Paint question.

[titan performance]

The tank I want to repaint is identical to the one I have pictured. The bike (is the one pictured) was first registered in the UK in 1975, and I have owned it since 1977....so the paint is original.
Hopefully when my pal does the paint work, he can come up with a paint swatch or sample before work starts.
I will be building a custom bike, but want to keep the bike's "T500" identity, which for me, is the distinctive petrol tank, and the colour of the body work...

[Pete O'Dell]

odd then as 500M had footrests on the swing arm and I saw that bike on ebay about 2.5 yrs ago could be mistaken I suppose but I did bid on it

[ConnerVT]

Foot rests (pillion?) on the swingarm? have you been getting into the holiday eggnog a bit early, Peter?

Not only is that a terrible idea, uncomfortable for the rider, and probably a clearance issue with the pipes, why would Suzuki radically change the frame on a model that was being phased out for the triples?

[titan performance]

I may have changed the swing arm at some point in history....I really can't remember, but I did fit a box section one on my other 500 in about 1980, so it may have come off that bike.......that said, the other bike was an identical 1975 T500M as well.
I know some 500s did have the pillion pegs on the swing arm, but I really don't know which models.

Pete, you must have bid on a similar bike....this one has never been on ebay, nor will it. I was 19 when I bought this bike, so I have grown up with it; I bought my other 500 in 78, and have had dozens of others along the way, but have never parted with the first two. I refurbished the bike pictured in 1985, and painted the frame that blue, (what was I thinking?) in readiness for a trip into Europe in 1986. At the time, I also had a 1979 CBXz 6, but decided to tour on the 500 due to it's ease to work on, and substantially smaller value in case of disaster. I bought a set of Craven panniers with carrier and fitted them with a large top box, all of which I still have. I had a tank bag too for maximum carrying capacity.
Once over the channel, I visited France, Belgium, Holland, followed the Rhein from Koln heading south. to the Schwarz Wald, then into Austria, Lichtenstein, over the Swiss Alps and into Italy.....fully laden and 2 up. The old 500 never missed a single beat. Blue skies all the way. Similar route home, but the weather was a deluge....but it still ran sweet all the way home.

Rebuilding back to stock is way too difficult and expensive for me, so it will be another custom....but having owned it 36 years, I feel the bike deserves it somehow.
Watch this space.....I hope to take it to the TT this year, so best get cracking.

[pearljam724]

Titan, if this helps. This color on my bike is a Maui Blue as supplied from RS Bike Paints and designed for the 76 GT 750. I could be wrong. But, I believe the earlier 72 or 73 GT 750 was painted with the Coronado Blue which was a slightly turquoise/blue candy. Where the 76 750 was painted with the Maui Blue. Which was a true blue color and had a very small amount of silver flake in it. Or it was painted with a multi stage candy with silver metallic underneath. RS Bike Paints sells the Maui Blue in a single stage paint. With tiny specs of silver flake mixed into it. As pictured on my 550. This Maui Blue is a very beautiful color in person. It does a magnificent job mimicking a candy paint. It turns a lot of different shades of blue, depending on lighting and angles you are looking at it. Similar to a real candy paint job. But, not quite as convincing as a real multistage candy color paint. But, it does a great job of mimicking one. I use to think that depending on origin. Some people called the same color Coronado Blue or Maui Blue. But, I now think that is incorrect information. I think it is 2 different colors. Look at RS Bike Paints website, they supply 2 different colors for the earlier of late model 750.

[titan performance]

Thanks Pearl....your 550 is lovely, and the colour is great too, though I'm not sure it's identical to my tank. Close, but not the same. Mind you, my tank is nearly 40 years old now...

[pearljam724]

You're welcome, bud. Thanks, for the compliments. I agree with what you said about your paint being as old as it is. But, I think my paint color is a lot closer than you think. I can say that, because I know what colors my paint turns depending on light conditions. The first picture was taken on a very over cast day. My paint looks exactly like your photo depending on other light conditions. Regardless, I found out with my 750 restoration. There is no such thing as a being able to obtain these original paint colors to be exact. But, it's very easy to get the colors extremely close. If not spot on, to where no one would know a difference. Unless, it's so far off. Just take your time before making a final decision. I wouldn't steer you wrong with the Maui Blue. You'd really like it. Blue is the hardest color in the spectrum to deal with. When looking for the right color blue. RS Bike Paints prides itself on matching the original colors on these classic bikes. No one else specializes in doing that.

[ConnerVT]

Well, I'll be damned. Did some Google image surfing, and found a couple of T500M with the pillion pegs on the swing arm. And several others with the pegs on the typical position, through the exhaust hangers. Also found that every GT500 picture had them mounted in the typical through the exhaust hanger position.

Those pictures with the pegs on the swing arm looked like (nearly) stock bikes, so it wouldn't be likely that someone would go through the effort to add them on the swing arm.

So, to me, I would think that Suzuki shipped the T500M in both configurations. I can't image the reasoning why they would make this change, right at the end of a model run (and not carry it over to the newly "improved" GT500).

That's what I love about this forum. I'm always learning something new about something 40 years old.

[titan performance]

It seems strange that it took Suzuki so many years to realise that the pillion pegs on the swing arm is a crap idea......
Though I do recall that I was forever trying to remove my girl friend's boot marks from the chrome silencer.

[Pete O'Dell]

Only the M had pegs on the swing arm, yep stupid idea they dropped on the later ones just before the GT

[ConnerVT]

I found pictures of a few stock looking T500M which had them on the swingarm, and a few that had them on the frame. So only *some* T500M had them on the swingarm. Just to make it more confusing.

All of the pictures I saw of the GT500 had them on the frame.

I never would have noted this, if it hadn't come up for discussion here.

[diamondj]

I've had two 1975 T500's - both had the passenger pegs on the swing-arm.

[titan performance]

It's a strange one. I would be interested to know what was the thinking behind suddenly putting the pegs on the swing arm, if they had never done it before in the previous 6/7 years of that model?

[Pete O'Dell]

some little nip had been on the saki I expect

[pearljam724]

Titan, another suggestion would be to take your tank to an automotive paint store for a scan. Most established paint stores have that ability. Or a side cover would be easier if you have them available in that same color. Yours appears to be a single stage paint. That can be done. Candy colors are a different story. Can't be scanned for an accuracy.