Bike colors, color that always looks clean

**degrom** · 10th December 2006, 13:48

Hi...

I am in the process of painting a 89' Kawasaki ZX-10.

My question is, what color will stay the cleanest and won't show swirl marks after a few months and a few washes?

Color's I like:

Black looks nice... (for 5minutes)
Metallic Blue... SV1000s looks good... (bit on the dark side)
Racing Green...
Rust brown metallic...

Or should I go Silver?

All ideas and suggestions are welcome on this topic.
Thanks.

**xwhatsit** · 10th December 2006, 14:06

Silver is great. My bike is silver... but sort of a metallic silver with flecks through it. It hides the dirtiness really quite well, even when it is horrifically dirty (like when I first got it, he used to ride it on gravel roads) it still only looks a little dirty. Of course, being a naked, the rest of the bike still shows up the dirt and oil...

British racing green does the trick quite nicely as well. Well, the darker Cooper shade rather than the Lotus shade at least.

**degrom** · 10th December 2006, 14:10

I was thinking of black for the bike but it's such a demanding color... Especially with all the rain in NZ.

Isn't Racing green much the same as black? Anyone with a racing green bike?

**xwhatsit** · 10th December 2006, 14:45

BRGreen isn't that dark, at least not the shade I'm thinking of.

I was thinking of a slightly lighter (the photo is a bit dark) version of the paint on this lovely little Cooper T53... (is that Brabham? Surtees wasn't #2, was he).

**hellnback** · 10th December 2006, 16:19

Matt Black! Shit you can hide a missing fairing with that!

**Disco Dan** · 10th December 2006, 16:25

Well for the whole of tomorrow my garage will be set up as a painting booth for my bikes fairings...

...roll on in and get ya bike painted!!! ya! !

Go black dude, then you really will be 'invisible' at night! hehe

**Qkchk:Me** · 10th December 2006, 16:25

Silver!

Its one of the best selling colours... WHY?

1. Its the most safest colour on the road as research by Lincoln Uni (I think it was Lincoln but it was a NZ uni)
2. It doesnt show dirt/dust like the other colours

Here's a question for you........ Why does Mercedes paint 60% of their cars in silver? The rest is made up of something like 20% Black and the other 20% is made up of the 'other' colours - Red, Yellow, Blue and Green.

**adiddy** · 10th December 2006, 16:28

Originally Posted by Qkchk

Silver!

Its one of the best selling colours... WHY?

1. Its the most safest colour on the road as research by Lincoln Uni (I think it was Lincoln but it was a NZ uni)
2. It doesnt show dirt/dust like the other colours

Here's a question for you........ Why does Mercedes paint 60% of their cars in silver? The rest is made up of something like 20% Black and the other 20% is made up of the 'other' colours - Red, Yellow, Blue and Green.

well said, and mercedes is one of, if not the safest car in the world , cant just be dependant on the size and toughness of the car can it?!

**Pathos** · 10th December 2006, 17:31

Originally Posted by adiddy

well said, and mercedes is one of, if not the safest car in the world , cant just be dependant on the size and toughness of the car can it?!

Only slow old men own them :P

**oldguy** · 10th December 2006, 17:38

Red Red Red Always look good

**Qkchk:Me** · 10th December 2006, 18:32

Originally Posted by Pathos

Only slow old men own them :P

Ive got a red one in the garage, do I count?

**hazard02** · 10th December 2006, 18:37

Mix dirt brown with a dark matt grey. You'll never notice when its dirty, ever.

**degrom** · 10th December 2006, 18:55

Originally Posted by Disco Dan

Well for the whole of tomorrow my garage will be set up as a painting booth for my bikes fairings...

...roll on in and get ya bike painted!!! ya! !

Go black dude, then you really will be 'invisible' at night! hehe

Thanks for the offer mate... but my hart says black and my head say go for the silver!!!

**pritch** · 10th December 2006, 19:06

Originally Posted by Qkchk

Here's a question for you........ Why does Mercedes paint 60% of their cars in silver?

Answer: Because silver is to Germans what British Racing Green is to the British?

Feel free to check the colour of the old Mercedes and Auto Union GP cars.

I have an OSH safe driving publication at work and they list the two safest colours as white and red from memory.

White is good at hiding road film too. It can also look good on some bikes but not all...