Parakeet Yellow Paint Code

[Laverda Dave]

Today I dropped off the tank and side panels from Ratty with the painter (Cyclesprays in Sussex).
The plan is to paint them in Parakeet Yellow with the decals supplied by Piki.
The painter will not use RS Paints as he has had problems with paint match in the past and the paint itself he found to be very thin. He uses other makes (German I think). He cannot find a swatch for Parakeet Yellow, the closest being Honda code Y106 - Clipper Yellow, this is virtually identical as we compared it to a genuine tank and side panles I bought from DSS back in 1990 and took down with me to help with a colour match.
Does anyone know of the correct Honda paint code for Parakeet Yellow, there must be one out there as Honda list a code R-6CS for Antares Red? I have contacted Honda Customer Support and whilst they could not provide me with a paint code they have opened a case with Honda Japan.
I'm just wondering if anyone on the forum has the code imprinted on their brain!

[Deano400]

Dave,

I don't know how reliable this site is but they give the following code:  Color Code: Y-31   No. QE   Color Code Name:  Parakeet Yellow

https://www.motorcyclespareparts.eu/en/honda-parts/honda-color-codes

[AshimotoK0]

Someone told me Chevrolet WA9414 Yellow is a very close match. Never checked it out though. Can't the paint shop scan your NOS tank or panel Dave?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_dkr=1&iconV2Request=true&_blrs=recall_filtering&_ssn=ukautospares&store_cat=0&store_name=ukautospares&_oac=1&_nkw=wa9414

[Rozabikes Tim]

You should know Dave. Its the "fastest" one.

[Bryanj]

Honda did not use "standard" codes so there isnt one, all you can do is colour match

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295570214253?var=0&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338268676&toolid=10044&customid=CjwKCAjw48-vBhBbEiwAzqrZVHbHbh-54InslWsGi1GH686fVnlGVXvU1Qex4Ged6zwdhJiiX-FKsRoCXSAQAvD_BwE

Looks like Y-31

As we know Yellows all fade quite badly over time so if all panels are being painted colour matching is not really an issue.

[Laverda Dave]

You should know Dave. Its the "fastest" one.

  .  I've never noticed the real colour Tim as I'm normally looking at the horizon approaching at a fantastically fast pace 

[Laverda Dave]

Thanks all for the replies.

So, Ted and Deanno reckon its 2:1 on at Y31 with Ash coming up on the rails with Chevrolet WA9414 Yellow and Tim agreeing that Parakeet Yellow is indeed the fastest colour . My gut feeling is the Y31, I don't know why but maybe it’s because it sounds close to the Y106 Clipper Yellow code swatch that was a very close match. Maybe Honda Japan will come back with the correct code as they did with the Antares Red code R-6CS. I will add an update to this post once I have settled on the colour and hopefully heard back from Honda.
Unfortunately Ash Tony the painter at Cyclesprays doesn't have a spectrophotometer (if that's what I'm thinking they are called), he's in his 60's and very old school and it’s all done by eye with a swatch or preferably with paint codes.

Ted, I understand exactly what you are saying regarding the fading of yellow paint. The side panel from Ratty has faded really badly in comparison to my original and genuine side panel I bought in 1990 from DSS. Because my original yellow 400/4 is kept in the garage the panel hasn’t faded and that is what we used in an attempt to get the colour match along with my original tank.

Anyway, apologies it has taken me a while to respond, I am having to fire up the laptop as I decided yesterday to throw my Sony Xperia 10ii mobile phone into a bucket of soapy water for a couple of hours to see how water resistant it is! I didn’t know it had fallen out of my jacket pocket until I emptied the bucket and the phone landed in the drain gutter! Funnily enough it was still working and I thought I had got away lightly until this morning when it completely failed! I’ve tried drying it out with a bag of rice, recharging it etc but the screen stays blank. I took it to a mobile phone repair shop this afternoon; one of them quoted me an extortionate £175 parts + £50 labour and five days to fix it! The second shop said £50 to fit a new screen and I can have it back tomorrow! I wouldn’t have bothered getting it fixed as I was going to buy a new one anyway as it is over four years old and the battery life is low. I was however told I would need to use Bluetooth to transfer all my data to a new Sony phone as my apps etc are not stored on the SIM but the internal memory of the phone itself. I was also told to transfer the PAC code to a new phone (and hence the phone number) I need to access the phone settings via the screen that is not currently working and needs replacing! You don't realise how much you rely on a mobile phone until you haven't got one!

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I think you can find your PAC code from whoever is you current phone company. At one time some companies charged you pretty sure it's free service today.Mine is accessable online I think with giffgaff.

[AshimotoK0]

Y31 is just a Honda reference code not a paint code as such.

Isn't there a paint supplier (not painter) near you Dave that does have a spectrophotometer?

The place I go to in Hull will supply paint he has formulated from spectrophotometer readings for no extra cost.
He did that for me on some paint I got to match 'Honda Gentle Maroon Metallic' for my mate Jim using a NOS side-panel.

[Johnny4428]

Your not going to be heading there soon by any chance Ash?

[AshimotoK0]

Your not going to be heading there soon by any chance Ash?

I can go there any time you like as it's about 2 miles from where I do my painting.

[AshimotoK0]

My mate Graham Curtis has restored about 3 Parakeet Yellow 400/4s . One was a magazine resto project for Classic Motorcycle Mechanics in 1994 . So I asked him about paint and he said he had it mixed a shade  brighter yellow  than the original as he preferred it . I did the same with 'Honda Scarlet' for my 1960s bikes as the original looked slightly too orangey to me. Attached is the magazine cover and a shot  with Dinah May sitting on it as she was a model employed by Honda in the late 1970's to promote the new bikes including the 400F2.


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Below for Johnny

Johnny ... is this the green you are looking for on this original 500 panel? I think it is 'Freedom Green Metallic' ref.  'TE' but someone like Trigger/Julie/Bryan with probably be able to confirm.

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[Nurse Julie]

I'm not 100% certain being a USA colour but Freedom Green was used on 750's and not 500's, maybe the 550's though🤔🤔🤔🤔.

[Laverda Dave]

I used to read that magazine Ash. Bob Berry was the Editor I seem to remember. He had a CBX restored and it became a bit of an ongoing story in the magazine but I won't add to the story as it became a bit of a saga.  Japanesse Classic magazine was launched to rival it, my own 400/4 was on the cover of the first edition. It folded after six issues due to lack of sales

Dinah May, wasn't she married to Michael Winner the producer of the film Death Wish at some point?

I left the original panels with the painter down in Crowfield to help him get the decal placement correct. Crowfield is a good 90 minute drive away from me around the dreaded M25. The Y106 Cliper Yellow is a near perfect match with my original panels and much more yellow than Ratty's faded panel so I'll probably go with that if Honda are unable to confirm the correct code. I'm not in a hurry for the paint set back as they will be the last items to fit apart from the seat and I am fast running out of storage space having taken over the spare bedroom as a storeroom for precious parts