we'd be getting decent orders from shops and direct from the kids. My Mum Jill would handle orders and all the admin. That's how we got going, that and some handlebars made locally that were wider than those currently available, thats another story for another day. For now here are the last of the plates using the original polythene from 1984/85. The stick on panels are new and identical to the old artwork which Neil Stevens re-did for me. I won't be doing a re-pop anytime soon so if you're interested jump on em as once they're gone thats it. Available now in a few different colours.