From what you say, seems like she's a good solid bike, just needs a bit of TLC.

The cosmetics/plastics are secondary, if she rides good she's a good bike, no point having a great looking bike that rides like a dog.

Let us know how she rides.

 

Rides fantastic all things considered. Done about 100 miles all in all now. Everything works well. Brakes and clutch are worn - two top list items beside the normal oil and filter service. I plan on changing the coolant I don't think my friend did it and don't know when it was last done. I'll check on fuel and air filter, plugs too. I do notice under the seat feels warm after a while by the vents in the tail fairing, is that normal?

Shiny side up was a good show and I'll go again next year. Had conversations with several other CBR600 riders, an F4 and F4i, I parked next to a guy with a mint F3, had a long chat with another guy who races an F2 and with other riders too. I notice the CBR guys really rate these bikes and never have a bad thing to say.

Had Joe checked by mechanics who were doing free checks - they noted wear on all brake pads, brake fluid needing to be changed and bent gear lever. Basically everything I know I need to do. They said given mileage and exterior condition it is not a bad bike at all. I'm starting on mechanical things first. Fuel tap kit on its way, leaks if left on when parked. Off its ok but I'm already sick of turning it on and off. Next is brakes - pads and rotors and fluid flush. Then clutch plates and service, clean it up good. After that I'll start fixing cosmetics.

 

Tank

 

After a wash. I did a quick one before I went to the bike show. Can you tell lol? Seat is the nicest part of the bike.

 

+1 for sorting out the mechanical before getting too far on those panels

Are you going to replace the tail as an assembly? ie subframe, seat, lights? Or are you going to try and keep that seat? Cause it looks pretty fresh

You might be able to dent out that tank with a studgun (or welded tabs) but if a decent replacement came up I'd hop on it. The filler piece on the right side fairing would be tricky to make from scratch, as would the filler piece under the headlight. The big gaping hole on the rt side of the cowl might also be tricky, but if I were approaching it I might try and cut out a patch from an old bumper or something to reduce the amount of filler. Might be a cute place to cut in a usb charger or cellphone mount

The great thing about plastic repair is that you can basically fix anything with enough time/effort. From the look of your other projects it seems like she's in good hands

 

Seat is staying for sure. I was hoping I could plastic weld half an F3 tail to the F2 - I'm guessing there's some filler work to get it nice? Will fiber glass if so or some plastic magic trickery if I can figure something out, sub frame and tail light. If I can't do this, I'll retrofit something else on and make my own mount for it. I'll get replacement panels for the air vent on the right fairing and headlight and if cheap enough the sides of the headlights too. Need to find a plastic welder, a soldering iron isn't going to cut it with the amount of filling and crack repairs these panels will need. Good idea for the usb, hadn't considered that.

 

Yeah, that seat is very nice.

Don't know about the 600, but the CBR1000F gets very hot under the plastics.

 

I'd stay away from fibreglass for plastic repair. My bike was covered with fibreglass patches and I scraped most of them off with my fingernail. It's too rigid and will fail. Plus that matting is too thick for the repair material to penetrate

A lot of guys swear by the plastic welding, but I've never tried it. It's how they do remanufactured bumper covers though, so obviously it works well enough, and is basically invisible once you get good at it

I use flexible parts repair compound. It's how I was taught in collision. 3M Automix Easy-Sanding parts repair is about as good as it gets but pricey. We used to use it for everything from seam-sealing, to panel repair, to busted trim. It's a hack's best friend

 

Had some success with fiberglass and plastic. Temperamental, have to have no air bubbles, plastic sanded with 180 and then 240 grit. Too much and it will crack. FZR tail was still nice 5 years on but if the bike was dropped it would probably come away.

This time I'm plastic welding. Might stick with F2 tail, but add a new tail light, make a bracket for it etc. Brake pads and fluid flush and change top of my list, I've sidelined the CBR for now.

Another first, made a Youtube channel. First time directing, filming, editing and producing. Not bad I think. Next time I'll discuss camera angles etc with the film/pit crew before I just ride off and ask them to film lol. I have an action camera coming - films in 1080p @60 fps - clear but its cheap so I'm not expecting Gopro quality. It'll help me film my antics doing up the bike.

 

Shut up what the frig. You ruined it!

Keep the pit crew. They're great

I'd maybe rotate the video, but other than that it looks good to me