let add my 2 cents to this old thread and say that i have i have rode and raced bolth bikes and cant say enough greatness about bolth the F2 AND F3... some used to call the F3 a hot rod F2 because it was not a whole new bike and hondas ansure to that was that the F2 was such a home run that they did not want to run far from that so they took what was thought to be weak spots on the F2 and updated them and there sat the 1995 600F3.. these bikes kicked alot of A$$ though out the 90s...one of the things i remember very well was 8 out of 10 qualified spots were 600F2S ....IN THE 750 CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Ok, I've done some research in my old SportRider Magazines. 93 F2, weight 453 wet/full tank, 428 dry, top speed 149, hp 86. 95 F3, weight 462 wet/full tank, 435 dry, top speed 150, hp 89. On a side note, remember 94 F2's got better forks and some a few steel parts were updated with aluminum parts. And as the F3's progressed they gained a few horses up to the low to mid 90's hp range before being replaced by the F4, which none of the pro racers liked as much as the F2's and F3's. One more thing when I raced CCS in the mid 90's the best finish in a race I ever got was in the GTO Saturday race. GTO was the 750 class.

 

Like you and squale147 have noted, the F2 was fantastic... legendary, and then it got even better with the F3, but not by a lot - this is why they dominated the super sport class for almost the whole decade, but by the time the F4 came about, the competition finally upped the ante.

I've never been a fan of the F4, not at all, and the F4i never did much for me either - I don't know what it was, maybe just the subconscious knowledge of those bikes being the end of the "F bikes" dominance of the field - even asthetically, especially asthetically, there's just about something the F4 and F41 that just doesn't do it for me.
They're great bikes, don't get me wrong, and I DON'T mean to slight anyone with one of those two bikes, not to mention owners of each of those might say the same thing about their bike, versus the look of the F2/F3!
But for me... if I'm going to have a honda sport bike, it's the F2/F3, or skipping forward to the 600RR, or 929 RR and forward fireblades.

 

Check out this comparison. 2004 F4i to 1991 F2 (blue line).
Honda CBR 600 F4i engine performance, reliability, maintenance costs, etc. rated by riders
Dirt biking?

 

Nice site for comparing bikes and years
Total Motorcycle Fuel Economy Guide in MPG and L/100km Index

 

same here jns.. i was not much of a fan of the f4s

 

+1000

 

Another thing. One of the last F3's Motorcyclist tested they said "this is the most powerful F3 we ever tested 93.something hp". I also just check out a SportRider from when the F4 came out...............88.? hp!

 

they bombed out on that i guess..

 

your all missing one vital fact, in 1997 honda updated the cbr f3 engine to put 105bhp at the crank with a new top speed of 155MPH and real world dyno's between 92-95 BHP!

my F3 is currently putting 105 down at the wheel dont know the top speed but with 14/47 gearing it doesnt take more than 1/2 mile to start smacking the limiter in 6th