Okay, I'll be honest.  I never really like the way the front of the red and white YZF1000s looked.  Don't get me wrong, I like the way the bike looks, but not the colors.  That big swath of black on the upper fairing ruined the lines and the black front fender and black wheels made it look like a lot of pieces instead of one unified thing -- a motorcycle.  I had the bike apart in the summer of 1999 and decided to do something about how all this looked.  I  had it painted.

I wanted the front to look cleaner, more integrated.  If possible, more like the Yamaha YZF750 WSB bikes.  Since the wheels were already painted white, I decided to have the black on the upper fairing repainted white, feathering out on the sides, like a number plate.  The fender was then resprayed Vivid Red Cocktail to match the rest of the bike.  Factory Yamaha decals on the fender and cowl are the finishing touch.   The end result is very understated, and not radically changed from the factory appearance, but it unifies the front end of the bike enough so that it looks much better.

The other change I made to the front was replacing a stock-style Zero Gravity windscreen with their Double Bubble model.  The Double Bubble, as the name implies, has a distinct bubble within a bubble shape.  Aside from looking like something right off a racetrack, this design also offers better wind protection and an unhindered view of the instruments.

Want to learn more?  There's not much more to tell about custom painting.   Any good paint auto or motorcycle paint shop should be able to do the same type of thing show here.  For info on the windscreen, check my Zero Gravity page, or Zero Gravity Racing's Web site.

^top

I no longer have a Thunderace, so these pages are updated as I have time.  They are an ongoing work in progress and reflect my own personal thoughts.  If you have any questions or comments, please drop me a line.

This page last updated: January 23, 2000