I love riding. Have several hundred thousand miles on the saddle over the years. But I've got to be honest, its been a while since I had this much fun. 😁

Headed home after a ride with friends

 

After riding Harleys - I bet you had fun. Those Honda CBR600Fs are the bikes which started the revolution of supersports back in the early 90's. Smaller and lighter than the 1000F, but almost as capable, and a lot easier to move around...

 

My first new bike was a 1989 CBR600F, white and silver. After years of riding old CB350, CB750, and Silverwing, it was quite the eye opener back then.

 

And the adventure continues. I've put about 100 miles on the 1990. Rode around the county with friends and my buddy tried to hot rod me off the line with his 2007 Harley Softail. Needless to say that didn't go well for him as I passed him doing about eighty about 100 feet down the road. 😁 Getting the hang of clamp the knees on the tank, drop the elbows to lower center of gravity and loosen push on handlebars, lean through those corners. If nothing else riding this will take me back to being a better rider. I started on sport bikes and then switched to cruisers, mostly Harley, Back then I could outride anyone on a Harley because I rode them like I rode my CBR. Time to get that back.

So what about the 1988 I hear you saying? Well...

Bought another battery. Took off the tank and airbox and hooked up my hanging gas can directly to the carb inlet line. Opened the carb drain valve for each carb and clear fuel came out unlike the greenish stuff that came out of the 1990. Just for fun, poked the go button, and it went. Ran perfectly. Moved the gas to the fuel filter inlet and fired it up again, gas came out of the fuel pump. Reconnected the fuel pump line to the carbs and fired it up again. So far so good. Clean tank so put the tank back on, added fuel, bike ran. Not sure about posting videos directly here so instead, here's the youtube link.


Next adventure, hopped on, put it in gear and it jumped forward about two feet and died. Thankfully it's a light bike. Clutches were stuck. Did that a couple more times to see if they'd break loose, then put it in gear and bumped it a few times. Then I did the same with the starter. The starter dragged me down the alley, trying to fire when suddenly the clutches broke loose and the bike fired. Off I went, just around the block. If I have to push it home I don't want to have to push it more than two blocks.

Back home I checked the tires and went out (a bit nervously) and put 35 miles on the bike. Seafoam in the oil, Amsoil PI in the fuel. The farther I rode, the better it ran. Only thing I don't like is that it has this gooey grease all over the rear sub-frame. You know that stuff that gets in your stove grease trap that has to be cleaned out every once in a while? Yeah, that's what it resembles. It's very odd. I tried cleaning it with Simple Green and a rag and it came off (slowly) so eventually I stopped and I'm going to break out the pressure washer and see if that will do a better job. Also, the stay plate, the one that holds the carb bank together, is quite rusty. Doesn't affect operation so I'll probably get in there with some naval jelly and a brass brush and try to clean it up a bit in-place.



So the problem now is "which to keep". My plan is to keep one, probably get rid of my 1989 which I still have never gotten to run properly. I like the 1988 paint scheme better as it just looks more classic, but the 1990 I'm just seem to enjoy riding more, not sure why. Too be fair I've only put 35 miles on this one and that was a test ride so it's not really a proper ride. Could just be that this one needs some miles put on it so I'll probably get it registered and then try to get some saddle time before the weather locks in. The 1990 has more miles (73k) than the 1988 (53k) but the '88 just doesn't seem to be in as good condition, with the rusty plate, the grease, etc. Either way, they both are going to get brake fluid and coolant flushed, fork oil and engine oil changed, and a good cleanup. That'll be relaxation projects on weekends since I'm starting a Master's Degree program in a week or so. I'm also thinking about that Nexxus exhaust. I don't like the looks of the big chrome can. I've got a Hindle on the '89 and since it's not running anyway I might swap it out.

So which would you keep? Please don't say both because I don't have room to store them (to be fair I actually do, but having six bikes in the little garage is a bit much as I'm constantly having to either climb over them or move them out) and I don't really have time to ride them all although [looks out window and thinks about early retirement]... 😊

 

If you enjoy riding the 1990 bike and it is in better condition, then I think you have your answer change the pipe and your done.

 

I believe you answered your question all by yourself. Retire early and use your new free time building a bigger garage. It's as simple as that.

 

I also just realized that both these bikes qualify for "Collector vehicle" plates because they are more than 30 years old. One time purchase and never have to be registered again.

• May be driven:
  • To and from auto shows, circuses, parades, displays, special excursions, and antique car club meetings.
  • For testing purposes.
  • For the pleasure of others without compensation.
• May not be used for:
  • Regular transportation in the manner of a fully licensed vehicle.
  • Commercial purposes or to carry a load.

I think I can make this work. I'll be "testing" a lot. And riding for the pleasure of others (I don't even know what that means but hey... &#128513, saves money. I wish the licensing office would have mentioned this but I guess their job is to take my $ and hand me paperwork. You either get a special collector plate or you can find a plate from your year and restore it. Plates used to have the year stamped on them but I don't think they've done that for quite some years, maybe in the 40s or 50s. 1988 was the last year of the plain white and green Washington plates. I might swing by the main office downtown today and ask if those qualify since they don't have a year stamp.

 

For me, that gluggy grease underneath was a leaking sump plug. It needs an aluminum crush washer. It took a long while to figure that out.

 

Thanks. I'm going to pressure wash it and then see what happens. Maybe it'll start to reappear, allowing me to identify the source.

 

I am so very jealous. I have an 87 600F in the same colorway. It was in very nice condition save for needing the side maintenance covers and mirrors. I took off all the plastics, air box, tank, signals, seat, etc. I cleaned and synced the carbs, replaced the fuel pump and got the thing running pretty nicely I thought.

I never put it the parts back on as I tried to source the few missing parts. This spring I lost all everything I had taken off in a garage fire. I still have everything else except the above as they were stored elsewhere, but am now dubious I will ever get it back together again. I have a soft spot for this particular bike - this was the first mechanical work I had ever done and so I was quite proud of myself; there's a long thread as I documented my travails here.