1979 Suzuki-Motorcycle Touch Up Paint (3 OEM Colors)

The 1979 Suzuki-Motorcycle Vibe

1979 was the year Suzuki stopped asking for permission and started taking over the road. While the rest of the world was nursing a disco hangover, the GS1000 was rewriting the rulebook on Japanese superbikes. The aesthetic had shifted away from the "earth-toned" browns of the mid-70s into a sharper, industrial future. We've focused our database on the true survivors of this era-the metallic and monochrome heavy hitters like Oort Grey Metallic, Shadow Black, and Sonic Silver. These weren't just colors; they were the war paint for machines built to be over-engineered and under-polished.

Paint Health Check

Welcome to the peak of the Single Stage Era. Back in '79, your Suzuki didn't have a modern plastic clear coat shield to hide behind. It had a hardworking layer of acrylic enamel where the pigment and the gloss were forced to share the same space. If your tank looks like a chalkboard or your Sonic Silver has gone dull and milky, you're looking at classic oxidation. Because these paints are porous, they "breathe"-and the sun loves to suck the life out of them until the surface turns into a fine, colored powder. If you've got a metallic finish, those real aluminum flakes are actually exposed to the elements, and once they start to corrode, the paint doesn't just fade; it gets "tired" in a way only a salty painter can recognize.

Restoration Tip

If you're planning to touch up a chip on a forty-year-old tank, listen close: you cannot paint over "dead" paint. If you apply fresh Shadow Black or Oort Grey Metallic directly onto an oxidized surface, it'll peel off before your next oil change. You have to "exhume" the original color first. Use a fine polishing compound to rub away the chalky oxidation until the surface feels smooth and the true depth returns. Once you've made your repair, remember the golden rule for 1979 steel: It needs wax or it dies. Without a modern clear coat, a high-quality carnauba wax is the only thing standing between your paint and the relentless thirst of the atmosphere. Seal it, or watch it turn back to chalk.