How right you are! I had mine less than a month and did an all over paint job. I still think it's the best money I've spent since I got the bike. Yamaha's paint leaves a lot to be desired. It is very soft and doesn't hold up well at all. As far as the gray goes, that's the main color I chose when i painted it. It's almost 2 yrs old and has never had a tank protector or anything else on it. The automotive paint is HARD and none the worse for wear. I hope the gray they chose is metallic, otherwise it will look "utilitarian", but we won't know till we actually see one. I used a lot of metallic in mine and even added red dust in the black. Pictures don't really show the depth or sparkle, but I still love the charcoal gray.. It's easy to dress up with striping or 2 tone and hardly ever looks dirty. I liked the red flames & trim on my 07, & also wanted some red on the 09, so I painted it. Still LOVE the gray for main color tho
Hopefully the new gray will have some metallic to it, otherwise I don't think many will like it. As far as the bike goes, it's worth every cent, no matter what color they paint it Here's my dirty GRAY 09 today...
