Low Budget Purple Project

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JonW
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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1336 Post by JonW » Fri May 11, 2018 1:00 am

Id love it to still be purple :smt006
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

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Off Road
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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1337 Post by Off Road » Sun May 13, 2018 3:24 am

2smoke wrote:Sooooo,
What color is the bodywork?
:smt045
I was wondering if anybody was going to be curious enough to ask that question.
When nothing was said I thought it might be due to a mixture of ignorance and apathy.
Nobody knew what crazy color I might pick, and nobody really cared.
However, after thinking about it for a few minutes, I realized that the main reason nobody said anything is because of my past history on this forum.
They knew that if they asked me what color, then I’d write a really long essay that would eventually tell them nothing.

And guess what, they were right.

Sorry 2smoke, I guess you didn’t get the memo. :smt005
I had to laugh when I read you post, because in my mind I could hear a collective groan go out from all the members.


The paint saga began when I first saw this bike and realized that it was purple, all purple, with no decals.
Since I was building a custom bike, I wanted it to have custom paint.

Plan A for the paint was to use the same graphics as the 83 RZ, but change the colors.
Anything that was Red on the stock bike, would be painted Purple
Anything that was White on the stock bike would be painted Dark Metallic Silver.
And the Dark Blue stripe would be replaced with a Light Blue stripe.
(the same color of blue that is used on the decals of a 90 RZ)

Then I discovered that the purple frame was bent, so I powder-coated my 85 frame Gloss Black, and moved on to Plan B.
Anything that was Red on the stock bike, would be painted Gloss Black
Anything that was White would be painted Dark Metallic Silver.
And the Dark Blue stripe would be replaced with a Light Blue stripe.

I have a friend who does some painting as a hobby and has done a dozen or so cars for friends and acquaintances.
I got to talking to him and he mentioned that he had a bunch of paint left over from some of his jobs.

He had a really awesome paint that I thought would be perfect, so I canceled Plan B and decided to go with Plan C.
The color that I picked looked Gloss Black when it was in the shade.
When you put it out in bright sunlight, it sparkled with metallic flakes of Red, Green, Blue and Gold.
But the best part was that if you looked at it at the right angle it was Purple.
I thought that would be too funny.

But I procrastinated and didn’t do the paint.
Then my friend moved out of the shop and didn’t have anywhere to do the painting.
He said I could have the paint so, I found another painter.
When I went to his place to pick up the paint, we couldn’t find it.
We hunted everywhere, twice. Found a dozen different tins of paint, but not the one we were looking for.

Told this to my painter and he said to pick another color, and be quick about it.
The bodywork was all done and the parts were primered and everything was sitting in the shop gathering dust,
waiting for someone to bump it or knock it on the floor.

Crap, I don’t know what color I want, and to make it worse, I have absolutely no artistic skills.
I don’t know what would look good.
Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Black, Silver, Gun Metal Grey? And what color decals?

Thought about it for a few days and came up with Plan D, Flat Black.
I liked the look of the bike when it had the flat black paint, and I’ve seen a few bikes at the shop that have really nice OEM flat black paint.

Painter says he’s never done flat black before, but he’ll get what’s needed and do some testing on some scrap body panels the he has.
He called a couple of days later to say he wasn’t happy with the results.
If I really want flat black, then I should just buy a couple of rattle cans and save myself a bunch of money.
If I wanted shiny paint, then I had to pick another color, and be quick about it.

Crap, again.

A couple of days later we got a customers’ new bike in the shop, and the paint on it was pretty interesting.
I thought what the hell, it's going to be better than the purple.
So, I now had a Plan E.
Once you know the year, make, and model of the bike, it’s really easy to find a paint code.
Gave the code to my painter, then I got him some decals in a contrasting color, and voila, a few days later, it was too late to change my mind. :smt003

I plan on taking the bike out in public on June 3, at a local event called Two Wheel Sunday.
Two Wheel Sunday is a yearly event that they hold to celebrate motorcycles and motorcycling.
We usually get thousands of bikes show up during the day.
And every kind of bike you can imagine.
New, old, restored, custom, bobbers, choppers.
Guys who bought their bike for $200 and rode it to the show.
Other guys who spent $5,000 just for the paint on their bikes.
There’s always something interesting to see.

However, I still need to get this bike running before I can take it out in public.
Last Monday, I ordered the 2 petcock washers from the Yamaha dealer.
The washers arrived on Friday.
Last night I installed the petcock in the tank.

My To Do list is getting shorter.
- Put the tank on the bike
- Put gas in the tank
- Turn the key on
- Kick it over until it starts.

