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SOHC.co.uk Forums => CB350/400 => Topic started by: Laverda Dave on March 15, 2024, 02:55:20 PM

Title: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: Laverda Dave on March 15, 2024, 02:55:20 PM
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!
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: Deano400 on March 15, 2024, 03:39:19 PM
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
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: AshimotoK0 on March 15, 2024, 04:18:55 PM
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
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: Rozabikes Tim on March 15, 2024, 04:26:45 PM
You should know Dave. Its the "fastest" one.
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: Bryanj on March 15, 2024, 04:43:47 PM
Honda did not use "standard" codes so there isnt one, all you can do is colour match
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: McCabe-Thiele (Ted) on March 15, 2024, 04:45:10 PM
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.
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: Laverda Dave on March 15, 2024, 09:11:49 PM
You should know Dave. Its the "fastest" one.

 ;D ;D ;D ;D.  I've never noticed the real colour Tim as I'm normally looking at the horizon approaching at a fantastically fast pace  ;D
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: Laverda Dave on March 15, 2024, 09:57:21 PM
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 ;D. 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!
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: McCabe-Thiele (Ted) on March 15, 2024, 10:46:19 PM
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.
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: AshimotoK0 on March 15, 2024, 11:20:44 PM
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.
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: Johnny4428 on March 16, 2024, 09:08:55 AM
Your not going to be heading there soon by any chance Ash?
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: AshimotoK0 on March 16, 2024, 09:17:42 AM
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.
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: AshimotoK0 on March 16, 2024, 10:00:16 AM
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.


[attachimg=1][attachimg=2]


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.

[attachimg=3]
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: Nurse Julie on March 16, 2024, 10:15:33 AM
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🤔🤔🤔🤔.
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: Laverda Dave on March 16, 2024, 10:47:58 AM
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  :o
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: AshimotoK0 on March 16, 2024, 11:05:42 AM
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🤔🤔🤔🤔.

Well I meant 500/550 but the 550 like the 500 not the 'F' series or 'K3' Julie. Wasn't the USA  early 550 just a bored out version of the 500?

I think this is a '74 550 with that colour scheme. I just need to confirm it's the corrert for Johnny's bike before shelling out on some paint for him. The panel I have is NOS and never painted (bought it off Bryan when I got my 500K0 so he will know).

Dave ... it's gonna look stunning whatever shade you finally decide. Sadly never photo'd my lovely Parakeet Yellow F2 ... it got nicked from work ..never to be seen again. Some b*stard on FaceBook about 2 yrs ago posted a comment on a Hull memories site when there was a  feature on the place I worked saying ' Yea nicked loads of motorbikes from there' . I always looked around for a 400 with front engine triangular plates made of some sort of brass alloy??? as the PO had laser cut some for it where he worked. ... so a magnet would have been a good detective tool.

[attachimg=1]
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: Laverda Dave on March 16, 2024, 11:15:54 AM
Why don't lowlife's like that ever get nicked, especially after boasting about it on Faceache, some people are just so thick!
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: AshimotoK0 on March 16, 2024, 11:18:47 AM
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.  Japanese 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?



Yea .. as a joke I bought Graham Curtis this book from a charity shop as he had a bit of a thing about her I reckon ;D She wasn't married to Michael Winner ... she was his P.A.  ;D
I was on holiday at the time in the BIL's cottage near Bakewell but it was p*ssing it down and I had nowt to read ... so read her book.
He sounded like the tw*t everyone thought he was but she seemed to have great affection for him even though, as his P.A. she lead a dogs life with him at times.

Bob Berry also had a UK CB250K2 and Graham restored that for the magazine too and got to keep (sell) it .  I think they paid him good money for his contributions.

Was that the CBX resto with blasting media inside the engine Dave?

Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: AshimotoK0 on March 16, 2024, 11:41:41 AM
  Japanese 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 ::)


I can't find reference to that magazine anywhere Dave. Do you still have a copy?
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: Johnny4428 on March 16, 2024, 11:44:48 AM
Hi Ash that is the colour that you have there on that panel and pic of bike. The 74 550’s had that as an option across the pond.
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: Laverda Dave on March 17, 2024, 10:57:58 AM
Was that the CBX resto with blasting media inside the engine Dave?
[/quote]

That was the one Ash. The magazine ran a series about the restoration. When he finally got it back it lasted about 50 miles before the carnage began. He continued to run updates about it for a while with the ensuing repairs before it just ended with no reason given (I guess money must have changed hands or something similar?). I don't know what happened to the bike in the end.

Bob Berry also started another magazine called 'The Biker' which didn't last long either. I remember issue No.1 featured the Kawasaki Z400J and it was asked if it was the Honda CB400/4 replacement, it wasn't being a bit lardy and slow but still a lovely looking bike and why I restored the BIL's.
I still have my original copy of Japanesse Classic magazine dated May 1992 (£1.80, those were the days!). Features included the CX500 Turbo (or the Orbit if it was in your rear view mirror!), A feature on Tippets Motors in Surbiton, Dave Jupp's RE5, Mike Wilson's Honda CB77, the new Kawasaki GPZ900 and Graham Crosby. Before it was launched I was sent an issue of the pilot copy (a few people in the VJMC were sent a copy at random). It only had about 10 pages and the editor asked the reader if they had a recently completed restoration to feature in the first edition so I answerd and a few weeks later Brain Crighton paid me a visit and my 400/4 featured in issue number 1. The magazine also employed John Mossey to restore a 400/4 as a prize as a feature series. I dont recall it ever being finished before the magazine folded after about 6 issues.
Title: Re: Parakeet Yellow Paint Code
Post by: SteveD CB500K0 on March 17, 2024, 11:35:35 AM
Dave Jupp built the cutaway CB750 engine that I had in the barn for many years.


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