Topic: CB750K Color Identification Help Needed

[USN20]

I have an extra tank & side cover set begging to be painted and I've been looking at different shades of blue. Seen this bike and it looks like (maybe) a European model because it has a front fender number plate.

Assuming that its a genuine Honda factory color, could it be a Polynesian blue metallic or Planet blue metallic or something else?

Thanks in advance.

(Click on the pic for a larger view)

[smashedmelon]

If you look on the main SOHC web page, click CB750 and go to model guide, it lists the model yr, serial #'s and colours, etc. The bike pictured on that page looks to be the same colour, and its labelled as a 1969 CB750K, but the only close colour on the list is candy blue green, and I'm not seein any green, although my ol'lady says Im colour blind. comeon though, dusty rose is still pink right???
http://www.sohc4.net/index.php?title=CB750K

[Geeto67]

I used to have that book and I am pretty sure the color oddity is just a printing error and not a different color.

However there are some colors that I am almost certain honda did in other markets (like japan) and we never got here (or almost anywhere else). A prime example of this is a slivery light blue metallic. I heard rumors of this color for years, then about 5 years ago someone in New Orleans showed me a bodyset painted that color with japanese warning stickers on it. I had always doubted it as a foreign repaint until a friend of mine here in NY got a '73 JDM CB750 painted the same color (about 3 years ago). I only saw the bike once but it was the same color I saw in new orleans. My friend has since sold the bike and I have been trying to track it down since but with no luck. I still hear rumors about the color from time to time but I have yet to see another or verify it.

For years there were also rumors of White and Silver cb750s stock from the factory. The white ones turned out to be ex- japanese police models fitted with civilian decals by a dealer looking to unload them. All the silver ones I have seen have turned out to be repaints with stock decal kits.

[736cc]

Candy blue-green was a 1969/70 Honda color used on several Honda models including CB450's, the very 1st sandcasts and CB750 K0's. Those original candy blue-green sandcasts actually were a little bit "greener" in color, probably due to the paint mix at the time. They almost look jade and have a opulescent glow about them, its really special an orig paint sandcast. When you bought a later cb750 K0 or a replacement body part years later, it was a bit bluer in hue. Side by side its obvious.
To throw a little curve into all this, candy blue-green over time yellows a bit (as do most colors) adding to its rich patina and aura. An orig paint sandcast w/ all its subtle corrossion of nicks, scratches, dirt, grime etc is totally sexy.

[USN20]

smashedmelon: Think I need my eyes checked too ...

I used to have that book and I am pretty sure the color oddity is just a printing error and not a different color.

Geeto67: That makes perfect sense and what I first thought. However, when it showed up on another book (link below)  it lead me to *believe* that its a legitimate Honda color. Too much of a coincidence for a image printing error in two different books, but this hasn't been ruled out. The candy blue-green is a well recognized and popular color, but I'm still seeing a dark blue. I'm also thinking it was for a non-US model, note the different tail light in this cover image. Still bit of a mystery ...   

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1861262582?ie=UTF8&tag=sohc4owners05-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1861262582

736cc: Thanks for clarifying the differences in candy blue-green, looks like the sandcast bikes are truly in a league of their own in many different ways.

Found another image of a dark blue 750, am I seeing things ...

[Geeto67]

polarizing lens filters like the kind comonly used to shoot bok and magazine photography have a tendency to make colors appear darker and richer than they are. The standard industry practice of shooting at dawn or at dusk in the "sweet spot" of the light when it is soft and rich from the atmosphere can also have that effect.

I own a planet blue metallic K5 and the color is much more a medium blue than a dark blue, not close to that K0 at all.

Books and magazines have a tendency to use photos from the same shoot if they share a common author/editor/publisher. This may account for the frequency of which you are seeing the picture.

[Bob Wessner]

Color variances come into play on monitors as well. True representations of accurate colors requires calibration that few everyday users ever worry about.

[andy750]

I was talking to the owner of Yamiya last week and he mentioned that white tanks with red stripe (and white sidecovers) are Nagoya colours. So unclear if Honda made this colour for the Japanese market (Ive seen a few around Nagoya and the Yamiya owner did say that people here LOVE the CB750KO  - which is why Yamiya is in Nagoya).

cheers
Andy