Trying to decide on paint colors, your opinions welcome

[great white]

The PO of my 89 painted it all white:



It's old, beat up, chipped scratched and I'm kind of tired of feeling like I'm riding a refrigerator....

I've got it narrowed down to two color schemes.

The bike was originally the white/silver:



That's an actual picture of the bike 2 PO's back and before it fell on "hard times". I like the white/silver and there's something that feels right about going back to stock colors.

But there's also the white/blue:



Blue is my favorite color and I think it just looks good (minus the pink stripe of course!). And, while I know it's not a good reason, it would also go with my helmet, which is a rich blue color. I'm doing 17' rims this winter, but I don't think I'd paint the rims white. They look sharp, but too hard to keep clean and I'm more into riding than cleaning. I might go black with a polished lip if I do anything besides the oem type silver. I'm also slipping some "blue dots" on it this winter, which would also go with the blue (not that it really matters, but it is nice over all feel when things are coordinated).

I swing back and forth between the two. The Fj is just an around the local area toy (too old and broken up to long distance it, the Venture does that duty), so I'd like it to look good as well as go good.

Wife is no help, she could care less. She gives the edge to silver though.

As i said, I like the silver, but it just doesn't seem to have the visual "punch" of the blue.

I thought about painting it the 1984 FJ1100 red/silver, but am backing away from that now. Just doesn't seem to fit the bike.

Whatever I paint the bike, the rest of it will remain pretty much as delivered (IE: black exhaust, silver frame, etc).

Ultimately, I'll decide what color will go on the bike but, total opinion time: what color should I go with?

[TexasDave]

The white blue looks more distinctive. The "pink stripers" are unique and I hope to find one in good shape some day. Another color stripe needs to separate the colors. I am old and in favor of original colors and think the pink looks good. Dave   

[Urban_Legend]

I am a fan of 5he blue, but I am also biased

Mark

[movenon]

Something to consider is check out the reproduction decal kits first.  Only certain ones are available.  That's if you want a stock look, tank fairing decals etc..
George

[markmartin]

If your interested in decals, contact member Jeff0308 .  I bought some chin fairing decals from his that were perfect.  He was making and selling FJ decals at the time... 2 years ago?

[novaraptor]

You give great reasons to go with the Blue. I wouldn't neglect the pink strip though, if you are going for stock colors. If you are going to leave some of them out, then I would opt for the same base colors, but would see if I could find a non traditional color layout. Of course, no matter the color, it's still the same horse under the blanket. Good riding to you.

[Steve_in_Florida]

Wow, quite the question.

Fifty different people will give you a hundred different opinions on this one.

The current white scheme would get lost in a snowstorm.

Personally, I'm not a fan of single-colour schemes. Just doesn't look right.

The stock "swoop" was very well thought out by the Yamaha art department. (I think, anyway...)

A theme of some sort might be interesting. (fighter jet with nose art, perhaps?) Then again, I see some of that on bikes in Daytona, and think "Eh..."

Here are a couple of threads from out "Files" section that may help you. One is an internet photo that I pulled into Photoshop, and separated into layers, so you can change the colour of individual parts of the bike.

http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=2902.0

http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=8448.0

You're the one you have to please, as your wife has already expressed her disinterest!

Reminds me of the old joke:

     She: Who do you expect to please with THAT little thing???

     He: Me!

Hope this helps.   

Steve

[ribbert]

The stock "swoop" was very well thought out by the Yamaha art department. (I think, anyway...)

Steve

I agree with you Steve. I must have looked a thousands of colour schemes and it seems that all the good looking ones need a full a fairing to work.

After all that, I decided on the stock Red/Black/Silver paint job (on a '93).

Noel

[Bill_Rockoff]

I saw an '89 FJ local to me that had been painted all pearl white, and I saw one years ago that had been painted bright red.  I gave both a close look because I had a dark blue  '89 stolen.  (Neither of these were that bike, or at least neither of these had that bike's engine.)

Neither bike looked as good as I had thought.

I have thought about repainting my current white & silver '89 all in silver and then reapplying all the existing FJ graphics (stormy red lettering and stripes, black lettering) but am still on the fence.  I think the two-tone schemes just seem to fit the bike's lines.

The exception, to my eye, is the '88/'89 dark blue with the silver & gold graphics.

[great white]

Did a little quick photochop with simple color replacement:






I think I like it. That one stripe changes the whole feeling of it (for me at least).

Even thinking about doing the white rims now.....

[movenon]

Here is a picture of Dereks "retro" FJ 1200.

George

[giantkiller]

I'm going to do my Turbo in one shade lighter 89 midnight blue. And all red stock graphics. And all the fj1200 stickers will be FJ1200t. Like my Fj1350r stickers.

[great white]

Here is a picture of Dereks "retro" FJ 1200.

George

Very nice and even patriotic colors for Canada  , but it's not for me. I got the silver/red stuck in my head in 84 when they came out from all the magazine articles and then Canada seemed to get mostly red/white at all the dealerships I visited back then. Kinda ruined the red/white scheme for me. I'm not saying it makes any sense why it doesn't work for me, just that it doesn't.....

I do see a ZX7 style rear rim on there though. Same thing I'm using.....

[great white]

This is not bad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrmZH8C0gk0

(probably worth hitting mute so you don't hear the guy revving a cold engine)

Not sold on it though...

[anson45]

I always thought of the grey and white FJ as a gentleman's express. Even after I bought my midnight blue '89 I thought of buying or trading for one. However since owning big grey cages and having people pull out in front of me so frequently that I always drive with my headlights on I'm very reluctant to ride a grey bike. I vote for the more visible blue and forget the pink stripe. Either's a winner.
Anson