Bountiful Blue v VW Kuril Blue?

[Its been a long time]

Looking at repainting the tins on the 77 650D which is in Bountiful Blue. Searching here I find a recommendation for a VW colour Kuril Blue as a near alternative colour. I'm not building a show queen bike so close enough is plenty close enough for me.

Does anyone actually have experience of the VW colour versus the original Yamaha colour?

 

[Adamc]

Looking at repainting the tins on the 77 650D which is in Bountiful Blue. Searching here I find a recommendation for a VW colour Kuril Blue as a near alternative colour. I'm not building a show queen bike so close enough is plenty close enough for me.

Does anyone actually have experience of the VW colour versus the original Yamaha colour?

Nope, no experience as asked. But if it were me I would choose the one I liked best. As you say it’s not a resto.

 

[Its been a long time]

Nope, no experience as asked. But if it were me I would choose the one I liked best. As you say it’s not a resto.

Thanks. I don't really have a way of looking at real life Kuril Blue, seems it was used by VW in 1983-84 on vans. Searching on t'internet shows it's the right kind of dark blue so I can believe it's close to Yamaha Bountiful Blue. But you can't really tell for sure looking on a web page.

Advantage of the VW colour is it's readily available and therefore not as expensive as something scanned and mixed as a one off. And the original paintwork is definitely faded anyway so a scan wouldn't be true to the original shade 48 years ago.

It's not a problem if nobody's used it recently. It can't be worse than what I have and for sure, the bike is no show winner.

 

[Jim]

Another color that should be easy to get a hold of is French Racing Blue. I'd guess that's as close as any other color and easy to get.

 

[MrBultaco]

I owned a 2017 Honda Accord Coupe that was painted Still Night Pearl similiar to to this pic below. I is a beautiful color

Buy some decals from Diablo Cycle and paint, install decals, clear and 'bob's your uncle'

 

[Its been a long time]

Not quite finished yet. But this is what Kuril Blue looks like on XS650 tins. Not bad. Looks almost black in certain lighting, definitely blue in other lighting. The graphics aren't 100% per the original. But close enough.

 

[Its been a long time]

In case anyone in the future wants to paint Kuril Blue, the paint code is shown below. The other code is the gold colour that the paint shop used. I'm happy with the results.

Not 100% original but you'd have to be a world champion rivet counter to know that.

 

[Wagner73]

Not quite finished yet. But this is what Kuril Blue looks like on XS650 tins. Not bad. Looks almost black in certain lighting, definitely blue in other lighting. The graphics aren't 100% per the original. But close enough.

View attachment 351763

View attachment 351764

Looks great!!

 

[Its been a long time]

Looks great!!

Thanks. I'm a lot happier with the colour now than before it was painted.

 

[Wagner73]

And that makes it well worth it!

I am a little irreverent with paint, in that, I will honor the brand scheme, graphics and so on but may alter colour and/or steal from an alternate year. I am painting my 78E right now and will share when finished. Cheers.

 

[Its been a long time]

And that makes it well worth it!

I am a little irreverent with paint, in that, I will honor the brand scheme, graphics and so on but may alter colour and/or steal from an alternate year. I am painting my 78E right now and will share when finished. Cheers.

Yes, I wanted this to look pretty much stock but without going over the top for complete originality. But if I can find a decent tank that doesn't cost the earth I might go for a customised colour scheme for a spare set of tins. Please share what you do, it's interesting to see people's ideas.

 

[Wagner73]

Will do; should be a few weeks.

 

[Highpower]

And that makes it well worth it!

I am a little irreverent with paint, in that, I will honor the brand scheme, graphics and so on but may alter colour and/or steal from an alternate year. I am painting my 78E right now and will share when finished. Cheers.

I feel much the same way. I like to pay homage to stock colors, but I see no reason to get overly OCD about it unless I'm doing a restoration. I like to get close, but for me, close is good enough.

This is a GM color I used on my '79:

 

[Its been a long time]

I feel much the same way. I like to pay homage to stock colors, but I see no reason to get overly OCD about it unless I'm doing a restoration. I like to get close, but for me, close is good enough.

This is a GM color I used on my '79:
View attachment 352024

Looks to me very much like a GM colour I used a while ago on a Buell. It was called Spctral Blue pearlescent, a very nice deep blue.

 

[gggGary]

I like to pay homage to stock colors, but I see no reason to get overly OCD about it unless I'm doing a restoration. I like to get close, but for me, close is good enough.

Agreed.
I took pics of a 77 sitting in an Indian dealer in Minnesota that was a repaint of the max maroon scheme but had metallic paint. It really grated on me.
I advertised it here for them and a member ended up having it delivered to California.

The post with pics
https://www.xs650.com/threads/xs650-craigslist-postings-depository.895/post-854358

 

[Wagner73]

So, a few weeks ago I committed to post this when completed and here it is. This is a body set (although I like the UK vernacular "tins"...makes me smile!) for my 78E.

The color is a good facsimile of Yamaha Competition Green (CGM) rendered in a House of Kolor "Shimrin" finish. CGM was used - as far as I know - primarily in 1973 on DT3's, RD350's and some versions of TX750...maybe others, I'm not sure.

Stock paint on the 78E in the US was either Star Black (like mine) or the much less common Spruce Green Metallic. I opted for CGM because I wanted a little more brightness or pop from the green

The graphics are 1978 E graphics but rendered in white instead of gold, again the "pop" thing. Also, 78 tanks returned to screw-on logos, but I opted to use a 77-esque tank and a matching white decal for a smooth look. The decals were done for me by Diablo in Ontario and turned out great. The YAMAHA was obviously not 78E but was stolen from an earlier model, maybe 75B or RD, can't recall... again, thanks to Diablo.

Finally, credit for the great final result goes to Craig McGlothlen at Precision Motorcycle Painting in South Bend, Indiana. Craig has now painted two bikes for me and both have turned out - as far as I'm concerned - fantastic!