Topic: Need Opinion: Help me decide what color to go with

[edwardmorris]

While my project is on hold, I thought I'd get this out of the way.

For those who've been following project Ice Cream, you know I've been doing my very best to keep things stock and get it back as close to factory as possible. I've decided to go with a Yamiya kit after looking through some incredible K2 builds on here, and realizing that a top notch paint job costs nearly as much as the kit anyway. For a correct US K2 restoration the options were

Brier Brown Metallic (Flat out depressing so not even in the running)
Flake Sunrise Orange (Tolerable, but not available in the body kits from Yamiya, so not an option)
Candy Gold

Since the very beginning of the project, something has been bugging me constantly, and that is the fact that I simply am not fond of the Candy Gold color in the least. I'm most inclined to the Candy Ruby red (who isn't?) but that is also the most incorrect for a K2. My intentions for this bike are to ride it as long as I can, but i will admit that if the price is right, I will not hesitate to sell it and grab another one to restore. So please keep that in mind when helping me decide, should I go with the correct thing, or something that would look great on it. Thank you for taking the time!

Here are some pix to help with the vote

[flybox1]

three great color choices for sure 

[FillionJ]

Personally I like the gold/yellow, all very nice though!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hon3ybadger]

I like the silver cause I've honestly never seen it. I've seen the gold and red everywhere but not silver.

[EricHa]

Candy Gold all the way. I wish my K6 had been painted OEM in that color.

[flatlander]

i do like candy gold. for me, it's one of the typical, special honda colours. and good for resale value.
i could also get used to silver, it's kind of understated cool.
red is my least favourite one of the three. looks somehow more "normal" than the others (for lack of better words).

[edwardmorris]

Thanks for the input guys, I might actually be convinced by the end of this poll

[Stev-o]

Not crazy about the Gold either, Ruby all the way!

[Bill/BentON Racing]

Like em all, but the eye popper still the Ruby Red! My .02. Bill

[RRRToolSolutions]

Ed, I've had to make that decision more than once. For a build that I want as a personal bike where it's sole purpose and reason for existence is to stir my emotions and my own personal taste - I'll paint it any color I like and want.

This bike is different. You have spent much time, money, and effort getting it "Right". If this were my bike and I had kept the goals you set and have adhered to - STOCK. Period. My first H2 Kawasaki Mach IV, a 1974 model came in a pretty Green/Green and a Chicken-Poop Brown. I was and did paint that bike back to it's original color - the absolute ugliest and tasteless "Poop Brown".

I promise that if you'll look at and ride the bike as it were a "slice of history", you'll grow to love the Gold. Don't change course now - stay the K2!

Best Regards, Gordon

[AJK]

Colour is always a personal preference. At the end of the day, if it's not the right colour, it will bug you. I agree with ilbikes though that the candy gold may 'grow on you' if you allow it.
  On another note, you could grab another tank and side covers. Do one in the period look, like gold or whatever you don't like but correct for the bike, & do another one in the colour you like. I know this is doubling up and funds may not permit it, but remember that its only the tank and sidecover replacement to completely change the colour of the bike.
  Consider re-sellability value as well as part of your decision.

[Tempast]

I've always loved the gold. It's such a pretty colour.

Thinking I should keep the trend going.
My MR2 and 300, and my dads 750 and my 550. Orange for the 550?

[jerry h]

If I had to pick, personally I'd go with the Candy Gold .    It's an interesting color. Depending on the light and angle you view it at, it can give off an orange-ish hue up to a more  yellow gold.  It's an elusive color to photograph to depict what it really looks like in real life.

[HondaMan]

Naturally, the 'purist' in me asks for the Gold, but there's a problem (for me) with it: although it is the consummate "hey, I'm from the 1970s!" screaming color (and everyone here knows that's why folks constantly stop in parking lots and gather around mine when I go to town), I never actually favored the Gold, myself. I like the 2 Blues (Candy Blue-Green K0), Planet Blue (it was over silver, wasn't it?), and a tossup over the Valley Green (original, not metallics) and the Candy Red. Of the restos I do, most want the Red.

