painting a 75 t500 original color

tygrant351 · Post by **tygrant351** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:18 am

so I think im going to bring my t500 back to original color and resto it not cafe it. so my question is the painting, is there someone that does this? I restored a cb550 and found a guy that paints only old hondas. I didnt know if any one knows of someone like that for suzukis? or if somoen has a recomondation? also is there a place to find the paint code or have it matched? thanks alot guys

tygrant351 · Post by **tygrant351** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:34 pm

no one?

Jughead · Post by **Jughead** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:29 pm

Only one I know is Paul Miller.I'm sure there's more out there.

johnakay · Post by **johnakay** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 6:13 am

http://motorbikepaint.co.uk/
RS paint in the UK do all original colours but very expensive.

do the bike up in what ever colour you like, it doesnt matter whether its original or not if it is going to be a bike that is used rather than show.
I did . this is my old T500 but since sold.the green colour is Suzuki colour but later(modern) colour

diamondj · Post by **diamondj** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 12:01 am

The stock color for 1975 was Maui Blue Metallic with gold pinstriping around the tank. I had a 75 blue tank that had decent paint but a couple of dents that I sold to another Sundialer a few years back. I contacted him to see if he might be willing to sell the tank back to me or get the paint scanned. I'll let you know. In the meantime, here's some '75 photos I found on the web to give you an idea of what the stock bike looks like:

This shot makes the blue paint look darker than it is:

Here's one that is a bit better:

this one is good too:

Jim

johnakay · Post by **johnakay** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 3:34 am

believe it or not this is how my bike should have looked.
but I painted how I wanted it,you should the same.

tygrant351 · Post by **tygrant351** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 6:17 am

thanks alot for the replys, the reason I was going to go stock is I was thinking value. Its in great shape and i was planning on fixing a few little things, painting it back to original color, and then selling it and using the money to really build up my 71 t500 the way I want. The 75 is is such great shape i hate to cafe it. my 71 is a basket case and needs a frame off rebuild and if im going that far I want a loud nasty cafe racer.

So i would assume stock colors and decals would bring the highest vaule?
the emblems are mint, and i found decals on line, another questing are the decals under the clear coat or on top of it?

tygrant351 · Post by **tygrant351** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:14 pm

well I got a price from paul miller, just about 400 all said an done. I found the decals and i think i can get it painted cheaper elsewhere....

do the decals go under the clear or on top of it????

TLRam1 · Post by **TLRam1** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:21 pm

tygrant351 wrote:well I got a price from paul miller, just about 400 all said an done. I found the decals and i think i can get it painted cheaper elsewhere....

do the decals go under the clear or on top of it????

The way I remember they were on top of but most I believe now put them under the clear coat.

Rustygt550 · Post by **Rustygt550** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 6:12 am

Sorry to revive an old topic,

I seem to be confused about what paint is correct for my 75 T500. Using the link provided at the top of post http://motorbikepaint.co.uk/ when using the paint selector I get two Colors :-Maui Blue Metallic & Colorado Blue Metallic.

I thought my 75M was Maui Blue Metallic, so i did a bit of searching on the web & have found both scanned original brochures showing the color listed as Maui Blue Metallic & Colorado Blue Metallic.

If have also seen Paul Miller listing on ebay a T500M body set that looks a lot darker color than my original paint.

My parts book lists Maui Blue Metallic as the correct color.

Can anyone help?

H2RICK · Post by **H2RICK** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:37 am

Rusty, all the info I have shows the correct colour for your T500M to be #797 Maui Blue Metallic. I have never seen a reference to a "Colorado Blue Metallic" on ANY Suzi....ever. I'd be interested to know where that info came from....a brochure, maybe.....or just maybe an urban myth ??

Suzuki DID offer a Colorado GOLD on an earlier T500....but that's the only paint that has "Colorado" in the name that I'm aware of.
Having said all that, Suzuki DID use different names for the SAME colour in different marketing areas. This may be one of those instances.....

I'd certainly be interested in tracking down that "Colorado Blue" info....

tz375 · Post by **tz375** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:19 am

I thought that Colorado Blue was the name used in the UK for Maui Blue and that they shared the same paint code. I could be wrong though. Wouldn't be the first time.

We have paint code experts here. What do they say on this

Post by **oldjapanesebikes** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:44 am

The only mention I know of a 'colorado blue' is here which is an error - if you look closely at the brochure you will notice it actually says 'coronado blue'.

. Further to Richard's comment - as the bulk of the on line sources are North American - and more specifically American - colours used in other markets are not always listed. Examples include the gold colour used in Europe for the GT750 in 1973, and what looks to be a different gold used on GT750's sold in Canada in 1972, the black used on the 1977 GT500 in Canada etc. This could easily be another example.

I also wonder if at least some of the confusion occurs as there was a 'coranado blue' paint code 279 which sounds similar, and which was also called 'bright blue metallic' - it was used on 1972 model year T500's. The 1975 colour was 797 and as Rick indicates was 'maui blue metallic'. 1975 also had the gold striping tape code 764.

Much of this starts to become academic as getting a good match from sun bleached paint is going to lead to lots of variation in the colour of re-sprays as time goes on. I plan to keep my 1976 'as is' for as long as possible, faded, dents and all, as it is original - and it will only ever be original once. For re-sprays, I personally will try to match the original colour as closely as I can because that's just what I like to do, which is actually in line with John's advice from earlier in the thread !

Rustygt550 · Post by **Rustygt550** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 5:38 pm

Here is the scan I as refering to

Rustygt550 · Post by **Rustygt550** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 5:58 pm

Do you think Paul Miller's paint is a good match? It looks to dark to me