Wondering if anybody has any information on why Harley-Davidson makes it so difficult to match their paint! I recently installed a Memphis shades batwing on my 2006 softail . Dropped it off at the body shop to get painted to match the color of the bike which is according to Harley-Davidson is chopper blue. They ran it through their computers cannot find it, found a match somewhere and it is not the right shade. They took pictures and ran it through the computer and it comes up as chopper blue, but once painted it's a different shade,close but no cigar. Isn't that the manufacturer is being a snob and does not want anybody to know their paint mix? I know, manufacturers have it in their vins, why wouldn't Harley-Davidson have it in theirs. If anybody has any information on why they do this or even where to find the proper color matches with their paint please let me know. Just had to leave the whole bike there so they can match the paint better.

 

I took my 89 softail to a local auto paint supplier. They brought the paint matching gun thing outside and put it on the tank. Went back inside and plug the gun into their computer and came up with a paint number. They mixed the paint, purple, and put it in a spray can and it matched perfect.

 

Try here: http://www.colorrite.com/department/...dson-10018.cfm

Seems there is more than one type of "Chopper Blue".
Chopper Blue Pearl and Chopper Blue Sunglow

 

These are the paint codes for PPG for the 06 years...

06
Black Cherry Pearl B/C 905951
Black Pearl B/C 905208
Briliant Silver Met B/C 902849
Chopper Blue Pearl Pearl B/C 908588
Deep Cobalt Pearl B/C908850
Glacier White Pearl 3ct 903148
Mirage Orange pearl 3ct 904763
Rich Bue Sunglo B/C 906546
Vivid Black 9850
Black Denim LG 913102

There are two blues.
When I needed black cherry I ordered it from the local PPG dealer and it matched perfectly.

 

not being a dick but did your paint fade at all?

 

It is possible that the paint has faded, but not likely. They've come up with numbers that match the paint code when they spread it is a shade darker. Maybe it has faded. I'm not sure, they are working on it today, hopefully they figure it out. They did notice that the front fender was a lighter than the tank. I have heard though that Harley does not have paint codes according to guys that have worked for them.

 

HD is using PPG paint codes, if the body shop does not use PPG, most likely they'll be no cross reference to their system. In hindsight, they should have asked you to bring your bike in along with the fairing to get a 'shot' of your existing paint with a spectrophotometer, then do a spray out to get a close match to your paint ( the rest is up to the painter ). I'm sure they'll get it right, each paint code will have variants to account for paint fade, or variance in color.

 

Get a better painter. Harley colors are nothing special.

 

I'll agree with what everyone else has already told you and add that if it were me, I'd look for another painter. In todays world it isn't that hard for a good painter to color match something you already have.

 

I left the bike yesterday just picked it up, they said they matched it. I go pick up the faring after the pinstriping on Monday