YZ blue getting brighter

Yes, although the official color change was in 1998. That change was "Team Yamaha Blue," and it changed to "Reflex Blue." As far as I know that is still the factory color.

You may be experiencing color disparities between manufacturers, as sometimes even the factory plastics come from multiple sources. How bad is it? 

Color code for Yamaha blue (reflex blue/deep purplish blue) has been 0564 for '98 onward, but that of course is a paint color code, and it is a metallic.
The plastic batches could have any number of changes and varieties, which may or not be intentional.

The YZ 500 models always had a little darker tank.  😃😎

However you may feel, your bike looks outstanding to me.

Well done!

Agree the bike looks good.  If it's an older tank it could be discolored from ethanol gas.  I've noticed a number of older tanks lately (of all colors) that look darker/discolored compared to the original shade and other plastics on the bike.  I've heard a number of people attribute it to the ethanol levels in today's pump fuel.

That thing is gnarly! I keep trying to see what you mean by the color of the tank, but I keep getting distracted by the cone-welded pipe and the brown hubs. Nice. 😎

Honestly, I can't tell from that picture if the tank is off-color or not. I'd say just run it.

Pipe looks very cool. But is it touching the radiator? I would hate to put an intentional dent in that work of art but if it is touching or super close to the radiator you’ll have cooling issues. 

Just an idea - but on ThumperTalk.com a couple guys dyed their Blue YZ tanks Black and they look great - they dyed them 3-years ago and they look brand new. 

Doesn't necessary fade - doesn't effect performance either. Check it out. 

All you need is a sealed garbage tank full of HOT water - Rite Dye (Walmart) and it takes 24-hours cure time. Hot water is the key. Good luck.

BTW - I like they way your bike looks now......

Like the others have said… 

YOUR BIKE LOOKS GREAT! I also have an 05 & battled the SAME type issue with my stock tank as well! When I installed all new plastic the shrouds looked a slightly different color and it bugged me too! I was too pumped to go ride it after all the work and just installed my graphics and hit the MX track! Everyone that saw my scooter gave me two thumbs up & when I’d point out what I considered the “flaw” just like right here…everyone thought I was being FAR too hard on myself/the bike & that if I hadn’t pointed it out, they wouldn’t have even noticed or thought a thing about it!

You’ve done an OUTSTANDING job and need to go enjoy the fruits of your effort! It really does look GREAT! 💥👍❗️👍💥
From one 05 YZ guy to another! 😎 👍❗️

NOT to derail away from your kick-ass YZ, just to show the harsh reality of matching tanks to plastic! 
I completely restored this 2004 & wanted to make a themed YZ after my beloved 1990…ordered up all new plastic and a brand new white tank from Clarke MFG! 
The plastic & tank were a slightly different shade of white too! Nothing I could do but run it!

I ended up working out a trade with another Vitard & regret letting the 04 go to this day…SO found an 05 & did it all again! 🤪

Your 2005 with the 500 kit is WAAAAY more kick-ass and I cannot wait to hear a ride report!

Hope you get good riding weather this weekend and have a blast enjoying your excellent work!
Post up a couple more good pics when its completely buttoned up & ready to go ride!

😎 👍❗️

Your ride is beyond cool......  Pic taken at OMC?

You know it! OMC is 15 mins from home & the closest thing to MX in Central Oklahoma with the long departed Motorcycle Raceway or “59th & Douglas” closed 20 long years now!

Rodney or “Big Sexy” as he prefers, means well, pours his heart into the place & makes an honest effort to provide a quality MX experience! So OMC is my “home” MX track the majority of the time!

(Plus I’ve actually known “Big Sexy” & been pretty good friends with the goofy lunk since elementary school! We grew up playing baseball together and then at rival high schools later on! Believe it or not? ol’ Rodney was actually a pretty damn good athlete in his wasted youth! 🤪)

😎 👍❗️

After zooming in I see the missing mounting tabs. When you position it (assuming you’re making custom tabs) give yourself plenty of clearance there. 