I had a gold 450, a gold 350, a gold and brown CB500-4, a gold 750K1. When I ended up with the [turd] Garnet Brown Flake on my K2, I gave up trying: in those days these as NO WAY to obtain a blue-green tank and covers from Honda: the demand was too great. When I got married in 1979, the brown was worn down to the failed Valley Green layer (they painted red over failed Valley Greens to get the brown) on most of the tank, so I had a friend who owed me a favor paint it: I told him 'anything Honda but gold'. He misunderstood, guess what color I got...it's STILL there! 

So...if you want to remove all doubt in the public square of this bike's genre: go with the gold. Everyone will stop and look at it and tell you how they remember their gold one, too. 

[Terry in Australia]

I've only ever seen one silver K2 Raffi, believe it or not, when I was a kid in secondary school a school friend of mine tricked his father into buying him a silver K2 when he was only 13 years old! Yeah, I know it sounds like BS, and I didn't believe him until he invited me to come check it out, and there it was, a shiny new silver K2, parked in his dad's garage.

His dad was German and his english was poor, so I believe that he didn't know what he'd ordered until it arrived at the dealership, and by then it was too late to change his mind.

I left home to join the army before he was old enough to get his license so I never saw it on the road, the next time I saw him I was riding a new CB750 and he had a shiny new silver CBX! A couple of years later I had my first K1, and I had it professionally painted in silver because I liked that silver K2 so much.

Of course the final decision will be yours Raffi, as it should be of course, but I can tell you that there are thousands of red and gold K2's out there, but how many silver ones do you ever see? Cheers, Terry.  

[JeffSTL]

When I first set out to buy a CB750 my heart was set on a candy gold K2. Looked at a few but the price was too high for the junk people were selling. I was dead set against one of the wide panel later models. I decided the most logical move was to buy the best "stock" bike I could afford for the right price. I wasn't excited by my candy anteres K6 at first, but it was in great shape and a good deal that I couldn't pass on. Now I absolutely love it.

The silver would be my last choice because that color was never offered on any model year in the states. It seems that 90% of the restored bikes I see are the candy gold. I may be the only one, but I really like the look of the brown. I've only seen one in person and it seems to be rarest color. I think my current favorite color is the candy Bacchus olive.

[timbo750]

This very same question has been in the back of my mind for months now about my build. I tend to agree somewhat with HM about the blues, but now Terry has got me thinking about the silver as well. My build will not be stock like yours but I do want it to resemble a stock bike with a colour close to stock. Go with your gut instinct, after all you did say that you would keep unless someone makes an offer which means it should be finished to your likening.

[Dream750]

The 750 K2 owners are the lucky ones, they were produced in 8 different colors and the most of any of the K series. Honda used a two letter code for paint color identification. Unless you’re restoring for concurs d'elegance points competition, any of these colors are factory correct for a K2, but not necessarily area code correct. This is a subjective and debatable topic depending on who you talk to – so let your conscience be your guide. My vote is picking out one of the colors that YOU like and calling it good.          

CM-Candy ruby red       
LU-Brier brown metallic
LV-Flake sunrise orange
LX- Candy gold custom
LY-Candy Bacchus olive custom 
MV-Planet blue metallic
NQ-Silver metallic custom     
PC-Astro purple metallic

[KC_Northstar]

Not to make it even more complex, but there are 2 different candy golds.  Candy Gold and Candy Gold Custom.   The Candy
gold custom was used on the K2's.  It is slightly darker.  There used to be an internet site called spookey toms that showed
examples of many Honda colors.  He claimed that Planet blue metallic was used on a few U.S. bikes and had come across several.
I also saw a K2 on Ebay a while back that was for sale by the original U.S. owner and it was original paint Planet blue.
Check out this link to this exact topic a year or so ago that includes a color poll.  http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=106645.0
In the picture below CQ is Candy Gold and LX is Candy Gold Custom.
   

[greenjeans]

Personally, I like the Ruby Red.  It really is a beautiful color on these 'ol beauties.  However, if you ever sell it, the purists will want a correct color for the year.  But, I really believe that if you put 2 identically restored 72s next to each other, 1 in Ruby Red and the other in Brown, and then offered them for sale at the same price, the Ruby Red sells first.  I restore about 1 bike a year and I usually give the customer the color choice as long as it's a Honda color.    I've done 5 Ruby Red, 2 orange, and 2 blue bikes.   There's a reason salesmen say "Resale Red"

The gold will grow on you.  It is really a beautiful color in person as well.  It get the 2nd place vote.

