Reproduction graphics: a cautionary tale

Warning, OCD ahead.. skip on to the next post if you are less detail oriented.

Last year I picked up a set of reproduction graphics for my 89 KX rebuild. I never was real hot on the OEM 1989 KX graphics.. too much blue imho, and I loved the 88 graphics. Nevermind all that. I also found a NOS oem shroud graphic for the 89 125, so I picked that up too just because.

I'm getting to the stage of fitting plastic on the bike and decided to apply graphics & numberplate backgrounds tonight. Plate backgrounds went ok smoothly and fit reasonably well (Factory Effex did mine).

When it came time to apply the shroud graphic something was off. First, the repro graphic seemed small just by eyeballing it. The next thing is that the colors of the graphic were a smidge off hue. The strips of green that are supposed to match Kawi lime green paint, are almost olive. It wasn't until I put the NOS oem graphic side by side that I saw how wrong the colors are. The repro blue is almost indigo -- not the sharp blue on the OEM graphic.

I took a pic to show the size difference (the repro is about 1cm smaller). My camera didn't pick up the color difference as well, but in person the difference is very noticeable.

size difference at bottom


color difference (phone camera doesn't do this justice)



I'm not sure who else makes OEM style retro graphics for vintage bikes, but I am not impressed with the company I bought from.

If I could find a good way of securing the NOS oem graphic I'd use it instead. Years of sitting on a shelf caused the adhesive to leach into the paper backing (which was stickier on the opposite side than the back of the actual sticker), so it's kinda worthless at this point.