Topic: Anybody familiar with that rare and valuable "swirley" paint Honda used?

[Cowboy]

This 1973 CL350 is for sale on Denver Craigslist. He started out asking for $3500.00 for it, since it has a rare and valuable paint job.  Now, "Price Reduced" to just $2000!  Better jump now gang!

Did Honda actually paint bikes this way, or are the mechanics having a joke at this guy's expense??

http://denver.craigslist.org/mcy/273855934.html

[heffay]

i emailed the guy a few days ago... i wasn't sure on the originality either but, here's a pic.
i told him the 3300 was too rich for my blood.

[crazypj]

I've just seen a flying pig
 
PJ

[Gordon]

I was looking at that one on Craigslist yesterday.  I don't know where this guy got his info from, but a "Swirly" paint job does not turn a (maybe) $1000 bike into a $3300 bike.  Not even $2000.

[Bob Wessner]

It is different. I've seen bowling balls like it.

[turtle]

 
Gotta get me a tin of that there swirly paint

 

[GNXFan]

I remember seeing that same bodywork set on E-Bay a while back and the person who listed said that he had original Honda boxes with part numbers for the parts and that they were an actual dealer installed option available back then. Groovy baby!! Seriously though I can't say I remember seeing those parts ever on a bike back in the 70's.
What's the color called, Brunswick Marble? Hah!!!

[turtle]

There's one born every minute. 

[Raul CB750K1]

When my bro was in school he had an schoolmate whose dad was a car painter. He would take big chunks of dried paint every now and then. Probably it was just a place where they discarded the leftover paint. The fact is that it was formed by a thousand layers of different colours, and depending in the direction you cut you could get a different pattern. They used to carve the dried paint to make different shapes. The shape didn't actually matter, but the paint effect was cool. This paint reminded me of those chunks of paint. I don't think Honda ever sold them but what do I know? My CB750 is actually older than me... 

[Cowboy]

Hey Raul,

I cut and polish gemstones, and I too have cut and polished chunks of dried paint, for use in place of stones in jewelry. It DOES look a lot like the paintjob on that bike!  Some marketers have even tried giving the stuff mineral-sounding names, like "Fordite" or "Mustangite", like this contemporary jeweler:  http://www.galleryfifty.com/forditeGallery.asp

[heffay]

ok... the paint looks perfect and like it could be stock.  people are making references like "there's one born every minute", etc.

was this a very rare stock paint scheme?  anyone?

[Hockers Choppers]

I saw a tank like that once in a bone pile. It was on an old 350 honda. I've never seen anyone paint anything like that before. I'd say it must have been from honda, some special option? The one I saw was white with purple swirls, Way #$%*in!!!

[Cowboy]

ok... the paint looks perfect and like it could be stock.  people are making references like "there's one born every minute", etc.

was this a very rare stock paint scheme?  anyone?

This was the basic question I was after when I posted this thread. I have to admit that my intial first impression is that the funny paint job is not actually a Honda option. But I was curious whether, in fact, it was?

[heffay]

cowboy... that's why i reposted the question.
i too saw the ad and was unsure although he said in the ad it was a factory option.  the fishyness of the story comes in where he has dropped the price 1500 bucks w/in a week or two 

[Hockers Choppers]

I've been in the auto body business for 20 years (and into the custom stuff and can't even figure out how to do it! ) and have never seen anything like that! This must have come from Japan! I'm really surprised no one else has seen anything like this before. It must be pretty rare. I wish I would have picked up that tank I saw a few years ago. I'm not a fan of green, but I kinda like the paint faux!!

[Dave K]

I am certainly no expert, but I remember real well standing at the Honda dealerships in 1968 looking at the then new 350's etc. I never, ever saw that paint job on any known original Honda that I ever saw. Nor, do I recall that seat pattern either.

[DME]

Anyone knows how a paintscheme like that is done? Regular masking? Other way?

It would look kinda cool on my fighter....

Cheers
Dan

[turtle]

It would be a major job (almost impossible I would think) to mask it. It looks like marbling (traditionally done using an oil on water technique. Maybe some of the paint experts in here have some ideas.

[clarkjh]

It would be a major job (almost impossible I would think) to mask it. It looks like marbling (traditionally done using an oil on water technique. Maybe some of the paint experts in here have some ideas.

No expert but looks like a dark base coat then dipped into a film of paint floating on another liquid.  Did it in primary school years ago.

James

[Hockers Choppers]

it must be some kind of dipping technique. It's not marbleized, to do that you spray a black base, then a marbleizer paint, and while it is wet, wrap it in plastic wrap and pull it off. It is really easy and looks cool! I've used a lot of it.

[CrisPDuk]

I'd go with the dipping method too, and my first thought were that it probably is factory

I have seen something similar done, although not as intricately, on a mountain bike frame. That was done by dragging brush over the base coat whilst still wet, leaving a rippled/swirled surface. It was then blown over with the top coat and flatted back until the high points of the base were revealed through the top coat.
That example was done with a bright orange base, with the top coat fading from yellow to black, front to rear. Sounds wierd but the finished frame was By the time it was finished nearly a quarter of the weight of the frame was paint

[turtle]

That sounds likely crispduck. When I look at it closely, there is no mixing (like the paint is either blue or yellow - there is no green). That would indicate that one colour was dry before the other was applied.

[Raul CB750K1]

Hey Raul,

I cut and polish gemstones, and I too have cut and polished chunks of dried paint, for use in place of stones in jewelry. It DOES look a lot like the paintjob on that bike!  Some marketers have even tried giving the stuff mineral-sounding names, like "Fordite" or "Mustangite", like this contemporary jeweler:  http://www.galleryfifty.com/forditeGallery.asp

Thanks for the link, what a blast from the past!!!


There is a plastic "tool" used to paint faux wood lines. You paint first the whole surface with light brown, let it dry, apply a tiny coat of dark brown and rub the surface with the tool, while tilting it "casually". Maybe this body set was painted on a similar way, but there is surely people on the forum that can tell for sure.

[78 k550]

I saw it also. I thought it was kinda cool. Not sure on how rare or if it ws factory.

Paul