1982

The year of probably the most iconic siganature BMX in history, the 'Harry Leary' Turbo. To many the epitomy of old school BMX and*an extremely well built machine that served their owners well.

Unfortunately Diamond Back failed to produce another model that lived upto the expectation of riders, other than maybe the 'Formula One' in late 1983 and some argue the later smaller gussett Leary was an improved ride.

We also see the european entry level Diamond Back Pro-Star, which was the equivalent to the US model Moto-1, sharing all but the gussett style.

Turbo Smoke

Many people have tried to emulate the effect that is so famous to the Leary, yet failed and this is probably why.

It was reported by Sandy that the coating was baked, but reports of discussions with powercoaters suggested otherwise because of the hue effect.

Since it took Koizumi six months to develop the coating and upto 7 steps to complete, this probably explains the unique outcome. Taking this into account suggests the difficulty in replicating the color and finding the correct hues as you'll need to know the exact amounts of colours/portions for the process.

I guess for now people will have to accept single hue re-sprays or powdercoats as I would imagine the costs to replicate would be extensive.

Leverage tinkering

1982 introduced the leverage upgrade for the Senior Pro and Harry leary, read more here where Kurt provides a concisive look into the world of the 'Senior' series Diamond Back.