Topic: New Member with 1975 CB400/4 in the UK - Frame Paint advice requested

[Bill the Badger]

Hi all,
I live in Devon in the South West of the UK. I wanted a CB400/4 when they were new but couldn't afford one (bought a Suzuki GT205B instead), but when i retired i thought "What The Hell, life is too short to not buy the bike you always wanted", so after 12 months of searching i found a lovely bike that had been restored by David Silver in 2012 and bought it about a year ago.

Haven't regretted the purchase for a moment, its a lovely little bike to ride and a work of art to look at. Its in excellent condition with only 15k miles on it since new.

As a winter project I am dealing with some minor rust areas on the frame but can't find a suitable colour match and i would be grateful if someone could recommend a paint. I don't have the skills to do a complete strip down to the frame and complete repaint and am looking at preservation rather than restoration of the bike.

My daily ride is a 2016 KTM 690 Duke (just to show there is still life left in the "old man").

[goodtryer]

Howdy!

I don't have any advice on the paint; I run mine with all the dents and dings they came with.

[newday777]

Welcome aboard Bill that looks to be a great bike indeed. Honda did a great job on the design of them making a fun bike to ride about on.
Have you contacted David Silver to see if they have some touch up paint for the frame there? Maybe they have a pint or less you could buy.

[Stev-o]

Welcome from across the pond.   The original color is a semi-gloss black, I'd bet DSS restored it as close as possible.  A lot of guys here use rust oleam or similar rattle can and it's a pretty good match.

Interesting vehicles in your garage, I see an old Triumph and an MG?

[tool14]

welcome aboard

[MD]

Welcome from across the pond,

-MD

[Bill the Badger]

Welcome aboard Bill that looks to be a great bike indeed. Honda did a great job on the design of them making a fun bike to ride about on.
Have you contacted David Silver to see if they have some touch up paint for the frame there? Maybe they have a pint or less you could buy.

I contacted DS and they don't sell frame paint and they recommended "RSB bike paints" who were able to match the tank colour for me but not the frame paint

[Bill the Badger]

Welcome from across the pond.   The original color is a semi-gloss black, I'd bet DSS restored it as close as possible.  A lot of guys here use rust oleam or similar rattle can and it's a pretty good match.

Interesting vehicles in your garage, I see an old Triumph and an MG?

Thanks for the advice, I will try to get some rust oleam in the UK and try it. The picture is in the previous owners garage when i picked up the bike and i can't remember what the cars were but only that they were an unusual UK manufacturer that stopped production in the 1950's.
 

[Menno]

Color Ral 9005 High gloss

[Bill the Badger]

Color Ral 9005 High gloss

Thanks for advice - this paint is available in the UK and I will order some

[wildtapholer]

This is probably a bit late now, but I've found this paint to be a very good match, E-Tech Jet black Chassis Paint brush on chip resistant 500ml £16.99 on ebay, chipped my chassis badly taking the engine out brushed this on and it was a great match.

[Bill the Badger]

Thanks for the info. much appreciated - due to other stuff going on I haven't done much work on the 400/4 for a few months, so i'll give this a try as most of the other 10 paints i tried aren't a good match. Best regards, Bill