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JonW
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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1338 Post by JonW » Sun May 13, 2018 3:46 am

Damn, I really hoped it'd still be purple... :/
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

Like Watches? www.PloProf.com & www.DeskDivers.com

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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1339 Post by 2smoke » Mon May 14, 2018 12:06 am

JUNE 3RD????
Crap. :smt022
Colin
79 RD400F Daytona Special
81 RD350LC
89 TDR250
75 Kawasaki H1 500
77 Can-am Tnt250

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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1340 Post by Off Road » Mon May 14, 2018 3:33 am

I now have some more used parts. :smt003
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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1341 Post by 2smoke » Mon May 14, 2018 11:58 pm

Oh yes, I think I can see, is it uhhhh,
maybe gold?
Hmmm.
:smt017
Colin
79 RD400F Daytona Special
81 RD350LC
89 TDR250
75 Kawasaki H1 500
77 Can-am Tnt250

hondaror
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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1342 Post by hondaror » Wed May 16, 2018 3:04 am

Nope.


Steve, I have to fly to Toronto on June 3rd for my parents 60th wedding anniversary. Just send me a pic of your used parts now, and I won't miss the viewing on the 3rd.
Rory
2 1984 RZ350s
1985 RZ350
9 1986-1990 RZ350s
2000 ST2
2005 749
2005 749 with 999 engine

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JonW
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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1343 Post by JonW » Wed May 16, 2018 4:22 am

Yeah Im about to fly out as well so wont be around on the 3rd to 'ohh and ahh' at the new bodywork... but Rory and I am not 'everyone' of course...
80 XT500 Supermoto!
81 RD350LC Resto
82 RD421LC Hybrid
82 RD350LC decapitation project
82 RD250LC JDM '251LC' YPVS
83 RZ350 Resto
84 RZ500 Resto
85 RZ350 F1 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Resto
86 RZ350 F2 Hybrid

Like Watches? www.PloProf.com & www.DeskDivers.com

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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1344 Post by Off Road » Sun May 27, 2018 2:35 am

2smoke wrote:Oh yes, I think I can see, is it uhhhh,
maybe gold?
Hmmm.
:smt017
Hey 2smoke, that was a pretty incredible guess.
Unfortunately, you’re not even close, but I do applaud the effort.

Here’s a mildly amusing story about the paint.

I was having a difficult time trying to decide what color I wanted to paint the bike.
Eventually, I saw a bike in the shop that had pretty nice paint, so I went for it.
I got the painted bodywork last November and showed it to Rory.
We checked it out in the shop, we looked at it outside in the sunlight,
and then I took it home and put it in my basement for 6 months.

A few weeks ago I dug it out and put 2 coats of wax on it.
After I finished polishing it all up, I took it out in the bright Summer sunshine and discovered that it’s a different color than I thought it was.

It’s still a pretty cool color, but it’s definitely not what I was expecting.

And to make this even funnier, the moment I saw what color the paint really is, I knew exactly what color I wanted it to be.
And the color I really want, isn’t this color. Ooops.

hondaror
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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1345 Post by hondaror » Sun May 27, 2018 3:27 am

Oh oh.
Rory
2 1984 RZ350s
1985 RZ350
9 1986-1990 RZ350s
2000 ST2
2005 749
2005 749 with 999 engine

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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1346 Post by Off Road » Tue May 29, 2018 2:50 am

I've been having some ignition timing issues but finally came up with an ignition curve that should keep the engine from melting.
I figured that there's only one way to know for sure, so I set the rev limiter to 7000 rpm, and went for a ride.
A few trips around the block to make sure everything was good, and then I headed out of town.

I put 100km on it and everything seems fine. EGT and coolant temp are both good.
Carbs seem to be a bit rich in the midrange, but I’m not going to touch them until I have more miles on the motor.

While I was out, I stopped and took a few pictures.
Since a couple of distinguished forum members won’t be around on June 3, I decided to post some pictures in advance of the bikes debut.
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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1347 Post by Off Road » Tue May 29, 2018 2:51 am

:smt003
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hondaror
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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1348 Post by hondaror » Thu May 31, 2018 4:10 am

Thanks Steve, but what about the new paint? The old '83 colours look good. The bike looks clean, but...
Rory
2 1984 RZ350s
1985 RZ350
9 1986-1990 RZ350s
2000 ST2
2005 749
2005 749 with 999 engine

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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1349 Post by Off Road » Mon Jun 04, 2018 2:50 am

Hey Rory. I really don’t like the stock paint on this bike.
The red and white just doesn’t work with the chrome and polished aluminum.

Yesterday, was the first time that I had all the new bodywork on the bike.
Today, I took it to a local event, Two Wheel Sunday, and showed it off for a bit.
After that I went for a ride.
I love this section of pavement. Lots of twisties.
But you really have to pay attention because it’s pretty narrow. :smt003
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Re: Low Budget Purple Project

#1350 Post by Off Road » Mon Jun 04, 2018 2:52 am

By the way, the bike is Black.
Actually it’s a Kawasaki color called Metallic Spark Black.
On a cloudy day, or in the shade, it looks like any other gloss black paint.
In the bright sunlight, I noticed that it had a fine silver metallic flake it.
I thought it would look good with metallic silver decals.
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