2004 Ducati Touch Up Paint (2 OEM Colors)

The 2004 Ducati Vibe

Welcome to 2004-the year the iPod Mini was the size of a brick, "stacked" headlights on the 999 were still making purists cry, and the Monster S4R was the undisputed king of the stoplight. While the rest of the automotive world was drowning in a sea of boring silver, Ducati knew that if it wasn't screaming in Ducati Red or lurking in Black (matte), it wasn't worth the kickstand. This was the era of the "Dark" series, where we learned that "stealth" was actually just a fancy word for "keep your oily fingerprints off the tank."

Paint Health Check

We are deep in The Peeling Era, kid. By 2004, Ducati was using basecoat/clearcoat systems that looked like liquid glass on the showroom floor, but the clear coat from this period has a nasty habit of "checking out" early. You've likely got Delamination-where the clear coat decides to part ways with the color underneath. On the 2004 models, you'll notice the "Sun Pink" effect; the red on the plastic fairings fades at a different speed than the red on the steel tank. If you see a milky white edge around a stone chip, that's not wax-that's the clear coat lifting, and once it starts to sail, it doesn't come back.

Restoration Tip

If you're touching up a 2004 survivor, seal those chips immediately. On these early-2000s clear coats, a single rock chip is like a loose thread on a cheap sweater-if you don't anchor it, the wind will eventually peel the clear right off the basecoat. When you're fixing a spot on that matte finish, don't even think about buffing it. Rub too hard and you'll create a permanent "shiny" spot that sticks out like a sore thumb. Build your color layers thin, let the solvent flash off properly, and remember: you aren't just fixing a chip, you're stopping a clear coat mutiny.