Silver, is just so blah for me.  Not enough contrast with the bike.  Kinda dulls the whole look.

I voted for Ruby Red.  Good luck - can't wait to see the finished pics.

[edwardmorris]

Thank you everyone who has taken the time and provided valuable insight, I really appreciate it. I can't describe how good it feels that my project isn't just my bike, it belongs to this SOHC family just as much as it does to me


@Stev-o, @Bill: I agree, many say the same thing, Ruby Red makes the CB750 "Stand Out" a little more than the others

@ilbikes: Inspiring story once again, if you can put up with Chicken Poop Brown, I feel like I at least owe Candy Gold a chance

@Jerry h: That's a good way to look at it, and I agree about it looking different in different lighting. In fact, the first pic above, I thought it was Candy Gold from a bad lighting angle but as @KC_Northstar clarified, that is in fact Candy Gold Custom. I would never have been able to tell the difference

@Hondaman: The purist in me (gold guy) hates the enthusiast in me (ruby red guy), hence the dilemma . I thought silver would've screwed them both but it doesn't seem to succeed. Lots of folk arund here who grew up in the 70s, and our town does host a classic auto show in the summer. I was planning to take it there eventually, and I can see the benefit you describe, lot easier to explain

@Terry: I know I will be making the tough decision in the end, this thread has helped me ease the biggest concern I had originally, which is "What if I regret the color choice I make?". Lots of good points that I hadn't originally considered. I know that there aren't many silvers, but @greenjeans' reply has me thinking about it. There really isn't much contrast in the silver when it sits in between all that Chrome, Polished Aluminum and Painted Engine, so at this point, at least in my head it has been narrowed down to Red and Gold, somewhat of an easier decision 

@Dream750: Thanks for that info, and good point on technically being factory correct but not area code, will definitely now be a factor in my final decision

@KC_Northstar: Thanks for clarifying the different golds. Had I known Planet Blue was a correct K2 US color, I'd have included it in the poll. I think* yamiya sells a blue set too, so good to know I have a third "correct" option in case I abandon the gold vs red debate altogether

@greenjeans: I agree that the purist buyer will probably ask for the gold, and cosidering the price I have in mind for it, I'm sure they WILL. But if red is truly a "resale red", then I guess can afford to not worry so much about selling it, at least not right away.

[tweakin]

Ed- i am bias to the candy gold paint (since I have it on my K1).  Love the paint and the way it pops in the sun is amazing.  Since you have done such an amazing job restoring the bike I lean toward period correct paint.  That being said it's your bike and you have to be happy with the paint color.  I know I am not in the majority but I don't like the red and prefer the silver out of those two because it's unique.

IMO you can't go wrong with any of the Yamiya colors, pick one and go with it.

[jamesbekman]

Why no love for brown?

[brandEn]

I like the gold and would probably go for that but my second choice is orange. I love orange bikes.

[Vinhead1957]

I'm orange too large metal flake

[edwardmorris]

Ed- i am bias to the candy gold paint (since I have it on my K1).  Love the paint and the way it pops in the sun is amazing.  Since you have done such an amazing job restoring the bike I lean toward period correct paint.  That being said it's your bike and you have to be happy with the paint color.  I know I am not in the majority but I don't like the red and prefer the silver out of those two because it's unique.

IMO you can't go wrong with any of the Yamiya colors, pick one and go with it.

Tige, your K1 GT is the only bike where I can genuinely say I liked the gold. It was well done, especially with all the chrome and aluminum wet blasted flat look, that gold really stands out. Probably also the bike which sorta has started letting the gold grow on me a bit, seems like its an all round fav (at least in the choices above)...

[HondaMan]

Why no love for brown?