FYI - The shift to the significantly brighter, modern blue aesthetic did not happen during a single year, but rather occurred across three distinct transitional phases:

• The 1996–1998 Dark Blue Era: Yamaha first introduced blue to the production YZ line in 1996, but it was a much darker, muted navy blue. By 1998, they introduced the "Reflex Blue" base hue, but the bikes still looked dark because they used black or dark blue gas tanks, white or black rear fenders, and dark graphics. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
• The 2015 Plastic Refresh: Yamaha updated the YZ two-stroke bodywork for the 2015 model year. This update changed the chemical composition and texture of the plastics, giving the exact same "Reflex Blue" base pigment a much more vibrant, light-reflective, and modern gloss finish. [1]
• The 2021 "All-Blue" Takeover: The final jump to the current "ultra-bright" look occurred in 2021. Yamaha eliminated the remaining white plastic panels (such as the white rear fender and white front side plates) and replaced them with all-blue bodywork. Coupled with modern, aggressive graphics and black accents, this change made the overall silhouette appear dramatically brighter and more saturated than the 2005 version. [1, 2, 3]

I've noticed UFO tends to be on the darker side, polisport on the lighter/brighter  side.   But they are all supposed to be the same color since the shift to reflex blue.  If You hold them up to the light the Polisport is more translucent  than the UFO. Acerbis has been the same as UFO  or very slight shifts in shades.   

Its easier to see  on a white tank . It will develop a yellowish tint over the years from UV and chemical exposure. It darkens a blue tank in the same way that adding a little yellow to blue makes it darker,  not enough to be greenish .   Depending on which brand plastic You get You may have a bigger shade difference. 

I started to film some plastic comparison videos  that compare OEM, Acerbis,Cycra ( often just Acerbis now) Polisport, R-tech and UFO for each brand bike.  But for 99% of  people that I showed the differences didn't seem to really care. Most already had their minds set on which brand they wanted.  The Polisport shade ( on Yamaha's) and stress marks ( Honda and Yamaha) were really the only things that were noticed by a majority of people. Nobody cared about the other things and I lost interest in finishing the videos up. 

 On the japanese brands plastic kits, Polisport always seems more translucent and shows stress marks  easier than the other brands.  But on KTM,Husky and Gasgas Polisport has the most opac plastic and is identical to the OEM's . Likely because they are the OEM maker . They have all the same spacers ,etc molded into the plastic on the KTM brands as OEM . While the other aftermarket brands tend to be molded a little differently.

 I've found that UFO makes their fork guards slightly thicker than the other brands too. I never tested any durability beyond stress marks. So I can't tell you for sure if they are stronger or not. But they are a measurable amount thicker. Enough that You can see it when side by side.  

For Honda and Yamaha plastic, I found R-tech to be closest to OEM as far as stress mark resistance. UFO was close and Acerbis/Cycra. Polisport was the easiest to get the marks but only with the Red and Blue . 

I filmed a segment for the KTM brands, Kawasaki , Yamaha and Honda.  But never edited them. That was around 2019 , although I have not noticed anything that would make me think those results have changed on the newest stuff. I have not compared them head to head like I had started. 

The new Yamaha blue isn't that far off from the old IT blue from the 80s 

Blue Yamaha fuel tanks definitely get darker over time. You gotta buy a new tank to make an old rebuild look proper fresh, unfortunately. 

I think if anything, just the older tanks are just hard to match and almost seem like they get darker, as they age. I bought a '98 from a friend that basically sat for over 10 years. Put new plastic on it and scrubbed the tank as best as I could. It for sure looked off from the plastic but I feel like the plastic was the same shade as in '98. So i got plain blue tank graphics to mostly hide that and then I got a custom seat cover and went with a slightly darker blue on the top of the seat and normal YZblue on the sides. And it honestly really ties everything in. Seems like in normal pics of the bike, it's hard to tell but I found this GoPro frame and you can see the differences in shades between the graphics, shrouds, tank and the 2 tone of the seat.