Could we go back to Japan at the end of the week
with a developed launch campaign on the new
Yamaha SR500 model. Could we design a logo for
the side cover and what colour should the bike be?
The last one was easy.... black with a gold pinstripe.”
“I supplied one of our art directors, Graeme Davey,
with a pile of logos from the old British bikes and
told him to design a sticker for the side cover that
read “500 single”. He came up with a basic idea and
John Richards, a finished artist, completed the job.
So back we went to Japan, and during the previous
week or so, Yamaha had done a lot of thinking as to
how to best make it all happen. They had worked
out how to use as many existing parts as possible
and how the XT frame needed to be adapted, but
they were not entirely sold on the heritage aspect
and only agreed to produce the stickers for retro-
fitting for the Australian market. As it turned out,the new model was an instant success not just here
but in England and throughout Europe.
“For the local launch, we assembled a bunch of
old British bikes and a group of us from the agency
dressed up in period costume. We photographed
each bike individually, as well as the SR500, and the
artist Alan Puckett, who was a real enthusiast when
it came to old bikes and cars, put it all together as a
poster. This was used as a double-page spread in➢BELOW Hard riding South Australian
Chris Hayward and his SR500 are
regular visitors to the podium.
RIGHT Max Wheat and Les Raynor,
pictured at the 2018 Bathurst Easter
rally at Tarana, have owned their
SR500s since new in 1978.Malcolm Burnham and his
SR500 are regular rally goers.
This shot is from the 2015
Macquarie Towns Rally.