1983 XJ900RK (US) Paint Color

I've been doing some checking, and as near as I can tell, the '83 XJ900 US model has paint code 002U "Super Red". Can anyone confirm that?

I don't know much about automotive paints. Is the paint code a standard that a paint shop should be able to match on?

 

2U is the Yamaha color "name" (code) for that particular color (although Yamaha Code 63 Brilliant Red can also be used).

IMPORTANT NOTE: the following will be confusing to most non-professional painters, but don't feel bad: it was confusing to us at first, too. If you have already read through the section above about the difficulty of and the importance of applying these two different "components" of these 2-part colors......the base coat and the mid-coat......then we're going to ask you to read through it again, because especially in these 2-part "red" colors, the varying amounts of the base-coat versus the mid-coat application becomes CRITICAL to the final, finished appearance of the painted surface. The depth of the color and even the final shade of "color" can vary dramatically depending on how these two materials are applied, both in terms of thickness of each coat, drying time, temperature and humidity at the time of application, relative proportions of each, etc.

Partly this is due to the sensitivity of the human eye to the color "red" (your eyes have more "red" cell receptors than any other kind), but it is also due to the fact that these Yamaha red colors are as close as possible to what is commonly called "candy" colors, meaning a very heavy content of pearlescent and opalescent elements in relation to the "base" color. So you're starting out with a very "weak" red base, and then varying it tremendously with the application of the mid-coat "color" (actually, it's not quite that simple, but that's about the easiest way that we know how to explain it!).

This is why you'll see that the Code 2U Super Red paint is specified for use for "some" 1983 XJ900RK and "some" 1985 XJ700 non-X models, and you'll see the same usage noted for the Code 63 Brilliant Red. Originally, these bikes were finished in the 2U Super Red color, but once initial parts production was used up, all subsequent parts production was painted using the Code 63 Brilliant Red color, since the Code 63 Brilliant Red color can be used to achieve varied shades of a final "color" depending on how it is applied. Apply a little more base-coat and a little less mid-coat, for example, and the Code 63 paint becomes the 2U Super Red. Vary the concentrations of the base and mid-coats a little bit the other way, and badda-bing, badda-boom--------you have the Code 63 Brilliant Red color. Tweak a bit more and all of sudden you're seeing a showroom-fresh coat of Code 4H Cardinal Red (1982 XJ650RJC Seca models) pouring forth. And so on.


The Code 2U Super Red formulation is more muted in the concentration of the color elements, and you cannot use those paints to ever achieve a Code 63 Brilliant Red color. But using the Code 63 Base Coat and Mid Coat components, you can create the whole spectrum of "red" finishes.......Code 2U Super Red, Code 4H Cardinal Red, and of course, the Code 63 Brilliant Red.

A good automotive paint shop will have an optical scanner/computer that can conjure up the correct "mixing formula" from scanning a body panel or other color sample. However, the sample should be un-faded as possible, or otherwise the "mixing formula" and subsequent mixed paint will mimic the "faded" color sample. Absent a brand new old stock part with unfaded paint to use as the sample, your best chance for un-faded paint are the bottom of the fuel tank, the inside of the side panels, or the underside of the rear tail cowling.

And just be aware that optical computers, no matter how good, are not human eyes, so they can perceive colors a bit differently from how a human eye will interpret the color (this is especially true for red colors, as noted previously). So a good paint shop will also have a "mixmaster" who can take the computer formula and "adjust" it according to his knowledge of paint element contributions to the computer-determined "color" and come up with something that is as close as possible to the "correct" color.

The only other way to match paint is if the manufacturer releases the original paint formula mixing codes, which Yamaha doesn't do (or have) for their older bikes.

 

Thanks Len. I should have known you'd have info about paint too in your encyclopedia of XJ.

Anybody know a good paint shop in the Denver area?

 

If you ask around at some local body shops, they'll (maybe) tell you who they buy their paint from locally. Or just do a web search for "automotive paints" in Denver.