Factory paint isn’t infallible, and at least to me, individuality is a large enough part of motorcycling that I have to respect anything I’ve only seen one of, and am still inclined to respect anything aftermarket on the sole basis that the rider has made it their own.

Why take a perfectly good bike and paint it any color? Why put a chrome pipe on? Why switch out the plastics? Why the hell not? We’re not sheep, we’re not posers. We’re riders, and if everyone liked the same thing, well, nobody wants that.

Besides, this is frankly no different than a new paint job, and only a slightly pricey one at that, especially given that gold leaf, even 24karat doesn’t actually cost that much ($43-$44 a gram). To put that in perspective 1000 sheets of 4in x 4in 24karat gold leaf should weigh about 20grams. That’s probably about $200 and 4grams in gold on that bike.

If it helps everyone get over their silly preconceived notions and just accept it as just another paint job you don’t really favor, think of it as really, really shiny yellow.