When I first bought my F2 everyone said it was way too big for a first bike. They said I needed to start on something like 250 or 500cc. I have been riding it for a month now and I am somewhat used to the bike. There has only been 1 time (during the test ride...first time ever even sitting on a bike) that I felt like I didnt have control of the bike. I now feel like I can control it pretty well and im not really scared of it anymore.

So my question is are older bikes like my 93' F2 that much different of the 600cc bikes that are made today? I would assume that there would be more power in the newer bikes just because they are newer but is there a major difference?

 

Well I had have a 95 F3 and an 06 F4i. Both bikes can go from 0 to Stupid in less than "I wonder if this will be a good idea?". In the same size I don't think I noticed a huge power increase. What I did notice is a much smoother delivery of the power. The power is availible earlier in and across more RPMs. That's Fuel injection vs Carburetor.

Throttle response is different too. I'd say there were times when I'd twist the throttle on my F3 and she was like "...Oh, ok I'll go now." My F4i barely takes a thought and she's gone.

 

a modern 600 is much faster. Our f2's are dinosaurs

 

There seems to be a difference but not a huge one. I think kuroshio hit the nail on the head about delivery.

I'm riding a 98 F3 with a full exhaust, jet kit, and +1 -2 sprockets. I did a 2nd gear pull next to a friend of mine who rides a Yamaha R6 with a slip on exhaust and power commander and in a run the whole way through 2nd he was ahead by less than a bike length. He commented afterwards that he was surprised at just how close I was able to stay on the old F3.

 

Good to know guys. Thanks for the comments. Im just hoping to get some good learning experience on my f2 and upgrade in a year or two to a newer 600.

 

daylight n dark!!!

 

Maybe yours... my bike in almost any street situation isn't any slower, and when you take into account the suspension work I've done, I can drown a lot of my friends on their modern 600's

It's frequently about the rider, and then how their setup works with their riding style.





Anywho, if you can responsibly use the bike, it's not "too much bike". It's all about knowing your limts and blah blah blah. The problem though is most people learn their limits the hard way. You may very well not know your limits yet, and may very well find out what they are blasting out of at urn at a speed a 250 never would have allowed you to acheive.

I surely would have died starting on one of these bikes, but I learn the hard way

 

taking the rider out of the equation, the newer bikes blow the older ones away

A good rider on a 250 will blow 99% of us away lol.

 

True, I know one such rider on a 250.


Still, rider aside the newer bikes aren't THAT much better if you have a properly setup F2. Granted stock for stock these bikes don't compare, but a moderately modified F2 will compare favorably to a semi-modern bike (early 2000's).

 

The 600 class has evolved in leaps and bounds from the 87hp Hurricane 600. The new bikes are lighter and more powerful and have been improved with each new model. Its like a 40-40 deal. Fourty pounds lighter and fourty more horsepower.
Lets not even throw in the radical improvement in tire technology.
Don't take this the wrong way...The newer the bikes benefit from years of refinement and development and would be my choice. Fuel injection, mass centralization, mass reduction...
Don't kid yourself. A newer 600 will be faster comparing stock model to stock model.
I appreciate that development of a bike does not stop when it rolls out of the showroom and that many dollars have gone into upgrades. It just seems after riding new and old back to back that I would grab the key for new every time.