Paint color political correctness

Okay, I know someone who has done nothing more than remove carbs shouldn't be worried about paint colors, but it's something I've been thinking about.

Eventually, I will be either touching up my tank, or repainting it. If I go through the full work of a repaint, I may end up changing colors. Also, if I did that, I do like the look of accenting more of the bike with the same color (fenders, etc.)

HERE LIES THE QUESTION:

What colors are a no-no on a Yamaha? I can assume it is just wrong to paint an XJ Kawasaki Green, or KTM Orange...
You would never paint a John Deere tractor Ford Blue, right?


I'm just trying to think of what not to do. I really like the idea of doing the tank, fenders, and any accents in a bronze gold metallic color, but I also don't want to seem like I'm trying to fake a Midnight Maxim..

Advise away?

 

Hey Faction, welcome to the site.

I bought mine already painted bright red by the PO. Seems like a fair color for XJs, if you're not into the whole flat black scheme.

June bug green also looks good.

I also once saw a pic of an XJ painted John Deere colors. Great for tractor enthusiasts (actually think it had a tractor seat too)

Someone might know of that post.

 

Your bike, do what you want and don't worry about what others think. Screw them if they don't like it, right.

 

Your thinking about this ass backwards.. unless your trying to restore it and keep it original, that is. Its only paint. Be artistic.

As long as you don't have a Harley emblem and a 1% badge you should be good to go.

 

There aren't lots of (if any) orange bikes, and I wonder why. It's a great color to my eye.

For the fun of it, I photoshopped an old XS650 with orange:

http://tinyurl.com/kk6fyk6

This bike was originally bright yellow (not too common either).

 

Try not to paint every cover and various odd parts the same color as the tank - cause it'll look like the fumes got to ya !!

 

Who cares what anyone else thinks? Paint it whatever color you like. It is your bike. A bike should fit the owners taste not everyone elses. How you feel about your bike is what matters.

 

Thanks for the opinions, I'm not sure yet, but I have a metallic bronze color I love, it may end up being the primary accent to the factory metallic red tank.

I'm also learning how much more work I really have to do... so paint might still be a little while yet.

 

I'm old school, but please don't call me a "biker" I'm a vintage motorcycle enthusiast. The fact that I have been such for over 45 years just gives me a lot of "lore" to draw upon.

"Biker" lore: Green is bad luck. Period, any shade of green.

"BRITISH biker" lore: BRG (British Racing Green) is OK, any other shade of green is bad luck.

Black is traditionally bad ass. Period. Black rules.

Truth be told, black sucks. Try to keep a (gloss) black bike clean. Hah. Just as bad as a black car; a couple of puddy muddles and a few nasty bug splats, and...

I say this because my beloved DR is black, and I battle bug splat all summer.

Back in the day (when I bought my Norton, mid '70s) everybody wanted a black bike with gold trim. Everybody wanted a black car with gold trim (Think '74~5~6 Firebird Trans Am) but all of the black Nortons were sold as soon as they hit the door. Mine is "Pacific Blue" a heavily-metalflaked medium blue that has grown on me over the years, I'm glad it's not black.

Eighties Yamahas are not going to be "vintage goldmines" for a few years yet, (and the 550 Seca will be the first, trust me.) My recommendation is for two options: if you're going to go with the stock color, get the correct paint and do it right. If you plan to keep the bike and ride it, and aren't a "purist" as far as your restoration/recommissioning then go with your heart. If I could get a set of original graphics for my '83, I'd repaint it in a heartbeat; dark charcoal metalflake instead of black and then apply the stock decals.

What honestly irritates me to no end is that Yamaha only gave us one color scheme per model year in the States, while in the world market there were multiple choices per model year. (Of course, they never got a lot of the various Maxims either.)

 

I am so happy I joined up with this forum. It exemplifies what a forum should be. Fitz, your input is always interesting and a learning read, aside from incredibly useful, and thank you for taking the time. =)

I have to say, I absolutely love the old Trans Am gold Phoenix on the black car..

My first XJ650 was black, and while it was beautiful, it didn't really do it for me.
I think I might stick with the factory red tank, cause I just fell in love with it when I saw it (and I never thought I'd like a red bike.)
But well see, it's still a while from rideable, and my opinions change often enough.

The next big thing would be to fairing or not to fairing. I used to hate the WindJammer style, but it's growing on me. Also the minimalist fairing from Rifle is nice, but I mostly ride around town... decisions decisions!

 

Have a look at the SlipStreamer Hellfire SS-24V.

Great Windshield and Mini-faring.

http://www.slipstreamer.com/Product/Sport/sport.html

 

Don't tell that to this guy from British Columbia... he painted his 750X machines green... *and* gold. This one from Texas went with copper.

 

Those are some pretty bikes.. but not my cup of coffee. =)

So I'll admit, one problem is that my nice leather riding jacket is black white and green. It worked on my old black 650, but I don't want to look like an xmas motorcycle. Any one know of a legitimate way to paint leather? I know this just sounds stupid, but I figured there might be something flexible, besides Plasti-Dip, for leather?

Also, the slipstream fairings look nice, but does anyone have experience with the Rifle Sport or Superbike fairings? Curious if the square headlight insert will fit with my stock headlight. I wouldn't want to spend that kind of money $300-$400+, without knowing.

 

Anybody know what fairing this is?

 

The official Yamaha factory accessory sport fairing.

 

Still a noob.

So is that a generally hard to find piece, or is this an ask Chacal situation?
My google searching doesn't seem to be pointing the right way.

 

Your google-fu is weak, old man.

ebay listing #1

ebay listing #2

(Okay, so I cheated and looked through some old ads on the XJCD to point me in the right direction, but still...)

Google search

 

Schmuck, those are Vision fairings. The "official" Yamaha fairing for the 750 Seca had a provision for both of the rectangular lights, and was specifically made for the 750 Seca.




If you find one, I know a source for the mounting kit, NOS.

 

Hence my note that I found them looking at an ad for the Vision bikes. They sure looked the same, though... I guess my google-fu was weaker than his.

At least your picture had part numbers, which hopefully should help some.

 

my google-fu led me down a very abruptly ending path with those model numbers though. =(
Oh well.
I think I'll just have to keep an eye on ebay for that one.