Well, there's actually 2 Browns, I have pictures of them somewhere in my fading snapshots of the heydeys of the 750. The one called "Garnet Brown" was on mine, the other was the "Briar Brown" listed in the official color scheme that Dream is able to keep for us. (Great info, too!). The difference: the Garnett color was green sprayed over red, while the Briar was opposite. A Honda rep once told me (over alcohol, so figure how true it may have been?) that this was Honda trying to save as many tanks as possible in production, and they were really behind the 8-ball in production in those days. If a Candy Red had a flaw, it was polished or sanded out and Valley Green sprayed over: mine was absolutely this one. The original Sales Ticket listed it as Garnet Brown. I have also seen (locally) the flip of it: an early K3 with the Briar Brown that has a scratch on the tank that reveals plainly the undercoat is Valley Green and a Red layer over. This one is a duller brown than mine was, lacking the metalflake sparkles of the Valley Green that mine had when new.

There is one further color + stripe variant that I have only seen in photos, and which I cloned on mine: since the decals were Candy Gold with Black stripes and no white stripes on the old-factory K1 and early K2, there were bikes that had the "black pinstripe" look instead of the swoop-banner decals. The decals were there, but they matched the paint perfectly, so all you saw was the black pinstripe look. Some of the bikes also had the heavier all-black swoop decals over the black: this was more common. Mine today still has the pinstripe-on-gold: maybe if the rain stops long enough tomorrow I'll make a pic of it?

[mrbreeze]

Check out this website for the colors by year....htpp://www.motorera.com/honda/ho750/four.htm#y-1975.
I've gotta go with Hondaman on the Blue Green...absolutely beautiful color but only came 69-70. I would rock the silver tank (I'm a Raider fan!) but it wasn't available in the states. I agree with Gordon that you should limit it to the colors that came for your year since you went through all the trouble of keeping it correct to your year. Another thing I agree with is that you can paint it any color you like if you are gonna keep it but if you're building it to flip stick with an original color.
My bike is a 75 and I don't plan on letting it go so I have different parts all over my bike but haven't butchered anything so that it could be put back to stock. My bike is the flake Apricot red but I am running an older right side petcock tank that is painted black with a silver stripe down the top that I got from a member here awhile back. I am currently soaking my red  tank in vinegar because it was rusted pretty bad and I kinda miss the stock tank! I also have a blue one that I bought for a project bike but I got rid of the bike so I'm selling the tank. One of my project bikes was a green 74' (trashed tank) and a brown 71' (also trashed tank). I just bought new side badges and red diamonds for a 72 because I like the script writing better than the newer style. Those are going for sale also. Whatever you decide I'm sure it's gonna turn out nice.

[seanbarney41]

Ed, how many of these colors have you seen in person in their all original glory?  You might want to beg Ekpent to show you what they look like.  I think you are only like  2 hours away...and I think he has every K2 color...

[edwardmorris]

Sean, as much as I'd like to, I'm too tied up this month, but maybe someday for sure!

Looks like gold is winning by miles, and the two incredibly inspiring K2's I've seen here are both gold as well, and there's always tige's K1 GT. Hate to admit it but it is starting to grow on me...

[Stev-o]

Gold won the poll, order it up!

[goldarrow]

If you can't decide. Just get them all! And switch the colors every other seasons!

[jaytee-nz]

I have a New Zealand new 1974 K4 and it's candy ruby red. I think Mr Honda was geting rid of some earlier parts and made NZ model's (and maybe Australian ones as well) up from these. In addition to the paint, the frame number is 2095*** and the engine is 2357***. I thought the frame had been replaced at some stage but when I checked the registration documents it was the original alright.
I'm restoring it at present and it will be repainted candy ruby red.

[HondaMan]

Sean, as much as I'd like to, I'm too tied up this month, but maybe someday for sure!

Looks like gold is winning by miles, and the two incredibly inspiring K2's I've seen here are both gold as well, and there's always tige's K1 GT. Hate to admit it but it is starting to grow on me...

I do have to admit: the gold is easier to paint than the reds or the blues. The flaws don't show up as well in the gold.

[edwardmorris]

@Stev-o  work hours are down to 40 this month due to personal committments, so can't quite pull the trigger just yet, perhaps by mid August (need to get the engine painted and buttoned up first).

@goldarrow if I had that kinda dough, I'd be building a different K2 for each colr just to have them all

[strynboen]

here are the brown 550 k3..not shure it vas the same as 750 brown