To the Yamaharr stand at the Tokyo bike show, where Japanese customers were checking out their own very cool 1970s and 80s paint schemes. The new XSR700 and MT-07 look pretty smart in the colours we get here in the UK, but these special race-rep schemes are proper class.
The Yamaha stand featured one of the firm's OW20 YZR500 GP bikes from 1973, which was ridden by legendary Finnish rider Jarno Saarinen to two wins that year, before his tragic death in a crash at Monza. And echoing the OW20's white/red paint, with gold Yamaha logos and wheels was a pair of the firm's new bikes – the MT-07 and XSR700.
Could we see these schemes in the UK in future? Well, the popularity of 1980s bikes and paint jobs like the RD350LCs is stronger than ever, so we'd not rule it out…
More info (and the current paint schemes available in Blighty) here.
