Black and Gold 900SS Colour

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abmartin
SD900 Darmah
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Black and Gold 900SS Colour

Post by abmartin »

I'm thinking of restoring my 900SS to its original colours and have a few questions.....

Did the black and gold bikes have any metalflake in the paint or were they just a basic black colour? Is there a colour reference? Was a clearcoat applied over the gold decals?

Thanks in advance,

Bruce
1979 900SS
Fredericton, NB
Canada
Aussiess
Parallel Twin
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Post by Aussiess »

Bruce,
I can only comment on my own Black and Gold 79ss.

The black- I found was a basic black "tinter" from a professional paint shop. It did not have to be matched to anything. My colour man has been in the game a long time and I asked him if there was any "blue" or other tint or metallic in it, the response a clear no. He did do a comparo to the black tint and other "blacks" and it was fine.

Now, I have repainted my bike in acrylic and NOT two pack, and placed a few coats of clear over it all without issue.

The Gold- I have noted a few different golds on various ss's, in OZ I have only seen a few original B&G bikes, and they all seem a little different in the gold, some a "champagne" look colour, a few a deeper gold.
My colour guy just matched the gold from my tank stripes (on side and the ss stripes) and when I repainted the single seat unit it all matched beautifully. There is no metallic in the gold.

In respect to clear laquering over decals, it is possible that you may get a slight reaction, this can happen because of adhesives /decal material, but all I can say is preperation, that the key, keep all as lean and "finger oils" clear as you can and good luck. My bike had laquer over the decals from standard. (not much though from memory)

I hope this helps a little, I am sure others can offer words of advice.
The end result of a Black and Gold SS is worth it though, they are a treat eh.
Regards,
Grant
79 900SS , 82 MHR and 78 NCR Replica
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abmartin
SD900 Darmah
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Post by abmartin »

Great answer, AussieSS, thanks! My bike had been laid down and crudely repainted when I bought it so I have no idea how it originally looked. I have never seen another black and gold SS.

Bruce
1979 900SS
Fredericton, NB
Canada
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BevHevSteve
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Post by BevHevSteve »

Make life easy......... Tell you painter to spray it black base coat / clear coat. Let the paint cure [bake etc and wait a week or more] then apply a gold sticker kit from me https://store.bevelheaven.com/Stickers- ... old-900SS/ (updated link)
apply and wait a few more days then clearcoat over the top

voila
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stanley

Post by stanley »

Painted stripes look heaps better, no big step between colours etc.

We used a reverse decal set on mine to mask the sides of the tank & measured & taped the centre stripes.

Dave Ward
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cafe*racer
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Post by cafe*racer »

All a matter of opinion. Not very many painters good enough to lay down and pull off a tape line that is as crisp and clean as a decal. When you clear coat over the decal, as Steve suggests, you will not have a step.
nottonight68
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Post by nottonight68 »

i had my ss repainted a few times-always stripes painted,the only decals were ducati on tank,desmo and side covers-after 25 years of the same paint the only prob is the tank decal is wrinkley on the edges-i doubt any painter would want to paint tank and s/cover decals-but stripes should be ok
machten
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Post by machten »

A good painter can certainly pin stripe well, but it will cost more. I had my red/white 78 darmah stripes painted and it was done really nice - top job. The issue for me was not the "step" or the price, but the fact that the fiberglass components consistency of dimension is crap, and decals may not fit them proprely. My 78 whale tail seat base was nowhere near consistent. One side was 5mm shorter than other ( which I fixed ).

I concur on the impact of the decals and clear. My painter had recently done a simlar job and said to me that he learned that he needed to get them spot on so he didn't have to work them around before he cleared them to ensure they didn't smudge. I'm not saying this happens in all cases, but on his last job the Darmah tiger heads let go the colour - and I've seen it - so take care.

Kev
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Post by Pescara »

It might be worth noting that the original black/gold SS paint job was designed to be cheap and fast, nothing fancy... all they had to do was paint the bike basic black and slap the gold stripe decals on it, clearing over only the parts where gold stripes were applied. The side covers and rear fender, having no gold stripes, were not cleared. The "desmo" and "900SS" decals then went on top, uncleared.

If you want it to look original and have a decal kit in hand the job shouldn't take long! My black/gold SS has original paint... none of the gold stripes line up, wrinkles are evident, the Ducati sticker on one side of the tank is installed at an angle, and the clear coat is very, very thin in the places it was used. As Cycle Magazine said in the 70s (or words to this effect) "the paint job served to make it clear that there were more important things to worry about" :-)

Cheers
camacd
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Re: Black and Gold 900SS Colour

Post by camacd »

Steve,

I can't find a gold decal set on your catalogue. I have a 1981 900ss which was originally silver, but it was B&G when I bought it and I love it that way so I want to repaint B&G again.

Any ideas where I can get a set?

Cam.
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Re: Black and Gold 900SS Colour

Post by BevHevSteve »

https://store.bevelheaven.com/Stickers- ... old-900SS/

I have the black and gold SS kits in stock, link above.

All our complete sticker kits are in this section
https://store.bevelheaven.com/Complete-Sticker-Kits/
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Steve Allen (925)798-BEVL[2385] Ride'm, Don't Hide'm
Ducati/Euro Spares -> https://Store.BevelHeaven.com
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